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May 20, 2009

Co-op of the Day: 30 Monroe Place, #5A

This one-bedroom at 30 Monroe Place in Brooklyn Heights is described in the listing as "magnificent" but we think "mediocre" might be a better adjective. The fifth-floor unit is perfectly nice but it's a postwar apartment to start with (so low ceilings and no moldings) and a recent renovation didn't help the aesthetic cause too much in our opinion. Still, it's a very nice location and the building has a new roof deck. The monthly maintenance is $680 and the asking price is $495,000. Seems at least 20 percent overpriced to us.
30 Monroe Place, #5A [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

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Hey, wow, a big, boring, brick co-op in Brooklyn Heights. Those NEVER get featured ...

Posted by: cwbuecheler at May 20, 2009 12:45 PM

I'm not seeing a bedroom there...

And what is a "chomber"?

And... Oh forget it.

It's a nice studio. 250k.

Posted by: northsloperenter at May 20, 2009 1:03 PM

Chamber. That's the bedroom. Hate the kitchen floor. Other than that, it seems ok.

Posted by: InsertSnappyNameHere at May 20, 2009 1:05 PM

Best block in Brooklyn Heights

Posted by: fsrg at May 20, 2009 1:07 PM

Meh. Didn't see the window in the chomber.

Posted by: northsloperenter at May 20, 2009 1:09 PM

Meh. Not bad, not great.

Posted by: TownhouseLady at May 20, 2009 1:09 PM

Are they calling the bedroom a "chamber" because it lacks a door?
That place seems way overpriced... it's really bland. For that price, I'd expect more.

Posted by: broadwayron at May 20, 2009 1:11 PM

It looks clean and nice. I personally do no like the color scheme and the tiles in the kitchen (depressing flashbacks of a corporate apartment in New Jersey), but I do like the layout. The common charges are very reasonable for Brooklyn Heights.

Posted by: Maly at May 20, 2009 1:14 PM

so the bathroom is next to the entrance door -- not too convenient.

Posted by: BH76 at May 20, 2009 1:16 PM

Layout is weird. Looks like a barely converted studio. Offer $375k.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at May 20, 2009 1:17 PM

They call it a "chamber" because pre-war buildings generally called bedroom - [sleeping] Chambers.

Posted by: fsrg at May 20, 2009 1:18 PM

It would be overpriced if it were in Clinton Hill but it is on one of the nicest streets in Brooklyn Heights, so I think it priced right.

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 1:21 PM

"It would be overpriced if it were in Clinton Hill"
sam, thems is fightin' words!

Posted by: Biff Champion at May 20, 2009 1:25 PM

Biff, I know that is why I'm a retard asshat.

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 1:34 PM

I just looked at the photos again, and I think it is a lovely apartment. Really nice. the layout is great and it looks like it has lots of closets and cross ventilation and a really nice kitchen. What the hell is not to like except that it is not in some sketchy block near a methodone clinic near the G train?

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 1:43 PM

I don't think the layout is great at all. Bathroom by entrance way, not convinient, Berdoom right of the entrance way. Looks like an oversized converted studio to me.

Meh.

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 20, 2009 2:08 PM

and I should learn to spell

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 20, 2009 2:09 PM

Sam, your boosterism of Brooklyn Heights rivals 11217's of Park Slope.

Posted by: Schultz at May 20, 2009 2:13 PM

Yep, definitely looks like a converted studio based on small size & location of main bedroom, layout, and photo of foyer area. Very pretty block, however. Guess it will sell 20-25% lower.

Posted by: etson at May 20, 2009 2:21 PM

That's a decent part of BH, although I'd prefer to be further from Cadman Plaza. But, for that price, I'd expect a mint kitchen, and it doesn't have one. Actually, I'd probably want to gut the kitchen- looks like a mediocre rental-building kitchen.

Posted by: broadwayron at May 20, 2009 2:22 PM

It doesn't look like a converted Studio. That would have been one BIG studio (about 575 sq. ft.)
The living room is a very nice size.
It's actually a pretty decent layout.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at May 20, 2009 2:31 PM

more than the usual animosity towards Brooklyn Heights today. Those of us in other neighborhoods should remember that the recovery will probably begin in prime blocks like Monroe Place and from there head out to the various and sundry Park Slopes and Park Slope spillover catchment areas and perhaps from there to the hipper but poorer neibs.

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 2:55 PM

> "That would have been one BIG studio (about 575 sq. ft.)"

That was back in the good old days, before 575sf was considered enough space for a 2br condo.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at May 20, 2009 2:59 PM

Don't care for the closetless chamber being right where you enter. But I don't see this as being SO overpriced for Brooklyn Heights.

Table in Dining Alcove changes places in the photos.

Posted by: Nomi at May 20, 2009 3:08 PM

"That was back in the good old days, before 575sf was considered enough space for a 2br condo."

Now that you mention it. This could be converted into a 2-bedroom. That Dining Alcove while only 5'-8" wide seems ideal for a 'bedroom'....how long is a bed? A crib?

Posted by: bayridgegirl at May 20, 2009 3:09 PM

Ha^^^^^^. That made me laugh.

Posted by: Nomi at May 20, 2009 3:18 PM

BRG, I looked at it. No way to make even a small 2 bedroom out of it. You would need to cut A LOT of holes around to make it work. :o)

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 20, 2009 3:33 PM

Kens, you doubt my space planning abilities?!?! I can eke out a 3-bedroom out of this one!

Dining Alcove = Bedroom
Chomber - move wall adjoining foyer to the left by a couple of feet.
Foyer = Bedroom - Built wall from right of window toward the living room, angle to create a passageway, so you can get into living room.

So what the bedrooms are tiny?? Have you seen some of the new Condo developmnents!

Naysayers!

Posted by: bayridgegirl at May 20, 2009 3:45 PM

Again with the moldings! Someday someone is going to have to explain to me what is so damm attractive about crown moldings. Are there people out there who honestly pass on apartments because they lack moldings?!

That said this place is way overpriced, even for Brooklyn Heights. There are better laid out apartments (also on prime blocks) in the Heights listed for similar prices. Unless I'm really missing something in these pictures and the apartment is a lot bigger than it looks I say this place shgould be listed in the low 400s, not the upper 400s.

Posted by: clintonhillbuyer at May 20, 2009 3:46 PM

I think part of the problem may be that some of my fellow posters cannot read a floorplan that well.
I see a really big closet in the bedroom, why is it a "closetless bedroom"?
the layou is classic, how could it have been a studio?
sheesh,

g'night all!

I'm hauling my asshat down to Fifth Ave for Happy Hour!!!

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 4:24 PM

Sam, you referring to me? I can definitely read a floorplan and am still saying that it's a pretty bad layout (I've definitely seen way worse).

Have a good booze trip :o).

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 20, 2009 4:28 PM

ken: I was not referring to you, it was nomi who wrote that it was a closetless chamber (bedroom). I see a big closet in the plan.
I agree that the bath near the door is not ideal but I think it is better than a bath through the bedroom.

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 4:39 PM

I agree that the bath near the door is not ideal but I think it is better than a bath through the bedroom.

Posted by: sam at May 20, 2009 4:39 PM

Definitely agree. I could never understand that :o).

Posted by: Kensingtonian at May 20, 2009 4:41 PM

$3,300 a month for what? Thats nuts. Even if its an awesome neighborhood, that is way too much to pay. Even at $400k, it would cost $2,800 a month. Lets remember, this is barely a 1 BR an it has no luxury features whatsoever.

Posted by: salvo007 at May 20, 2009 6:27 PM

Nice reno, nice presentation by BHS. WIC in the bedroom, dining alcove are pluses. That said, this is just over 600 sf, near as I can tell. 400k would be well sold, I think.

Posted by: Bolder at May 20, 2009 6:34 PM

Yeah, oops. There's a huge closet in the chamber. Sorry. That's virtually a forth bedroom . . ..

Posted by: Nomi at May 20, 2009 6:41 PM

based on the photos, I love this apartment. I really like the red foyer. I think it is very pretty and classy. so much nicer than most of the bland beige granola Park Slope walk-ups we usually see. The maintenance is good, the location is fantastic, I want it. My apartment is comparable but I don't have a red foyer, or any foyer.
Note to self: next apartment must have a foyer!

Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 7:53 PM

Yes, foyers make such a difference. It's like . . . you can breath.

Posted by: Nomi at May 20, 2009 8:23 PM

Is there definitely no door to the bedroom? I see there's no strike plate on the door jam, but could there be some kind of door?

Posted by: Nomi at May 20, 2009 8:34 PM

Nomi, interesting observation.
I would assume the door to the bedroom is an overhung sliding pocket door. If there is no door, I would install an overhung sliding pocket door first thing after moving in and deduct what that would cost from the asking price. A bedroom has to have a door and a pocket door in this location makes a lot of sense.

Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 8:48 PM

i saw this place like a month ago at open house when it was asking $510k. The bedroom has a real door, it's just the angle of the photo that makes it look like it doesn't have one. that being said, the place is small-ish for the price. there're bigger post-war apartments in 40 clinton asking $425k. Granted, clinton st isn't as nice as monroe. 415k max.

Posted by: liulide at May 20, 2009 9:53 PM

small?
this place does not look small.
40 Clinton has much higher maintenance and the apartments are not any bigger. Such mis-information from competing realtors. honestly, I hope people reading this blog know that most of the negative things said about perfectly nice apartments come from real estate agents who are trying to push their product. Small? If you had said anything else I maybe would have believed you.

Posted by: mcKenzie at May 20, 2009 10:14 PM

I love the ambiance in Brooklyn Heights. This would be a wonderful place to live.

Posted by: BklynSoFar at May 20, 2009 11:43 PM

i don't know how to prove a negative that i'm not a broker. i've just been looking at heights apartments for the last two months or so. and i didn't say the place was small, i just said small for the price of $500k. i guesstimate the place at about 600sf. there're places in the heights around 550sf (maybe a little smaller) trading at 375-400k, so no way this place is worth 500k. bottom line though, i've stood in the apt, you have not.

and $125 is not "much higher maintenance." heights coops can be much worse.

how about if i shill for apts from different brokers. will that prove i'm not one? check it out:

http://www.corcoran.com/property/listing.aspx?Region=NYC&listingid=1520328

http://www.halstead.com/detail.aspx?id=1691077

that pretty much shows are comps in the area are not in line with what this place is asking. and i'm not really say anything out of bounds. just the consensus opinion that this place should trade around 400-425k.

Posted by: liulide at May 21, 2009 10:22 AM

First off, apartments on Clinton near Pierrpont are always significantly cheaper. Frankly, its a ugly street for the Heights and filled w/ traffic for everyone trying to get onto Tillary.

Monroe is one of the premiere blocks in the heights and you pay accordingly. Isn't that how real estate works in general? You pay for where you live. So sure, you can get a nicer place in Park Slope but have fun sitting on the F train while we have the 2,3,4,5,a,c, and r (all of which Monroe is close).

When you tell ppl you live on Monroe, they say "ohh that's a beautiful street." Clinton on the other hand, gets a "oh." I think the same goes for Hicks.

All in all, I do agree $500,000 is a bit high for the place. I'd place it more like $450,000. Yes- I have seen the place. Yes- I have looked at a ton of 1 bedrooms in the heights. Besides, the weather is getting nice. Apartments always sell for a higher price during this time.

Posted by: morning at May 28, 2009 9:50 AM

« Brooklyn Food & Drink Round-Up House of the Day: 449 Bergen Street »

May 20, 2009

Co-op of the Day: 30 Monroe Place, #5A

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