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Co-op of the Day: 1 Grace Court, #2B

Categories: Brooklyn Heights, Co-ops

1-grace-court-020110.jpg
Someone must think the market has rebounded! This riverfront co-op at 1 Grace Court in Brooklyn Heights was on the market with Douglas Elliman last year. It was taken off the market in July, after having had its price reduced from $1,675,000 to $1,500,000. Now it's back on again with Corcoran asking $1,795,000. The 2,200-square-foot three-bedroom pad clearly has killer views and we like those wood built-ins in the living room, but the monthly maintenance of $2,483 is not for the faint-of-wallet. Then again, it's a prime Heights location.
21 Grace Court, #2B [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark




By Brownstoner at February 1, 2010 12:40 PM | Comments (35)

35 Comments

By JPD on February 1, 2010 12:47 PM

...and "killer views" of the BQE too! (thus the inoperable windows) I'm sure that apartment #2B means it's on the 2nd floor, which is even closer to the traffic.

By BoerumHill on February 1, 2010 12:54 PM

BQE? Never walked the promenade JPD? That end of Grace Court and Remsen are as quiet as anywhere in the Heights.

I don't know about the RE market rebounding, but pretty sure the owners looked out that gorgeous view while listening to CNBC talking about the record payouts on Wall Street that will be going out over the next few weeks, and thought "Might be a good time to try again..."

By JPD on February 1, 2010 12:59 PM

BH, I'd check your Google Streeview ASAP! Drag your little Streetview man onto the BQE by Grace Court and you'll see this listing's picture windows right above the traffic. BTW, the promenade begins at Remsen!

By promenade on February 1, 2010 12:59 PM

but WHAT is up with that organically shaped platformed area leading into the LR? and there are no kitchen pics and, okay, what are those bizarre little "bedrooms" (with no closets) that line one side of the apartment? oh yeah. nice views.

By BoerumHill on February 1, 2010 1:04 PM

Speaking of state of the market...I just looked up on ACRIS a unit (in Park Slope) we saw yesterday and are considering.

Not a comp by any means, its one-fourth the price of this pad...but still...owners bought four years ago, renovated (updated kitchen and bath), priced it 9.3K above what they paid...obvs, well below their cost basis when you add in the improvements.

So I would say (thankfully) no rebound yet. But maybe trophy pads like Grace Court go to the head of that line?

By Brooklyn Cat on February 1, 2010 1:05 PM

$2500 maintenance a month and there's no doorman?

By gemini10 on February 1, 2010 1:05 PM

NICE VIEWS!!!!
but 1.8mill worth?
I Don't Think So Sister!

sure, the locale is prime and it's a pretty pre-war bldg with great space
but could they have used a better floor plan?
without pics of the kitchen and bathrooms, I am left to surmise I will have to pour $75K into redoing all of them myself.

this is insanely overpriced and with that $2,400 maintenance - OUCH!

By Boerumresident on February 1, 2010 1:06 PM

I with JPD on this -- it's weird to be looking our right over the BQE. Maybe the windows are triple glazed for noise reduction, but I like to sleep with my windows open. This is for the person who wants the great views and the Heights location, and also likes the apt to be climate controlled with the windows shut.

By more4less on February 1, 2010 1:14 PM

no doorman?!!! if one is lazy to deal with some stuff assoc'd with owning a house and chose to live in a big aptmt, fine. but to pay this much plus big maintenance and NO doorman, what's a dude to do? open his own door? hey, might as well live in a house or in another bldg man

pretty big unit though

By limestone on February 1, 2010 1:16 PM

There are a few more views in the Curbed Price Spotter from last spring:
http://curbed.com/archives/2009/04/16/pricespotter_big_reveal_brooklyn_heights_coop_prepark.php
This place needs a serious renovation to go with the serious views and monthly maintenance. That's the first time I've seen sheet vinyl used as a wall finish.

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 1:24 PM

"faint of wallet?" lol

is that like feint of heart, except that your wallet gets the vapors? Cute.

By Brokedeveloper on February 1, 2010 1:31 PM

Just when sellers were starting to price things reasonably, we are now hitting an interesting period where RE Brokers think things have recovered and everybody expects Wall St. bonuses to drive up prices. Either the market is going to get some momentum from these factors or there are going to be a lot of disappointed sellers and brokers.

By Biff Champion on February 1, 2010 1:33 PM

Not sure who needs more of a reality check, the widgeteer who entered $1.12MM or the one who input $2.02MM, but I would guess the latter.

By CGar on February 1, 2010 1:44 PM

Delusional pricing by the sellers and brokers. This apartment needs a TON of work!! In his listing, here's what the Elliman broker had to say last year:

"PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: APARTMENT IS 25 FEET ABOVE THE BROOKLYN QUEENS EXPRESSWAY, IT’S BEST TO WALK DOWN TO THE END OF GRACE COURT TO UNDERSTAND PROXIMITY TO BQE.THIS IS NO DIFFERENT THAN A 2ND OR 3RD FL APT ON PARK AVE, LEX. AVE E A IT’S A TEARDOWN AND THE OWNER WILL NOT ENTERTAIN ANY OFFERS UNDER $1.375 MILLION.FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY..."


By CGar on February 1, 2010 1:47 PM

"we are now hitting an interesting period where RE Brokers think things have recovered and everybody expects Wall St. bonuses to drive up prices"

Totally agree with you, BrokeD. I'm even hearing this from my own brokers, whom I like and respect mind you. And I've suddenly seen some bizarre 10% price increases all over the place. But I'm just pushing back and telling my brokers that I'm personally not willing to pay these newly inflated prices. IMHO, I think it's the sellers and brokers who are going to be disappointed when these still or newly overpriced units are not snapped up with bonus money.

By NorthHeights on February 1, 2010 1:54 PM

I've been in other corner units in this building. The windows are tripled glazed so there is no noise, period. Nor did I find the traffic whizzing by to be a visual issue. If you're the kind of person who likes to open the windows, then yes, you'll have a problem with this apartment. I myself fall into that camp, but I was surprised at how many other people I've talked to when this building came up who said it didn't matter to them.

I don't know anything about the condition of this unit or its history, so I won't opine on the price.

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 1:55 PM

Apartments this size are pretty rare in Brooklyn Heights.
And even rarer with views like that.
The decor dates to about 1980 so the interiors need to be totally redone, but I agree with CGar that this could be a great opportunity for someone who is neither feint of heart or faint of wallet.

By gemini10 on February 1, 2010 1:56 PM

WHAT?
so you mean to tell me that Elliman had this place a year or so ago and was expecting no less than 1.375mil and now Corcoran has it for 1.75mil
Officially insane!

By tybur6 on February 1, 2010 2:03 PM

$2,500 a month!!

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 2:22 PM

What's $30,000 a year carrying charges to a rich person? Especially as a portion of it is tax-deductible.
This isn't moderate-income housing. Much more of an issue for a rich person is the lack of building staff, ie: no doormen.

By Brokedeveloper on February 1, 2010 2:26 PM

Crazy to me that the widget is coming in above where this apartment was last listed for.

By antidope on February 1, 2010 2:31 PM

that would be the crappiest *rich person* crib ever.

i think when the rich man shows up with his supercilious architect, said architect will convince idiot rich man to look for something with at least a hint of character.

and if it's views that stupid rich man wants, i think stupid rich man would like (and could afford) a few floors higher.

for first time ever, i believe the widget will overprice (if this is a real seller). 1.3 to account for 500k of vomit inducing maintenance.

By greuh on February 1, 2010 2:37 PM

Interesting ... The Widget right now has the property at 1.534 million, which is to say slightly *higher* than ask when the listing was pulled in July...

So either there's a "if you sell it, they will come" effect, or people also perceive that the market has risen some??

By more4less on February 1, 2010 2:52 PM

Antidope, welcome to the darkside. you'll like it

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 2:59 PM

what would a comparably sized unit with unobstructed skyline views cost in DUMBO? or in One BBP?

By fsrg on February 1, 2010 3:00 PM

Sorry Minard but 1.5M purchase price doesnt qualify as a "rich" persons apartment in NYC - certainly people must be well off but ordinarily 1.5M assuming you financed 2/3 is about 5k a month which if combined with a more reasonable 1K carry - is 6k a month and should equal a couple earning 300-400K a year (again well off but not Rich by NYC definitions) and if you are making 300-400K a year - 2.5K a month for the carry charges IS a consideration

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 3:41 PM

well, rich is a relative term, I was addressing my remarks to the posters who could not undeerstand how anyone could pay $2,500 a month in maintenance charges. If the apartment is sold for 1.5 million, which is a good guess, it will need a good deal of fixing up. Of course the sky's the limit but $300,000 to 500,000 should do it. That plus annual tuiton for three kids at private school (it is a large apartment so I am assuming three kids) and you are talking about a rich person's income, at least in my books.
To you and the other Trumps it may be a mere bagatelle.

By fsrg on February 1, 2010 4:24 PM

Its a 3br apartment so 2 kids and private school maybe - PS 8 is pretty good now I hear and there are other alternate public schools.

Obviously with a 2.5K maintenance and fixup and possibly private school this is a "rich" persons apartment - but that is the point.....

If it was 25M apartment and the maintenance (or taxes) were somewhat higher than the norm (like this place), your comment [paraphrase] 'whats the difference to the guy/gal who can afford this place anyway' might be spot-on....but to the "average" family in the market for a 1.5M apartment - the maintenance will likely be significant, and therefore will likely reduce the pool of eligible buyers. Therefore - you really have to compare this with a $2M+ apartment that has "normal" maintenance.

By antidope on February 1, 2010 4:39 PM

like 30h at the j in dumbo. i'll suffer the neighborhood, thank you very much. sold for $2mio, 1K maintenance.

http://bk.ly/brf

oh, i believe the j has a doorman too.

By sashae on February 1, 2010 4:42 PM

1mil mortgage @ 6.5% (co-op mortgage), 2500 in carry charges a month... to look DIRECTLY OUT ON THE BQE. Are people INSANE? Would you pay $8500/mo to RENT that place, much less have it tied around your neck like a millstone?

I looked at a place in that building a couple of years ago (duplex 2BR) and you couldn't pay me to live there with the traffic that close. Lunacy.

By more4less on February 1, 2010 4:59 PM

the ASK + BIG maintenance + Big renov

to have NO doorman is just a huge disjointed situations. if to cough up that much and not have doorman, go buy yourself a house in the hood man.

By fsrg on February 1, 2010 5:00 PM

sashae - I have never been in the apartment so I cant really judge - but "on paper" 2200sq ft in Brooklyn Heights with an amazing view - [clearly it isnt looking directly onto the BQE - look at the pictures] is far from the craziest rent I have ever heard about.

By lesbiman on February 1, 2010 5:11 PM

Plusses: views (no question!), lots of windows, location (Heights), large space
Minuses: lots of windows that you can't open (without exhaust from BQE), location (BQE), raised platform in living room, poor use of large space (who ever thought of having a bedroom entrance via the powder room?), monthly CC.
minuses win.

By Minard Lafever on February 1, 2010 5:38 PM

There is something about expensive co-ops or condos in Brooklyn Heights that drive a lot of folks on this blog crazy.

By Petebklyn on February 1, 2010 9:18 PM

if you enjoy the promenade you'd love this apt. If you think that promenade is filled with exhaust and the view from there is the BQE then probably not your cup of tea.

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