Edwardian Mansion in Crown Heights Offers Driveway, Quarter Acre, Original Details, Peace
Michael Bolla’s exclusive Crown Heights listing is a five-bedroom, four-bath, 6,400-square-foot standalone home on Prospect Place.
Last year, when one of Michael Bolla’s clients became interested in Brooklyn, she asked the veteran broker to nose around and find an appropriate building as an investment.
Bolla, senior global real estate advisor at Sotheby’s International Realty who has worked in emerging markets and transitioning submarkets, headed for the tree-lined blocks off Eastern Parkway.
On his journey, he found — and fell in love with — an Edwardian mansion being completely restored at 830 Prospect Place. Although it was not yet available to the market, he managed to show it to his customers. He then met the developer, Oron Tanami, who hired Bolla and Sotheby’s Sotheby’s International Realty to sell the property — a 6,400 square foot, five-bedroom, four-bathroom freestanding house with a private driveway on a quarter acre.
The house is listed for sale at $3.995 million. “Ownership wanted a price that was not too aggressive and would allow an investor or buyer room for growth,” says Bolla, who says pricing is part skill, part experience, and part talent — especially if it challenges the current expectations of the market.
Bolla says that other single-family homes south of Eastern Parkway have neared the $4 million threshold. “But now the comparable properties are just starting to hit on the north side as well and could very soon surpass values on the south side of Eastern Parkway,” he says, adding that another house a few blocks away, also a 25-footer needing renovation, recently entered into contract for $3.4 million.
“What makes 830 Prospect so special is the huge property,” he says. “When a home sits on a large piece of land, one must calculate the value of that land according to its potential; and then adhere to a method for adjusting to the market’s expectations of price per square foot for a building in the respective area, and determine how trends will affect the asset in the future.”
And then there’s simply the human experience. With 830 Prospect there’s the “total serenity experienced when you’re inside,” he says. “From every room you look out to trees, and are surrounded by so much nature. You feel as if you have left New York. It is such a healthy experience to be surrounded by so much harmony — and so rare in an urban setting.”
Bolla, citing a recent MIPIM report that predicts 70 percent of the population of the U.S. will reside in urban centers within the next 10 years, sees great opportunity in the area — especially as more of these larger homes sell.
And while Crown Heights is not as well known outside Brooklyn as, say, Park Slope, its historic turn-of-the-last-century architecture impresses and delights. “It’s full of amenities, peaceful and green, with great restaurants, like Meme’s Organic,” Bolla says — not to mention it’s home to the Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
After two years of renovation, 830 Prospect is nearly close to completion. “It’s now perfectly poised for its next resident to move in this fall,” he says.
All the original details were retained. All new systems — plumbing, electric, technology, and fixtures — were added to suit the needs and requirements of today’s buyers. The Renaissance Revival-Colonial Revival facade is being totally restored, and all roofs have been replaced.
The developer has completed many projects in the neighborhood, and Bolla says he was happy to meet some of their satisfied buyers.
“An increase in buyer awareness of quality has put a premium on finished houses by sophisticated developers and architects,” he says, adding that construction has become complicated, with advances in methods and materials. “Buying a property that needs work sounds like a dream, but the demands of the market and environmental challenges are making the process of building your own dream less appealing.”
Advanced planning in construction is the key, now more than ever, according to Bolla. “And creative design that respects fundamental environmental human experiences makes for very solid investments.”
How to accomplish this? “Buy a renovated house,” says Bolla. “The developers of 830 have a well-oiled machine and a very professional team. And, the property itself has good architecture, great scale and proportion, and the unusual position of sitting on a huge piece of land. The buyer of this house will be the real winner this season.”
An open house takes place this Sunday, September 17 from 2 to 4 p.m. For more information, visit the 830 Prospect Place website.
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