14 Townhouses Update: Slow Going, At Best
We were pleased to get an email over the transom giving us an update at the much-praised but evidently slow-selling 14 Townhouses. According to the Corcoran brokers, our source tells us, only 4 of the 14 have sold, with the larger versions proving more popular so far. Also, the purchases have skewed toward the middle…
We were pleased to get an email over the transom giving us an update at the much-praised but evidently slow-selling 14 Townhouses. According to the Corcoran brokers, our source tells us, only 4 of the 14 have sold, with the larger versions proving more popular so far. Also, the purchases have skewed toward the middle of the block because of the large building that is slated to be built on the end of the block (on Boerum Place). List prices haven’t budged — $2.75M for the larger “penthouse” version and $2.56M for the smaller “terrace” version (or about $740 per square foot) — but we’re thinking there must be some flexibility at this point.
269 State Street [Corcoran] GMAP
273 State Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Open Season on 14 Townhouses [Brownstoner]
I saw these recently. Commenters above are right – these really are great spaces inside, it is once you get outside (construction, jail, etc.) that you begin to wonder if the price is right. I don’t believe that these are overpriced by $1MM, it is something less than that. my guess is 15-20% too high, which would put these at around $2.3MM or so. i wonder what the 4 who are already there paid relative to ask? my guess is that these “early adopters” are people who cherish the unique design so much that they are willing to pay what it takes, so i would bet they paid ask or close to.
Apart from the price, there are a few problems with the layouts:
1) Very few people have single-family four or five-storey brownstones. Walking up and down the stairs is too much of a PITA
2) You don’t put the master bedroom on the top floor and the kitchen on the bottom floor — it makes too much of a walk
3) There aren’t enough bedrooms — the traditional brownstone had some small servant’s rooms that were used for servants.
4) Very few families with children can afford these houses, and if you’ve got small kids, you’ll be hauling them all over
5) 2 bathrooms on one floor is a monster waste of space
I think that the problem is that these houses are too big to be easily salable without the garden rental, and the layout makes you move all over the house. I also am not fond of the double-height dining room at the expense of losing an extra room — I would jave just put kitchen, living, and dining rooms on one floor.
I think they are decent but overpriced when compared to comparable Brownstones in better areas nearby.
However for all those saying how great it would be to move into a maintinance free home, you clearly havent moved into any new construction – now it is likely the builder will pay for any repairs but it is highly unlikely that any new home wont have problems like leaks, drafts etc, etc, and this is for new homes at all price levels –
Also the ‘right side of the tracks’ for these properties isnt south of Atlantic – its west of Court.
Cont’d from above…
Your choice as a buyer is to pay a premium of .5M (at 1M less these are <500psf, and that's not happening) for whatever you think the "pop" will be, or you can pay a premium of 1M or more to get equivalent space on one of the nearby "pretty" blocks and deal with having an old house (for better and for worse). I'm grateful for having the option. I don't know what FAR is on those lots, but I'll bet the developer could have squeezed out more cash for less cost, and I'm glad he/she didn't make that choice.
I like these as a modern version of rowhouses (that look lonely right now), agree that the copper will develop a beautiful patina, agree that it looks like crap now, and can’t argue with the location problem. I can argue that the problem is going away, though.
Either Fulton Street or Atlantic Ave. is going to go upmarket retail in the next five years, and maybe both. When the construction around them finishes, the surroundings won’t be nearly as hostile, and by the time everything settles in (5-10 years) the market value on these could explode. Given that, the developer tried to get a piece of that action in his/her pricing.
Your choice as a buyer is to pay a premium of .5M (at 1M less these are <500psf, and that's not happening) for whatever you think the "pop" will be, or you can pay a premium of 1M or more to get equivalent space on one of the nearby "pretty" blocks and deal with having an old house (for better and for worse). I'm grateful for having the option. I don't know what FAR is on those lots, but I'll bet the developer could have squeezed out more cash for less cost, and I'm glad he/she didn't make that choice.
At least the commenters on this site are equal oppurtunity haters. Most of the comments on this topic have been negative. Most of the post on the”Dekalb Lofts” are equally negative.
I like both these developements. They are at different price stratas, They are both overpriced, BUT the are BOTH significant improvements to what was there prior.
Basically, you MF’s have no vision. Time will tell if these projects will be advantageous to the eventual buyers. I suspect they will if the future owner are thinking long term.
And I’m not a Broker, just a guy with vision who sold many of your ilk Browstones for $350K,$450K ,$550K+++….When I was getting them for sub $200K and they were just considered “Ghetto properties”.
Thank You, for your lack of foresight.
The people supporting the look of these buildings must be looking at the website which is out of context. In the photos they look great. I especially like the couple who live in them (on the website) the hot asian woman with the young multi millionaire husband who apparently wears jeans and cook. The also leave fish out on the counter. Whole fish which to my estimation probably runs about 100 bucks. But what 100 bucks when you’re living in 3 million dollar house. But back to the point, these houses may look great on the website but in real life they don’t fit in. They’re on the ugly side and frankly overpriced. They have top of the line everything but is on a nice block in a grimey area. For 2.5 there’s a lot better.
These look amazing in the photos but seen in real life – with real brownstones across the street, a prison on the corner and a parking lot behind them. Their not that great, and the copper is sort of hideous. But a nice angle with the right light and little photoshop you turn Rosie O’donnel into babe. Maybe not.
If you think are so beautiful I’d hate to see your art