Cheap New Construction a Deal? Not a Chance
Not to beat a dead horse, but there were several commenters in Friday’s discussion that seemed to feel that the new construction eyesores being slapped up around the borough serve the purpose of providing lower-income people with the benefit of the american dream. Our rebuttal was that these structures actually do the opposite. They are…
Not to beat a dead horse, but there were several commenters in Friday’s discussion that seemed to feel that the new construction eyesores being slapped up around the borough serve the purpose of providing lower-income people with the benefit of the american dream. Our rebuttal was that these structures actually do the opposite. They are almost without exception poorly constructed and almost without exception extremely ugly. We don’t see how these things have a chance of holding their value over time against the traditional housing stock. Take these two comparably priced houses within a few blocks of each other in Bed Stuy, both of which were posted in the last couple of days on Craigslist. Which owner do you think is more likely to have preserved or built equity 20 years from now? Which owner is more likely to get completely wiped out in a downturn? So much for serving the needs of the needy. These developers are taking the money and running from those least able to afford it.
3 Family New Construction [Craigslist] GMAP
4 Family Brownstone [Craigslist] GMAP
As a old timer home owner, having to come up with $6000 to fix my stoop, another $2000 to fix my waste line, another $4000 for my 20 year old aluminum windows that are fogged over, I can see why someone might not have the means or the energy to own an old house. The thing is that I know that the house is aging and that the repairs were due. I would be heartbroken if I bought a new house that two years later needed a new roof, or that the foundation was cracking due to shoddy craftsmanship. I think these American Dreams may turn into nightmares for the new buyers, especially for someone who can’t afford to raise a family and pay an absurd mortgage.
We’ll see how they stack up in 20 years. In the meantime, the residents can enjoy the uncensored carryings-on of their neighbors through the flimsy sheet rock walls. Have you seen the size of our joists? You can’t buy pieces of wood like that anymore. Sure, we’ll part with a pretty penny on the more cosmetic stuff over the years, but that’s our choice.
Brownstoner I have no idea why you continue to perpetuate the absolutly false notion that a 100 year old brownstone is “studier” construction than anything built today (except for something built with gross negligence).
Yes the materials used in a brownstone are heavier but other than sound qualities a house built w/ modern materials, and construction techniques is studier, more weather resistant, “greener” and MUCH cheaper to keep then any 100 year old brownstone could ever dream of being.
I certainly would appreciate new buildings that have some architechtural merit but you are truly undercutting your credibility to attack these new homes as shoddy compared to the money pit of a 100 yr old construction.
I don’t know if it applies to many of the new developments we’ve been discussing, but there are programs associated with some of them which provide low interest loans for both the down payment, and in some cases, the mortgage. This enables many low and middle income people who haven’t been able to save up for the down payment, but could afford a mortgage, if they could only get in the door, so to speak. Unfortunately, most of these programs are now associated with new construction. There used to be more programs that renovated decrepit brownstones, with an owner’s unit/duplex, and one or two rentals. The buyers in the programs then and now have to live in the house at least 6 years before they can sell. Parts of Bed Stuy, Brownsville, Bushwick, and
Crown Heights are rife with abandoned housing, and it would be more advantageous, I would think, for these buildings to be rehabbed, rather than torn down, and these new “townhouses” be put up. This doesn’t solve the empty lot problem, but would go a long way to keeping brownstone neighborhoods intact. I don’t know the comparative costs – gut rehab vs new construction, but if anyone has an idea, I’d be interested in knowing.
To everyone who’s saying development doesn’t have to be like this, please see my post in “Forum” and respond…
I’m trying to get some people together to do something about this by trying to do development right…
Nothing’s going to change by people just sitting on the web complaining…
Brownstoner – you are not beating a dead horse. This is a very important issue and I assure you that the majority of those who think it is a non issue do not live in BedStuy or even Clinton Hill.
Once again, new construction does not have to try to be a brownstone, but it should at the very least keep the lines and of the existing buildings. It seems to happen in other neighborhoods. No one is asking a developer to build a house that is too expensive for the current neighborhood value. But come on. I can’t see where making the house the same height and of similar shape to the existing buildings is going to add exponentially to the cost. After all – look how much they are charging
First, it is just not realistic to think that either one of these properties are within the reach of lower income people. I mean really!
Second, no one denies that a homeowner will build more equity in a fabulously well-built brownstone than in a shoddier structure. The point is that a homeowner will build more equity by owning a shoddy structure than s/he will by RENTING. Of course, there may be even greater equity in other types of investment, but that is beside the point. Lower income people deserve a shot at owning their own home. We should not deprive them of this so that our own delicate aesthetic sensibilities are not \’offended\’ by the buildings we see. To hear some of the people on this board talk, you would think we should make the poor walk around naked simply because they cannot afford to wear designer clothes.
Anon 10:59, can you steer to a list of these restrictions?
hey does anybody know what’s up with the cranes on Myrtle? There’s a lot of action there– on the block just above Castro’s, by the new porn shop, across the street from the Pratt Bookstore. I am hoping for something not too crappy, but I’m fearful…