Development Watch: The Cladding of J Condo
The cladding of Dumbo’s J Condo continues apace, with windows installed on about half the floors so far. Who knows that the sales update is? Percentage sold? Recent directional moves in prices? Residences [J Condo] GMAP Photo by plemel jr.
The cladding of Dumbo’s J Condo continues apace, with windows installed on about half the floors so far. Who knows that the sales update is? Percentage sold? Recent directional moves in prices?
Residences [J Condo] GMAP
Photo by plemel jr.
I read a discussion regarding getting out of a condo contract, prior to closing, in light of the new realities in the real estate market. My opinion would be that the buyer may have some leverage with the developer of an unfinished building since the one thing that every developer wants to avoid is litigation prior to final approval by the attorney generals office and prior to selling all of the apartments. The reason for this is that all law suits must be disclosed to the AG and this must be included in offering. Depending upon the nature of the litigation, such a disclosure can have an immense effect in the time it takes the AG to approve the plan and even greater effect on the ability for the other buyers to get a mortgage.
The worse type of litigation that a developer can face is issues regarding disputes of property boundary. In such cases, banks are often forced to back off from providing mortgages to buyers, regardless of the banks relationship with the developer, since boundary litigation places an substantial level of obstacles to sell and package the mortgage on the open market. Some examples that come to mind include the cases where entire walls had to be removed because of minimal infractions and in cases where cornices or overhangs infringed on the adjacent property. My advice to any developer in such a case is to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate and at all costs, avoid litigation. In cases where a person wants to back out of the deal, I recommend to the developer to sweeten the deal and again, avoid any litigation for the reasons mentioned above. It is important to also consider what other potential buyers would think of litigation against a contracted buyer. One method might be to reduce the price, offer free maintenance for a period of time or perhaps exchange the contracted apartment for a “better†or larger apartment. Settle such disputes. A developer must handle disputes with “silk gloves†and swallow their pride, with the end objective of sales in mind
FYI: Ceiling heights vary in J Condo from 9′ in the lower floors to 10′ in the upper floors.
I think the Beacon has 10’6” ceilings, that’s pretty significant
I went to visit the sales office a week ago to see what they looked like; they gave me a tour of their sales office, which was REALLY NICE. They told me that they were 85% sold in under a year and that most of the remaining apts are high floors, they have nothing below the 24th floor and that several of the prices are still the original prices from the offering plan book… I was amazed considering that most of the developers today are greedy and jack the prices up the first day they open… I have to give them props they were very proficient and kind with an extreme knowledge of the building and neighborhood. (Unlike some other sales office)
I think that the ceiling heights are the roughly the same for both buildings. Elevations at each site are different. As a longtime resident I have seen both of these come up and the quality seems better at the J condo. At least they use Union labor and seem to respect the nabe and its residents better than the Beacon. The Beacon had the non-Union rat set up for months. The workers park up on the sidewalks, litter and are a generally more of a disruption to the nabe.
It might be 80% sold but I’m guessing that majority of that is speculative with no intention of moving in. It’ll be interesting to see just how many lights on that building are on once people do start moving in.
The J ceilings are over 9′ high; 9’4″ I think. I don’t know how high the Beacon’s are but I’d be surprised if they were much higher than that. I’m not sure how one would compare building height by sight, York street, where the Beacon is, is quite a bit higher than Front street, where the J corners…
bc-
Apparently, they couldn’t get an easement from the Jehovas who own the site on that side of the building, so they had to put all of the mechanicals on the side with the best views!
interesting biotch — that’ll make a big difference in the feel of the units.