Trying to Flip the Greene Avenue Atrocity
Long-time readers will remember that the bane (alright, one of the banes) of our existence is a shockingly ugly two-family building at 220 Greene Avenue that was completed early last year. The middle-finger to the neighborhood sat on the market for several months before finally selling last October for an eye-popping $1,250,000. Perhaps suffering from…
Long-time readers will remember that the bane (alright, one of the banes) of our existence is a shockingly ugly two-family building at 220 Greene Avenue that was completed early last year. The middle-finger to the neighborhood sat on the market for several months before finally selling last October for an eye-popping $1,250,000. Perhaps suffering from a case of buyer’s remorse, the new owner dangled the property back on the market just three months later for what would have been a money-losing $1,200,000 before finding some renters to move in. Since then, the presence of the new building effectively sabotaged the sale of the lot next door, which was came on the market back in February for $650,000 and has since been reduced to $583,000. (Presumably it’s worth even less now under the new zoning.) Anyway, the current owner of Number 220 is now trying to unload the building for a whopping $1,400,000, a price made all the more surprising by the fact that, according to the new listing, at least one of the two units is occupied by Section 8 tenants who we can’t imagine are paying enough to cover the mortgage. At least the owner’s upgraded from a Craigslist bottom-feeder who misrepresented the property last time around with fake photos to a broker at Fillmore who may not realize quite what a tough sale he’s signed on for.
220 Greene Avenue, Listing #738098 [Fillmore] GMAP P*Shark
Actually, Greene Avenue Atrocity IS for Sale [Brownstoner]
Lot for Sale: Don’t Mind the POS Next Door [Brownstoner]
Never mind perseverate. I’d like to make this baby dissaparate — far, far away.
Maybe if they tie a big red ribbon around the “house”, someone will steal it!
I am not a designer, but the owner might be able to save this building (and really that is like bringing back the dead) but maybe putting up a thick wood exterior like some other creative townhouse owners have done in the past in Brooklyn. I think there have been posts here about them and people have generally been favorable. It would hide the nasty color and give it a better feel. Maybe a very dark wood? Thoughts?
Brownstoner:
Count me in for the $100. I live around the corner.
perverse-severance maybe? In light of recent financial news, what will this be worth next summer?
In that case, maybe you can explain why so many shmucks out there perseverate in building esthetic insults like this, and then try to flog them on the market?
Main Entry: per·sev·er·ate Pronunciation Guide
2 : to repeat or recur persistently : go back over previously covered ground
Pronunciation: p(r)sevrt
Function: intransitive verb
Inflected Form(s): -ed/-ing/-s
Etymology: Latin perseveratus, past participle of perseverare to persevere
1 : to manifest the phenomenon of perseveration
If that tenant could add some ivy or some kind of hanging plants that will eventually cover that entire facade, it will benefit the entire nabe. We always bitch and moan about all the mega-monstrosities being put up all over Brooklyn, so an ugly turd of a building like this tends to fall through the cracks. That’s it…maybe it could fall through the cracks!
Form follows function, boiled down to its essence. You have an apartment building, it needs a door to get in. You have an apartment on the first floor, it needs a window. You have an apartment on the second floor, it needs a window. Ditto third floor. City says you have to set back after the third floor, you set back. You have an apartment on the fourth floor, it needs a window.
That’s architecture – changing anything would ruin the essence. The real crime is the tenant who has ruined everything by adding flowers.