North Brooklyn: Condo Graveyard?
Well, not quite, but the NY Observer wonders if the condo boom around McCarren Park might go bust. “In North Brooklyn (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and the Navy Yards), condominiums accounted for three-quarters of residential sales in the spring of 2008, according to market reports by appraisal firm Miller Samuel,” they write. “Between then and the spring…
Well, not quite, but the NY Observer wonders if the condo boom around McCarren Park might go bust. “In North Brooklyn (Williamsburg, Greenpoint and the Navy Yards), condominiums accounted for three-quarters of residential sales in the spring of 2008, according to market reports by appraisal firm Miller Samuel,” they write. “Between then and the spring of last year, condo sales in the area fell by almost 30 percent, from 174 to 122 sales.” Not as bad as some other neighborhoods, apparently. They say that Brooklyn’s overall home sales plummeted 43.6% at the same time. Many new North Brooklyn developments have clustered around McCarren Park (after all, pretty soon those buildings can claim a giant pool in their front yard), and while some aren’t hurting, the story singles out 55 Eckford, a Scarano project plagued by financing troubles and stop work orders, as well as the infamous Finger Building. The big difference in future sales may be that a buyer wants to see the place finished before they drop the down payment; floor plans alone will no longer be enough to seal the deal.
The Ghost Condos of McCarren Park [NY Observer]
Condos Near McCarren Park. Photo by A.J. Kandy.
For one, the crime increase is in the prct that serves the southside of williamsburg, and is due to an increase of intra-gang violence amongst the hispanic gangs. The machete attack was on south 5th street, hardly prime northside, and was gang on gang violence. And it was a 31% increase of a relatively low number – Crime stats are still lower in northside and southside then Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy, Fort Greene etc.
That said, I agree with 11217 that the excess inventory and current market conditions will be trouble for the developers and people who went into contract a while ago (if they didn’t plan on staying put for a while)
I think Williamsburg is much more appealing to many people, including those who have bought new condos. I don’t know of many people who have “settled” for Williamsburg because they couldn’t afford Park Slope or Brownstone, Brooklyn. There isn’t really much of a discount, or any (for now) for comparable housing stock.
That said, as I’ve mentioned before, I think brownstone brooklyn will fare better than North Brooklyn, due to the transient nature of the majority of the people in north brooklyn, which gives the area it’s vibrancy.
Brooklyn will always and forever be the place that people want to live
I can’t wait for the squatters to start moving in.
Wine lover,
Judging from the article these comments were about and from the copy I posted today from the Northside Piers “advertisement” it would actually seem as though demand is next to nothing right now.
I’ve never seen a more desperate ad than the one I posted above. Never.
In contrast, the inventory in the brownstone neighborhoods seems still historically low to me.
I’ll let ya know when I sell my place if I have to write…”You will be hipper and your tastes will heighten just by associating yourself with the neighborhood of Park Slope” to get the place sold, and then we can talk…
It’s not about being down on Williamsburg, it’s about the fact that there is and will continue to be a huge surplus of really hideous, new condos coming onto the market…many of which are going to probably sit for quite some time before they are sold, which will in turn drag prices down more than in neighborhoods with really tight inventory.
And calling McCarren a park is laughable. It’s a university quad with each person trying to look more freakish than the next. I inhaled more 2nd hand smoke when I was there a couple weeks ago than I would had I spent the day inside Joan Rivers dressing room.
oh wow. do any of you live in williamsburg? how can statements be made like there’s no community for families? ridiculous. there’s a huge connected yahoo group – brooklynbabyhui for families. it’s amazing.
i attended the recent school fair with neighbors and saw others there. families definitely stick together and the community is wonderful.
i personally chose williamsburg for several reasons. the number one being it’s closeness to manhattan. it gives us the ability to get to and from manhattan quickly, and we feel that we can have the space that williamsburg affords while not feeling that we can’t use the city easily because it’s too far. also love walking home over the bridge after work – it’s beautiful, and i enjoy it to its fullest.
also, the psf price here was better than anywhere else in gentrified brooklyn, so we got an amazing space that we simply couldn’t get elsewhere.
next, mccarren park is very close and we spend a great deal of time there. it’s getting better and better -100 trees planted this year and the pool is coming.
regarding the actual amenities here – they are fabulous. we really do go out and it matters to us. great shops, restaurants and galleries.
regarding the crime -it’s as noted above – limited to the edges and not in prime williamsburg.
if you don’t like it, fine, but from my experience a lot of people love it here, and can’t think of where else they’d go. a co-worker today just bemoaned the fact that the owner of the building where he rents may move back, and he said god forbid i have to move to clinton hill or something.
this site is so down on williamsburg, but if you have the money, go low ball a couple of condos for investments and rent them out. you’ll do well. the demand to live here is much higher than many of the posters are giving it credit for.
dosteov – it does seem odd and I have no stats – just anecdotal. But in my life in NYC I know virtually no females who have been mugged, whereas almost every male I know has been mugged at least once. On the other hand, I know a woman who was raped in Central Park – which kind of balances it out (in a horrible kind of way).
Good one, SnarkSlope.
GKW men are more often the victims of muggings then women? Do you have any stats to back that up (I’m not saying you’re wrong but I just find that odd).
I just googled it out of curiosity and the only thing I could come up with was Park Slope. From the article.
“circulated via the Park Slope Parents Group that says some serial muggers seem to be hard at work in Park Slope and are targeting women.”
It also mentions that crime was up 33% in January 08 in the Slope.
dosteov – I also grew up here, and moved to hell’s kitchen right when the crack epidemic was taking off. I never was the victim of a crime, although guns went off on my corner every night and once a prostitute hid behind me when I was letting myself in because a pimp was chasing her. On the other hand, my father (6’4″) was laid on his back at gunpoint and mugged. the truth is in my experience, women are generally safer than men on the streets of NYC as they are less often targets of muggings. of course, when they are targeted, its for something much worse. However, my main point is that when you’re familiar with any neighb, you have a good sense of what is and isn’t safe and this woman probably knew the street and knew she was fine.