Condo Beat: Sky High in Boerum Hill
We all know that Boerum Hill is hot, hot, hot, what with the influx of star power and the prospect of the first retail jail in the country, but we didn’t realize it was quite this hot. This top-floor condo at Wyckoff and Smith has got killer light and a pleasing clean, simple modern finish….
We all know that Boerum Hill is hot, hot, hot, what with the influx of star power and the prospect of the first retail jail in the country, but we didn’t realize it was quite this hot. This top-floor condo at Wyckoff and Smith has got killer light and a pleasing clean, simple modern finish. But have apartment prices, even for the nicest ones, really reached $850 a square foot in this neck of the woods? As an aside, this place looks vaguely familiar–especially the custom shelving in the living room that walls off the small baby room. We’re pretty sure this place was the subject of a NY Times real estate porn piece within the last year or two.
88 Wyckoff Condo [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
Went to this last sunday. Low ceilings compared to the rest of the building it seems, the bedroom is small, the baby room is a joke, and there must be at least 150 sf of hallway which is just dead space. The design is nice, but nothing worth paying for. The windows are at odd heights on one wall, and while there’s a nice view, it looks like the lower floors have much more substantial windows. I would say maybe 650 or so. It’s just a 1BR
I live in the building and I think this is ludicrous! If it was a real two bedroom, then I would understand, but a large 1BR for close to a million bucks? Puh-leez! I say 700 tops!
Some comments about this apartment seem to miss the point…
..that this location is not prime real estate like Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill (which are home to those better private schools, btw), and therefore should not be priced head and shoulders above comparables in the actual prime areas of Heights and Cobble Hill.
Smith Street is a less-attractive, former/still barrio aesthetic fringe area adjacent to these better neighborhoods.
Again, prices, even for the picturesque Heights and Cobble Hill, START in the $600s per square foot, and only the most exclusive properties go over $800/sf.
Sure it is nice to live near the amenities of the nicer neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill (and even parts of Carroll Gardens and more prime brownstone parts of Boerum Hill), but lets not fool ourselves that Smith Street area for its commerical traffic, famous morning trash problems, far less attractive and cheap-looking buildings, and location right down the block from the projects merits higher prices than the prime neighborhoods that actually have all the valuable amenities.
Again, better to live in a classic prime neighborhood and walk a few blocks to the new hodgepodge of Smith Street than live above it.
Some comments about this apartment seem to miss the point when it comes to good schools in the area (maybe you don’t all have kids). We’re not only talking about public schools here, but private ones as well. While it may seem ludicrous to want to pay to live near a school that costs $20k in tuition each year, take it from me that convenience is major to quality of life. I schlep with my kids to this area for school each morning, and it’s wearing thin. As a result of my frustration, I’ve been looking for just this kind of place (maybe a little bigger) and I can’t say I’ve seen a lot that are more affordable (maybe they should cut $50k from the price, though). This really is a unique neighborhood, projects or not, and it’s not quite the same when it takes 1/2 hour to commute to it.
What loft buildings are in that area? Only ones I know are on Atlantic or way down near the BQE.
the average “new condo” price in Boerum Hill is about $700psf. That’s based on the typical 2bd,2ba 1000sf layout going for around $700k. I’d say existing units that aren’t right across from the pj’s would be about $600psf (but you don’t see many for sale).
Also, based on the difference in schools (that it is PS 261, not the other a few blocks away), the school for this apartment is pretty good:
http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=447
..although the following are usually the ones consistently rated at the top and considered major real estate draws:
Park Slope PS 321
http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=450
Cobble Hill PS 29
http://www.insideschools.org/fs/school_profile.php?id=430
Still, given how much so many other surrounding schools have improved in recent years due to improvement of neighborhoods and heavy parental involvement, perhaps there may be a number of other schools (including perhaps PS 261) that soon join 321 and 29 in achieving the very highest marks and results.
May just be a matter of time, with so many neighborhoods improving at current torrid pace and so few (and so few affordable) slots at private schools finally motivating the legions of new parents to make the best of the public school in their zone.
I stand corrected.. PS 261 on Pacific Street (for which this apartment is zoned) was not the school busted for the tests cheating incident.
The PS busted for the cheating incident is zoned starting 2 blocks south of this apartment.
Anonymous 11:47am and Anonymous 4:10pm:
This is not a neighborhood with one of the “great schools.”
Park Slope PS 321 and Cobble Hill PS 29 (and perhaps recently now PS 8 in Brooklyn Heights) are the neighborhoods with the great puiblic schools.
The public school this apartment is zoned for is more like just an “okay, not great” school, one that certainly would look attractive to anyone in other neighborhoods that have schools that truly do rate poorly and produce unfortunate results.
In fact, one of the schools serving Smith Street community (perhaps this one) was just busted this past year by City and State officials for providing and discussing the actual test forms and answers for a major city/statewide standardized tests to all kids the day before the exam, just so their kids would score better and the school would not get a lower rating.
The cheating scandal was all over the local papers, and I think the principal was fired or suspended or something.
Grrrreeeeeaaat.