Condos of the Day: 54 Hicks Street
The owners of 54 Hicks Street have been working on the conversion of the brick townhouse into a 3-unit condominium since early 2006 and are now bringing the finished project to the market themselves sans brokers. Of course, they had a little help along the way from Baxt Ingui Architects, themselves no strangers to townhouse…

The owners of 54 Hicks Street have been working on the conversion of the brick townhouse into a 3-unit condominium since early 2006 and are now bringing the finished project to the market themselves sans brokers. Of course, they had a little help along the way from Baxt Ingui Architects, themselves no strangers to townhouse renovations. Based upon DOB filings, there was three-story (if you include the basement) addition made to the rear of the building and quite a lot of reinforcing and moving of walls. How’s the end-product? Hard to say, as there are no interior photos provided and it looks from the outside like it’s still very much a work-in-progress. The owners must feel pretty good about it’s going to turn out, as they are asking $1,975,000 for the 1,788-square-foot uppermost apartment. Hopefully someone can give us the report from the open house yesterday; if not, we’ve got another shot at it next Sunday as well. Update: Check out how the FSBO’ers “borrowed” some of the marketing verbiage from a competing project in the nabe on the jump. What’s that they say about imitation being the highest form of flattery?
54 Hicks Street [FSBO] GMAP P*Shark
Here’s the original spiel from 118 State Street:
The Carriage House on State presents a rare opportunity to own a home in Brooklyn’s most desirable community. Located on a beautiful tree-lined street in Brooklyn Heights, the four-unit boutique condominium is the result of a complete renovation of a 150-year-old carriage house, reconfigured and adapted for modern living. No detail has been overlooked and no expense spared in the conversion of this stately early 19th century building into an exceptional collection of hand-crafted homes featuring the luxury finishes, top-of-the-line appliances, and materials of fine quality discerning buyers expect when purchasing new construction. The architect’s finely tuned touch is evident in the ample use of natural light and airy space, and in layouts that place a premium on stylish functionality for both growing families and couples who like to entertain. Unsurpassed in its design and construction quality, the Carriage House incorporates special features such as sound insulation between floors and walls, oversized windows, spacious baths, and pocket doors that collectively enhance the living experience within.
And now from the NYT FSBO ad for 54 Hicks Street:
This Brooklyn Heights Brownstone on Hicks Street represents a unique opportunity to own a large home with outdoor space in Brooklyn’s most desirable community. The 1840s building has undergone a complete 15 month renovation resulting in a three unit condominium that provides all modern amenities. Every detail has been considered and no expense spared in the conversion of this building into hand crafted homes featuring the luxury finishes, top-of-the-line appliances, and materials of fine quality expected when purchasing a newly constructed building.
8:00 pm – “this used to be a nice, house, and we all thought it would be a nice conversion, but the family that lived there i guess has sold out and now it’s condoville in the quaint heights.”
If 8:27 is right and it will be owner occupied, then what’s so bad about a 3-unit condo? Is that worse than if the owner rented out the other 2 units? Think you’d rather have 2 fellow owners than renters.
Ethnic slurs aside, does anyone think this place is actually worth almost $2mm??? That is crazy high in my opinion…
Haha! As an oriental Brit living in nyc I always laugh when ppl complain about that term. A chinese friend of mine reckons it all started in the west coast asian community and spread a year later to the east (ooh can I say that?) as all west coast asian trends do. When I asked him what his objection to the term was, all he could come up with was that it refers to objects such as carpets.
I’m sorry but when many Americans don’t even know when they should use “take” instead of their universal use of “bring” I can’t take it seriously when they try to point out alleged misuse of words.
Truly amazing to me how much hot air is spouted on this site by people who clearly don’t have a clue what they are talking about. Take guest at 3.42PM for one … For the record Baxt/Ingui are involved in both projects – hence the liberal use of the same text for the new Hicks Street listings. See the link below which should set that record straight: http://www.118state-bre.com/team.html. How about some facts, or at least some knowledge, before offering up all kinds of nonsensical observations as to who is/isn’t involved in one or another project. Facts, facts, facts – something increasingly hard to find in the Brownstoner dialog.
3:06, your cousin’s wife has no problem with the word oriental because she apparently loves white meat/matzo balls/chocolate nuts long time. In other words, she’s a yellow Uncle Tom (or Aunt Jemima – whatever floats your cousin’s boat).
From What I see it looks like it is the same family that still owns it? What about the location State street is relatively quite location with not a lot of traffic. Look at how tight this street is. The new stoop has to sweep onto the sidewalk it is so tight & there is a school within a stones throw of this place. Good luck when the buses are dropping off & picking up the kids.
this used to be a nice, house, and we all thought it would be a nice conversion, but the family that lived there i guess has sold out and now it’s condoville in the quaint heights. not the best block. guess the 1700 sf is coming from two floors.
I prefer oriental work. It adds to the price because it is exotic…Exotic is expensive, remember…
And I love getting up in the morning because I can look in the mirror and always see an oriental staring back at me. …I guess I prefer being oriental to being a chink…but I haven’t been called that in so long that saying the word to myself just now made me laugh! LOL!
My cousins are married to asians. My cousins are asian too…I asked them if “oriental” bothers them. They asked,”Which kind?”
BTW…we didn’t have any orien’lz working on our house…just Poles. My mother-in-law who grew up in Poland (pre-WWII…she ol’…) and her Polish friends call Poles “Pollacks”…go figure.
Touching on the actually property in question: It looks a mess. Hhhh…
4:42, at least the blurb doesn’t list “astounding finishes” like so many ads these days (even listed on condos that aren’t built yet).
FortGreener (AKA The Grammar Lady)
It’s hilarious to see the serious “greewashing” in the blurb!!
CAC: convenient maybe, but hardly green.
Since no specs were given on the heating, hard to say.
What’s green about low e windows (a 15 year old standard technology)
Good acoustics: I’ll have to put that in on my next bid, “adding to indoor sound quality (ISQ)”?
Great that CAT6 wiring is included for your massive data transfer needs. How is this green?
Hmmm. is that teak and walnut FSC?
etc etc
This developer is seriously green-challenged.