House of the Day: 591 Union Street
We totally have a crush on this funny little house at 591 Union Street in Gowanus. It’s not big and it doesn’t have a lot of old-school architectural detail, but it’s a charmer. The 60-foot front yard has huge possibilities and the old floorboards and exposed wood-beamed ceilings provide the building blocks of a very…
We totally have a crush on this funny little house at 591 Union Street in Gowanus. It’s not big and it doesn’t have a lot of old-school architectural detail, but it’s a charmer. The 60-foot front yard has huge possibilities and the old floorboards and exposed wood-beamed ceilings provide the building blocks of a very cool place. According to Property Shark, the house is only 1,000 square feet, but there’s tons of unused FAR if you wanted to add another floor or two. Anyway, in the right hands, this could be something special, IOHO. Thoughts?
591 Union Street [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP P*Shark
But it is super cute…that is undeniable. I just wouldn’t want to live there…and I love the Gowanus area.
Also I hope the slump does make realtors start doing just a little work…like proof-reading their listings!
Nope.
You cannot build any additional residential area on that lot as long as it is zoned M1-2.
The house was built BEFORE the zoning was made manufacturing and the houses in the area were grandfathered in. Now that it is M1-2…and it IS…you cannot add any additional residential area on that spot. It can only ever be the house that it is. You probably can’t even tear it down and rebuild it.
I’ve looked at houses in the area and had my contractor look into it. I’ve also seen people not know this and try to buy homes around there and not be able to get a mortgage because YOU CANNOT BUILD there. It’s true.
You could build an office building or something…but NOT residential. That’s why all the hotels are around there…commercial not residential.
That and it backs up to a very bad/toxic smelling warehouse with overflowing barrels of stuff right under the rear windows…so you can’t even open them without stinking up the whole TINY place. I’ve seen it.
And let’s not forget the overflowing Gowanus, which I imagine reaches this place during a good summer storm. Can we call the front yard a private ‘lap pool’ then?
I like how those rough floors look with the exposed beams, especially. It could inspire somebody’s reno. If you exposed beams in a house then laid down reclaimed, wide-plank wood floors with lots of character and texture, it would have a nice effect. European farmhouse-esque.
I don’t understand the zoning thing Doghouse talks about. But as a residence, is it possible to build a 2nd building as part of the residence in front of the main house? If so, somebody could put a car garage all the way in front, with a guesthouse/office over it, then there’d be a private enclosed garden in between that and the main house. Very cool if that that were possible.
It’s cute and loads of FAR…but it’s zoned M1-2 so until the government changes the zoning…YOU CAN’T CHANGE A THING.
It’s got to retail it current footprint or become a non-residential building. I’ve looked into it.
It’s cute and loads of FAR…but it’s zoned M1-2 so until the government changes the zoning…YOU CAN’T CHANGE A THING.
It’s got to retail it current footprint or become a non-residential building. I’ve looked into it.
An amusing error on the A&H website – they actually left off a zero on the asking price of that Center Slope house, so technically it says 140,000 – is this some kind of realtor’s version of a Freudian slip?
onefineday – be patient, I think you will be rewarded. Yes, what the new owner of Center Slope house is thinking is a mystery. Clearly, the market already spoke on this house – he had the highest bid and won at 975K, but if the market could bear a higher price, it would have when he bought. Now, the economy is in a much different place, and he wants to jack UP the price? Crazy. That said, there is ample evidence of a correction beginning. Just recently, a prime house on 3rd St, being sold by Corcoran, was cut $400K (from 2.999 to 2.599). Granted, this is still very expensive for a 1st time home buyer, but suddenly, the much more modest homes asking 2.599 (i.e. a recent HOTD on 8th Avenue) seem to be priced much too high compared to this much grander house which is suddenly at the same price level. So, the cuts will eventually trickle down and indeed you should finally be able to buy a home as a first time buyer.
Miss Muffett, I am also astounded by the overpricing on the Center Slope house, though have a hunch its not entirely the fault of Aguayo & Huebener since the same house was recently FSBO on Craig’s List for 1.35. Can’t imagine what they are thinking, since they have made no improvements to the place and anyone can log onto property shark and see what they bought it for! But this is not the first or last example of that kind of wishful thinking, I suppose. I was hoping a market correction would help me and my family get in the door as first time home buyers…we shall see.
As for the house of the day, although obviously overpriced it has some charm- I love the rafters and the idea of a huge front yard!