House of the Day: 408 Stuyvesant Avenue Revisited
This house at 408 Stuyvesant Avenue in Stuyvesant Heights (house on right) is such a gem that it’s hard to put down but when it was listed last winter with Halstead the $2,100,000 asking price was met by universal derision in the comments section of the thread. Well, not surprisingly, the property failed to move…
This house at 408 Stuyvesant Avenue in Stuyvesant Heights (house on right) is such a gem that it’s hard to put down but when it was listed last winter with Halstead the $2,100,000 asking price was met by universal derision in the comments section of the thread. Well, not surprisingly, the property failed to move at that price and Corcoran wound up with the listing where it’s recently been cut from $1,950,000 to $1,895,000. Frankly, it seems like it’s still got a ways to go, especially considering the tenant who’s looking pretty comfortable in that sixth unit. Waddya say? $1,600,000? $1,500,000?
408 Stuyvesant Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
408 Stuyvesant Avenue [Brownstoner]
Go get ’em, 4:24, and thank you, 4:08 and 4:45. This is a beautiful block in a great community, and has been for the 50 years, and from the looks of it, will be years into the future. A nay sayer or two or three will not change that one bit.
Stuyvesant Heights is one of the quietest areas not only in Bedford Stuyvesant but in New York City. It is like living in a park full of beautiful lime/brownstones. Most of the Public Housing in Bedford Stuyvesant is on the Williamsburg or Bushwick boarders of the neighborhood. This neighborhood has the largest number of Brownstones outside of Harlem unfortunately many are not kept. In the late 40s and 50s when the city was giving brownstone owners money to “renovate†houses, Bedford Stuyvesant were left out the loop which is a good thing today. Many houses still have there original everything. Every once in a while you might hear loud music from a car passing you buy but that is everywhere in the World. You can find this same house on Prospect Park West for 5 million if you want but for 1.6 this is a real steal.
3:59PM, what a crock of shit! You don’t know what the heck you are talking about. I live on highly regarded Bainbridge between Stuyvesant Avenue and Malcolm X. Gun fights? Are you kidding me? Not over here! There are no public housing projects in Stuyvesant Heights and I haven’t heard a single gun shot in my five years of living on this street. The large and notorious public housing facilities (Marcy and Tompkins) that are riddled with drugs and crime are located on the Bushwick border, more than a mile away. This is one of the safest, cleanest and most stable sections of Bed-Stuy. You my friend sound like a complete and utter idiot. You have no credibility to speak of.
One piece of advice, know a neighborhood before you try to open your big fat mouth and make disparaging remarks. If I had to guess, you’re probably someone looking to buy in the area but don’t have the money to pay fair market value so you seek to play on peoples fears in the fleeting hope of holding prices lower. Get a life…
$1.2M will not happen. That’s just a pipe dream. This is Stuyvesant Heights and the house is one of the best homes on “Mansion Row”. I think it should sell and will sell, given COO and holdover tenant issues for no more than $1.4M. The sister mansion to the right, 404 Stuyvesant Avenue is also on the market and it’s a legitimate two family that will be delivered vacant. 404 is a wonderful property. That property is listed for $1.6M and is not being marketed correctly by small time Fort Greene broker L. Nelson & Associates (not even advertised in the NY Times). From what I understand, they’ve received bids as high at $1.4M and the seller is wiling to lose it at $1.5M but beyond that no one is budging.
There seems to be some healthy turnover on “Mansion Row” as old time residents look to capitalize on present real estate prices and perspective buyers speculate on the continued improvement of one of the truly beautiful sections of Bed-Stuy. 416 Stuyvesant Ave exchange hands last June for $1.175M but despite a beautiful and very expensive renovation job that house is nowhere the size and caliber of 404 and 408 Stuyvesant Ave. Further, 391 Stuyvesant was purchased in an estate sale last January for $975k and I hear that the owner, who is using it as a single family, is putting north of $750K into that property.
More importantly, 393 Stuyvesant is currently on the market as the owner is quickly approaching foreclosure, e.g., has about 15 days left. Brownstoner, you should check this one out. There’s a “for sale” sign with phone number in the window and the owner said that he would move it at $800K though I suspect that he will take $50K-$75K less. I think that this represents a good arbitrage opportunity as this property is in the same condition of 391 Stuyvesant when purchased and can be probably be fetched for $200k less.
For those who are not familiar with Stuyvesant Avenue, you must go out to see if for yourself. It’s truly beautiful. Not just this block but the entire historic district of Stuyvesant Heights. Well kept homes on quintessential tree lined brownstone blocks. Almost every home has a lit lamppost which makes the entire area look at night as if it was cut out of a movie. Throughout the historic district you’ll find ornately decorated flower baskets on the sidewalks on iron pedestals and maintained wonderfully by neighboring property owners. This a well established and stable section of Bed-Stuy. I’m also encouraged by the fact that the area is attracting well heeled buyers who are investing no insignificant sum to restore these fabulous homes to their former glory.
“I think the link said they would be starting to show it yesterday.”
Yeah inside it is as the pictures describe, with a slightly awkward “billiard room” (not shown). If I had to nitpick I’d say the kitchen isn’t going to please anyone who peruses new kitchen design magazines, the backyard is very small compared to the grandeur of the house, the porch is not wraparound, the small wooden single garage is also making no concessions to modernity.
On the other hand the restoration has been done with obsession for authenticity, to a fault, almost. The third floor is just as real and usable as the second. A lot of rooms!
Might be a nice street but there are gang gun fights (between the surrounding projects) a block away (malcolm x and fulton) all the time. That area is home to some of the worst projects. The place looks great but I highly doubt they’d get 1.5 because of the area.
I also agree with Denny.
I think the owners did themselves a large disservice by renovating for resale. This type of house is a unique type of sale. I don’t think the owners did their research of this kind of property before putting it on the market.
It is one of the premier pieces of architecture on the premier street of a landmarked area. As such, it is special and highly prized, for the spacious layout and period detail. Most buyers interested in one of these houses would want most of the house to live in, with perhaps one tenant, depending on how much money they bought for, renovation costs, etc, etc. As a seller, knowing that, I would not have renovated at all, I’d leave that to the buyer, and I’d knock the price down to realistic levels, and find out what similar places are going for.
I’ve been in several of these houses, on Bed Stuy house tours, and they are wonderful – spacious, simply, yet elegantly detailed, often with stained glass ceilings in the dining room extension. That’s what someone is willing to pay over a million dollars for in Stuy Heights, not just another overly redone multifamily. It would be worth the wait to change the C of O, and see if you could buy the tenant out, or something, not just try for what is obviously not working out – big bucks easy money.
Agree with Denny, probably $1.2. Nothing has gotten that price in the area.
I’m also with Denny. By the way, the Corcoran site has it listed at $1.79, so looks like it was already cut again. This is just too much of a headache for the price.
On another note – did anyone go look at the House of the Day in Prospect Park South that was listed at $1.69 this weekend? I am a little in love with it based on the pictures and walking by and wondered if it really is nice inside. I think the link said they would be starting to show it yesterday.