House of the Day: 156 Hicks Street
You know times are tough when a five-story brownstone in Brooklyn Heights hits the market for less than $3 million. In this case, there are extenuating circumstances: 156 Hicks Street is less than 16 feet wide, and is in need of some TLC. The raw materials are there (woodwork, mantels, etc.) but the $2,875,000 asking…
You know times are tough when a five-story brownstone in Brooklyn Heights hits the market for less than $3 million. In this case, there are extenuating circumstances: 156 Hicks Street is less than 16 feet wide, and is in need of some TLC. The raw materials are there (woodwork, mantels, etc.) but the $2,875,000 asking price still’s not a lay-up, primarily because, well, nothing’s a lay-up in this market. It will be interesting to see if houses that need work get penalized more than those in move-in condition the grim market marches on. Update: A tipster sent in some interior photos “from 4 or 5 years ago” that we posted at the bottom of the post; click through to check them out.
156 Hicks Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
bangs head on wall re renovation/refurbishment costs…
One really has to get quite far from the BQE not to hear it. I would say one needs to live in Clinton Hill or Crown Heights.
They have loud noises too but gunshots are quick. You hear them and they’re gone five or ten minutes later. Not like a highway (besides closing your window because of bullet fire is REALLY useless).
“I live on this stretch of this street, and while it is busy (lots of traffic coming off the BQE and heading north), it’s not so bad — you just shut your windows in the morning when it’s loudest from the trucks.”
it’s already been established that shutting your windows is not an option, as the many rebuttals i received when stating that at OBB you cant hear the trucks on the bqe.
apparently this is a problem in “prime” heights as well? i guess only people on side carriage house streets like love lane are able to open their windows in all of brooklyn.
meanwhile, buyers are printing out this thread to show the seller and offer him $1.5 million.
Alright, well if you all think it would cost a million dollars to redo this narrow brownstone, which judging by the pictures, looks like I could move into it tomorrow, maybe you are rght. I have not done this in a while. I just cannot imagine what you could spend the money on without going overboard and ruining the house. I never renovated a house on a dollar-per-square-foot basis, I would never let a contractor or architect bamboozle me with that. I would say what will this cost, this, this, this, and I got unit costs if we were not sure how many square feet of plaster would need to be replaced or flooring etc. If the house’s facades are a mess, then yes, the cost goes up. I will say this, if it really costs a million dollars to renovate this house then I pass. Cheerio all!
I live on this stretch of this street, and while it is busy (lots of traffic coming off the BQE and heading north), it’s not so bad — you just shut your windows in the morning when it’s loudest from the trucks.
We also looked at renovating a similar brownstone (and we’re not professional contractors) and found that it was going to be at least $200-300 p/sq/ft to do a basic, nice but not fancy, job. And, those were the estimates, so it proabably would come in on the high end of that.
If this place needs a real renovation, wiring, plumbing, kitchen, bathrooms, etc., figure it’s going to be around a million dollars (at least) and a year to do it.
Oh my gosh BRG, you and I are on opposite spectrums. There is nothing easier than replacing risers when you do it all at one time. If you have the house open and can do it from top to bottom it is so not a biggie. I have had new risers put in for an entire house in a day. The finishes are the biggie. And the custom stuff. piping venting and hvac are expenseive when you have to open up walls that would otherwise not need opening, but when you are doing a big renovation, it’s no big deal. By the way in a house like this, I would try to live on the fourth and fifth floors while the rest of the house was being done, then I would move below and finish up with the two top floors. I would not live in the Waldorf Astoria while the work was being done. Although the kids would go live with their grandma when the demolition dust etc was at its worst (usually just the first two weeks) Sistering joists and that sort of thing is child’s play. These houses have such simple structures it is not rocket science.
Yeah, I don;t like this location either. And I live right near here.
About renovations, it so depends on your taste. Their are things that you must do and things you don’t. How many places have I seen where the real estate agent with me with say, “well this will all need to be replaced, of course” upon walking into an original 1910 bathroom? I like that look and if it’s structurally sound, fine. Place I have now was marketed as needed renovation. It need work, but not that much. It was under 175k. Of course, my kitchen looks like the one in Moonstruck, but I like that look.
Poor Sam. Overly defensive because we trashed his “I can renovate 5 floors of a townhouse for $500,000” idea when the house, per a person that lived there, “definitely needed some facade repairs and a whole lot of work inside…”
Façade repair plus 12% architect’s fee plus 9 months rent = over $100,000. ooops, there went 1/5 of your budget before you touch the inside of the FIVE floors!
Could it be done? Yes. Would the result look like crap … Yes.
Like multiple people said .. People often underestimate the true cost of renovating one of these old townhouses.