House of the Day: 69 St. James Place
We featured this brownstone at 69 St. James Place in Clinton Hill as an Open House Pick back in June when it hit the market with a price tag of $1,995,000; it was reduced in September to $1,895,000 and again in November to $1,750,000, where it remains today. The house is in beautiful shape, with…
We featured this brownstone at 69 St. James Place in Clinton Hill as an Open House Pick back in June when it hit the market with a price tag of $1,995,000; it was reduced in September to $1,895,000 and again in November to $1,750,000, where it remains today. The house is in beautiful shape, with lots of original details and a recently resurfaced facade. We’ll see whether this will need another downward nudge to get a deal done. The fact that 298 Lafayette Avenue sold for $1,895,000 in August is encouraging, but that was pre-Lehman. Waddya think?
69 St. James Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Agree that prices will drop across the board, but the fact of the matter is that places like Clinton Hill and Crown Heights appreciated over the last decade in part because of a seeming built in price increase for gentrification that has yet to be seen.
The fact that houses in Crown Heights ask 1.3 million is obscene. Especially when 10 years ago they were selling for 300K. Crown Heights (most of it) is not a 1.3 million dollar house neighborhood. It’s wonderful, it has glorious architecture in parts, but I simply don’t think it’s worth that kind of money…YET.
10 years ago, a nice house in Park Slope cost over a million dollars and it was already a flourishing and vibrant neighborhood. The price increases in the more “prime” neighborhoods don’t seem to have appreciated at the rate that the fringe locations did in my opinion.
And they were appreciating based on a perceived future gentrification that now seems to be standing still or possibly even moving backwards as we move forward. People bought homes for 2 million dollars in these areas because they thought Myrtle was going to be just like Smith Street in a couple years.
As things were going, maybe they would have. But Franklin Avenue is not going to be anything like 5th Avenue anytime soon, and I believe the newer arrivals are not thrilled about it.
(And yes, I realize some don’t want anything to replicate Smith or 5th, but again I’m making generalizations and using examples I’m familiar with).
$1.795MM is still close to a top-of-the-market price. Whether you consider it fringe or not, this price isn’t enough of a discount in this economy. The owner should be happy to get $1.6.
‘Fringe’ is irrelevant. Pre-bubble price disparity factors it out. Prices will proportionately drop accross the board.
“not close to GOOD transportation”
You’re kidding, right? (C and G are as close as you could ask for.)
***Bid half off peak comps***
You used the term marginal, donatella…and I absolutely agree that the word marginal does not fit Clinton Hill.
I suppose in my mind I equate “fringe” with the fact that more often than not, it’s a neighborhood which is not a destination neighborhood.
By that I mean…I don’t hear people saying…I’m DYING to live in Clinton Hill. I hear them say they want to live in Carroll Gardens, Cobble Hill, Park Slope, Ft. Greene, and when they realize how expensive those places are, they expand their search to places like Clinton Hill.
To me, that makes in fringe, but I’ll quit it. The house is stunning and not everyone feels like I do, clearly.
I like “pre-Lehman” too. That is when everything hit the fan – there were signs for a long time and the first hit was in March with Bear Stearns but the environment before Lehman was a different universe. Apples and oranges. I like that house a lot – the neighborhood is not marginal at all, it is great, but in the macro sense, we are in limbo, a strange and horrible la la land. The economic environment is so uncertain that I think that there will be no pressure to buy. Things are going to be depressed for a while so unless the planets are lining up for the buyer, i.e. they need to make a move for some reason, the pressure to make a decision on a house is off and prices will reflect that.
I also think the term “fringe” needs to once again be readjusted now in these new times.
2 years ago, anything went in terms of fringe because people were so eager to grab up property as if it were a fire sale.
Today, I believe the fringe has moved closer. There are people who once again consider Bed Stuy, Clinton Hill, Crown Heights, Bushwick etc. fringe. It’s all relative and now that I say it, it’s actually a horrible term since everything could be considered fringe to someone else. Park Slope is still fringe for many Manhattanites.
But you see what I’m saying, I hope.
I think the borders of what we consider “fringe” in Brownstone Brooklyn have closed in a bit, just as prices have.
Maybe not in your mind, but in the mind of potential buyers…
When you can get a house in Park Slope for 2 million now, the pool of buyers wanting to pay 1.75 million for one in Clinton Hill becomes smaller. And this is not AT ALL meant to start a neighborhood war. I realize that tons of people would not want to live in Park Slope, even if they gave away houses, but just using that as an example because it’s what I know best…
I sort of agree re the 2-family point, but it’s not the deepest brownstone I’ve seen; it might be a bit cramped on the parlor floor if you put a kitchen/dining area there. You’ve already lost the front hall space. That’s why a lot of these shallow b’stones have kitchen extensions.
I’m not sure the kitchen situation is hurting here, unless it’s a total wreck. Really, it’s just the worst economy in 80 years that is the problem.
It’s not that I’m down on Clinton Hill at all, but I do believe it has perceived and very real “fringe” location aspects to it. I also think that living in a neighborhood makes you a bit blind to some of those things. In my case, also…
I think that 1.75 million for a house not close to GOOD transportation to Manhattan and multiple blocks to many basic services does make it a bit fringe-like. That’s not to say bad, but just a bit off the beaten path.
Just my personal opinion. Although I love Brooklyn and wouldn’t want to live in Manhattan again, I do enjoy feeling connected to it…both physically and in terms of the urban qualities that Manhattan life (and some Brooklyn neighborhoods) affords…shops, restaurants, dry cleaners, bars, a gym, grocery stores all within spitting distance.
This home is close to the great things in Ft. Greene, but it’s not in Ft. Greene. I think it’s priced as if it is.
“pre-Lehman”
I like that. I took a look at this baby over the summer. I confirm that it is nice inside. But I guess, aside from the sobered market, “legal two…used as a one family” makes it a hard sell. But it is my impression that they need to sell since the family has moved out to some farmland area. I see this eventually going for $1M. I mean if it hasn’t sold by now for $1.75M and the market is getting worse and worse…
***Bid half off peak comps***