House of the Day: 213 Congress Street
Finally some fresh blood! It’s been slim pickings in the new listings department this year so far but this immaculate single-family brick at 213 Congress changes that. The 25-foot-wide house has had the same owner for four decades but appears to have recently undergone a pretty serious (and traditional) renovation, from the massive kitchen to…
Finally some fresh blood! It’s been slim pickings in the new listings department this year so far but this immaculate single-family brick at 213 Congress changes that. The 25-foot-wide house has had the same owner for four decades but appears to have recently undergone a pretty serious (and traditional) renovation, from the massive kitchen to the landscaped backyard. Whether the buyers out there are ready to pay up for it remains to be seen: The asking price is $4,400,000, or more than $1,000 a foot. Possible?
213 Congress Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
Waterfront,
Can you read? I said twice already today that I’ve walked this block many times. I’ve seen the buildings. Give it a rest.
Many not so nice looking buildings all over the city (I can think of 2 huge ugly buildings in Murray Hill) which spend a lot of time and care on the landscaping outside, no doubt to spruce up the lackluster exterior.
It’s really not rocket science.
I love how many boosters there are on today for these Congress Street buildings, but the SECOND something is posted about some far less hideous new construction place of 4 stories or more, you are all over letting everyone know how truly out of place and ugly it really is.
Whuh…I think that place is overpriced for at $4.4MM for anytime over the past two years, i.e. whenever the housing market peaked.
cetus….THAT is an incredible property!!! Probably went for somewhere around $4.4-4.6MM…where this HOTD is starting with a lot less to offer
I live not far away in a 22 footer (fifty feet on two floors and 40′ on the top two & cellar), total deemed ‘habitable’ 3,960 sq ft (despite what Property Shark says) but total usable is 4,840 sq ft. (and the finished cellar that cost us $200,000 in early 2007 ($227 psf) is way more than ‘usable’ with gym, media room, play room, laundry and 1/2 bath (all to code).
Like this one, my view is not the best however it is clear ground (which can’t be built on) as opposed to a building that blocks my morning light. Also unlike this one we face the north/east so we get fabulous afternoon sun streaming into our back bedroom and kitchen (south/west facing).
Honestly I think $4.4 is a stretch. Honestly for the seller $3.5 would be an excellent price for this – but maybe $2.8-$3m is more likely as if I bought it (and given I just spent $400k on 2,200 sq ft with new kitchens, bathrooms, a/c etc) I’d want to rip out the kitchen and start again.
And as they don’t show them probably the bathrooms too.
how come no one ever mentions this place – I can’t stop looking at the listing and some one bought it…
http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=910789
“You do realize that the reason WHY they spend so much time on the flowers and landscaping is precisely BECAUSE they know the buildings are unattractive.”
Oh, good grief. Did you discover this information “precisely” from the same pictures that gave you such insight into exactly what it looks like in person?
Dave –agreed, 4.4 is psycho, down the line, and not only because this is not a perfect location. But I thought I might get some mercy here for being, for once, something of an optimist. I live around the corner from this place, bitterly renting, and regard this as nearly the perfect location. Cobble Hill park, Ted and Honey, and Congress does not extend beyond Court to Smith, so it’s a pretty dead street. Melikes the house, but rue the unyielding state of the bubble –what would this have sold for in ’04?
“The point about rows of brownstones being the true brownstone experience is valid, but certainly not for everybody.”
But it is for me. Which is my point. Which you can’t seem to grasp. A 6 or 8 story building across multiple lots across the street is, at best, out of context.
I can’t hold that personal opinion??? Sheesh.
I’ve seen the “unsightly” buildings many times in person, and I wouldn’t want to live across the street for it if I were paying 4.4 million.
In fact, I’m not sure what amount of money would do it, when there are plenty of other beautiful blocks with less expensive houses not across from 3 huge hulking ugly brick buildings.
But as Dave has said, if you love it, go buy it.
We are each entitled to our own opinions.
Let’s use the house right next door as a comp:
211 Congress Street closed on October 17, 2008, just 3 months ago, for $2.3 million. It’s also 25×100, but is 400 sq ft smaller, according to Property Shark. From the picture it appears to be one of those 3 1/2 story (hidden story) houses.
$4.4 million for this house is just way too high. The whole “renovated by the current long-time owner” tends to mean it’s basically been maintained, not necessarily upgraded or anything involving a large investment.
And yes, having ANY kind of apartment building across the street, interfering with views and light, does have a negative effect on value, no matter what all you cheerleaders will argue. It’s a basic truth of real estate.