Sales Begin at Brooklyn's Biggest Condo Conversion
While Starrett City’s uncertain future as a middle-class enclave has been grabbing media attention, condo sales have quietly begun at a neighboring former Mitchell-Lama. Sales began this week at East New York’s MeadowWood at Gateway, a sprawling rental complex that used to be known as Fairfield Towers. Nearly 1,000 units are up for grabs, making…
While Starrett City’s uncertain future as a middle-class enclave has been grabbing media attention, condo sales have quietly begun at a neighboring former Mitchell-Lama. Sales began this week at East New York’s MeadowWood at Gateway, a sprawling rental complex that used to be known as Fairfield Towers. Nearly 1,000 units are up for grabs, making the property Brooklyn’s largest condo conversion. According to a press release, the apartments are going for between $100,000 and $340,000, though they’ll be offered at a discount to current residents. Taconic Investment Partners and Apollo Real Estate Advisors purchased the complex last year and pledged to put $40 million into rehabbing it. (The condos are being sold by Fillmore Real Estate, which has yet to add the listings to its website.) In light of Starrett City’s possible shift to market-rate rentals, it’ll be interesting to see whether buyers jump at the option to own at a nearby property.
Starrett City’s Owners Look to Leave Mitchell-Lama [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo from Taconicinvestments.com
The one thing that is confusing me about the prices of the units. The Dept of Finance Market Value statement tells me that my unit is worht $31, 878, but thet are asking me $219,000. Whats the difference? I am interested in purchasing, but I wanna know if the price can be haggled down.
Hey Pauline of Clinton Hills,
An opinion is like an a-hole, everybody has one. Whether that comment about Meadwood is correct or not, a person has a right to express themself.
Check the constitution. If anyone wants to buy
they will. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.
Pauline from Clinton Hill, I’ve read your comments numerous times and you truly sound like an uneducated fool, which is to say, you shouldn’t comment on this forum.
Wow, only 4,000 violations and a few hundred more to clear up
how lucky are you! You and your neighbors been living in Fairfield for over thirty year and you say you like it. Not once did you talk about anything you or your neighbors did to rectify your living conditions. I admire the people at Starett City, for fighting for their apartments. They might not win the battle, but they are fighting a good war. Shame on you and your neighbors for doing nothing to help yourselves.What happen to your tenants association? you people stood by and let people come in and take your homes from you. Now they are making people buy their apartment with those few hundred uncleared up violations or move. You say they will clear up the violations after renovations. That’s like putting the cart before the horse. First you fix up the apartments, then you rent. Look at the bigger picture, I am not predjudice, but when people of color moved in Fairfield the other people moved out. This area is now prime, so now they want to move back in. They will be able to because most people of color don’t have the money or good credit. Those with bad credit get their loan at a higher rate. After you pay property taxes, maintenance fees, and mortgages, can you still afford to live there?
The end result is foreclosure and homelessness This is a move to get rid of the poor. Everywhere you go nothing but condos. We are being invaded and pushed out of our homes. Harlem, USA was once the home of the black renaissance, not anymore blacks are being pushed out whites are moving in. If you are poor and barely can pay your rent, there is no place for you anymore. I guess they will have to build more shelters or people will have to flee to the south. I do believe in the american dream to own, but some people are not as fortunate as you to borrow money to pay for a 90,000 studio. Is it ok for them to keep barely paying their rent and be left alone? Not being able to buy a condo, does not mean you have no dream, it simply means how can I commit to a project I can’t afford. Much luck with those few hundred violations
hope they do get fix after the fact.
Regarding 5:22 PM comment, I guess you do not live in East New York and Fairfield oops MeadowWood. I have been living here for 18 years! I have seen first hand what improvement they are doing, and I’m grateful! For many years we have been neglected and I know that they are spending 45 million in improvements and I had my lawyer & accountant whom read my prospectus book and they verify that these sponsors are real that is why they allocated millions of dollars in reserve for the next decade on this complex alone! They had over 4,000 of violation now they only have a few hundred which is being satisfied after the renovation is done-Do you have a prospectus? Do you know the history of this complex? Did you know all these years we had slum lords (no heat, elevator problem , gas leak and more) and I had to live in those condition? There are many people that lives here that always wanted to buy and have been here for over 25 years. I feel that having them buy the complex was a blessing and my neighbors and I are grateful! They have done my building elevator, roof, windows, boiler, roof fan, chimney, lanscaping, siding, security, cameras, gym, laundry area, parking lot, balconies and more! I know that my apartment is not fixed up but they are giving me the opportunity to buy my studio for $ 90,000.00 with all different grants and it’s cheaper than renting! I’ve been renting all this time and I had a opportunity to buy my unit for $30,000.00 in 1990 but I listen to people like you and regret it to this day! If you do not personally live here – keep your comment to yourself!! I live in 5C and I am in contract to buy my unit! I do not want people like you living here, with their negative stereotype. I’m also on a fixed income. By the way, I do work in Manhattan and there is a express (command bus) that stops at the corner which takes me 45 minutes to work! I’m buying my unit now (for my adult son) before it does become unaffordable! Did you hear about the Mariner and the New York water taxi coming to the neighborhood? It’s consider the largest affordable housing in Brooklyn- Which means it’s affordable! Buying my unit for $ 90,000.00 is consider affordable to a fixed income plus they pay my closing fees & my interest rate is 5.125% – I’m paying more on renting than owning!
There is no fool worse than a educated fool. Remember, all that glitter is not gold. Don’t be fooled by Shit dressed up in a pretty dress, shit still stinks. Don’t be fooled by their model apartments,trust me the other apartments don’t look like that.
Go to the building of records and check their violations. Most people of color can’t afford to buy, which is what they are hoping for. This is to attract People from Manhattan. Who lives in Manhattan? Does anyone care about the people in this complex who can’t afford to buy. If these people are living on a fixed income can’t afford to buy where do they go? I guess they and their children go to hell. I write this comment in good faith for people who will find themselves homeless. Do your homework before you put your name on the dotted line.
I currently live in MeadowWood and intend to purchase my unit. For all the negative comments I’ve read, apparently those who have bad things to say are living in mansions. I cannot afford that type of lifestyle, but for the opportunity for homeownership, this is a bargain.
As for the comment posted by 8:06, you seem to be highly ignorant and disrespectful towards hardworking people who are striving to get a piece of the american dream. Before you criticize and put people down, walk outside, take a good look at the building you live in and if you don’t have to drive through a long, tree lined driveway with an electric gate and pillars in front, then you need to wake up from that dream.
This is one of the good deals available in Brooklyn, at least they are not claiming it’s the Ritz Carlton or anything and don’t charge 500k for a studio which is fresh breath of air in Brooklyn.
They’ll be all gone soon enough and than people can go back to paying $675/SQF in the slope.
OK, let’s clear a few things up:
1.) Fillmore Real Estate is one of the oldest brokers in Brooklyn (operations since 1966). One of their offices is located at 9317 Avenue L, which makes it the closest large brokerage.
2.) Mitchell-Lama was a subsidy/rent-control deal offered by NYS and NYC in the mid-70’s, when the city’s economy was TRASHED. The ML provided subsidies to the landlords in exchange for reserving a percentage of units for rent-controlled tenants – in essence, assuring that low-income / working-poor people would have a place to live.
The subsidy has a limited lifespan, either 20 or 25 years (sorry, can’t remember which). After that, the landlord HAS TO convert to ownership. And no, you can’t renew, this isn’t a Mets season ticket 😉
3.) What Taconic did with Meadowwood is convert to condos, but with the OPTION for all existing renters (market-rate AND stabilized) to purchase the units with a DISCOUNT (“insider price”) AND a one-time subsidy from the city. Altogether, they’re looking at $20,000 – $ 50,000 in discounts. Now, this is just an estimate (the on-site broker is under a confidentiality agreement), but still, $50K off… not bad!
4.) All the apartments that were vacant have been totally renovated. I was there today, and DAMN! You don’t expect this in East New York – bamboo floors, designer furniture, new A/C, good appliances, and almost all the units have balconies. Granted, the buildings themselves still look VERY 1970’s Stalinist Gothic, but inside, the reno units are pretty nice.
5.) Considering the current rent payments VS the mortgage cost after the subsidy + discount, it’s very apparent that the vast majority of current renters will SAVE money by owning. A calculation done on an actual studio shows that the tenant-cum-owner will save about $300/month. Add the approximately-18-percent tax savings by being a homeowner, and it’s a pretty sweet deal. Of course, the savings will vary according to the size of the apartment, the tenant’s rent type (market / stabilized), and the type of mortgage, but still. Do the math *instead* *of* *assuming*, and you’ll see that this is a GODSEND to all the blue-collar people living there.
6.) In response to “1:32PM” – well, if the landlord is a greedy bastard, OF COURSE they will want to keep the building as rental, and raise the rates. However, Taconic is a long-term-strategy group, and is counting on the cash flow from the sales to recoup the cost of capital improvements, then continue to get profit from the ongoing maintenance payments. They’re in it for DECADES, not years like most slumlords.
7.) Regarding public transportation… The B13 bus connects to the A/C line (Euclid Avenue), the B6 connects to the 3 (New Lots Avenue) and has a transfer to the B15, which goes to the L train (New Lots Avenue). The Belt is right around the corner – it took me about 15 mins to get to Meadowwood from Gravesend.
8.) Last but not least, I was EXTREMELY impressed with what Fillmore is doing for the residents. First off, there are weekly seminars where they explain the different mortgage options, so people can understand exactly what they’re getting into. How many brokers do you know that give you a freaking seminar, AND a personal consulation, before you buy? Exactly.
Moreover, since there was an issue with gas delivery this weekend (thanks a lot, Keyspan!), people in one building didn’t have cooking gas – over the course of 3 days! What did Fillmore do? Well, the on-site sales manager organized a DINNER for everyone. When I walked in, my first thought was “WTF? Isn’t this a sales office? Who are all these people and why is there food everywhere?”. Well, as it turns out, unlike the utilities people, who don’t give a damn, the Fillmore sales crew actually CARES about their clients – to the extent of FEEDING them when there’s a need.
You know, when I get around to buying a house, I’d like to work with a broker whose people give a damn, and try to make it the best experience possible, including going “above and beyond” like that!
(damn, still didn’t get the confirmation E-mail. Signed, “BrooklynGuy11229”).