Set Speed Condo Report: 163 Taaffe Place
This week’s condo report brings us to the Pratt University area in Clinton Hill. Located at 163 Taaffe Place between Myrtle and Willoughby, this 4 unit condo conversion marketed by Prudential Douglas Elliman is quite ambitious in its asking prices of $795,000 for units with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a den. Common charges are…
This week’s condo report brings us to the Pratt University area in Clinton Hill. Located at 163 Taaffe Place between Myrtle and Willoughby, this 4 unit condo conversion marketed by Prudential Douglas Elliman is quite ambitious in its asking prices of $795,000 for units with 2 bedrooms, 2 baths and a den. Common charges are about $217 for monthly maintenance and $121 for real estate taxes. Included are maple kitchens, stainless steel appliances, marble baths and high ceilings. The listings on the site say that the apartments were “designed and built by a professional architect and entrepreneur. No expenses barred.” The apartments are 1,174 square feet.
Nearby residential developments include 970 Kent, the Chocolate Factory and the Spencer. None of the units in those buildings sold for more than $600,000, although the recently advertised penthouse units at 970 Kent are being sold for $760,000. In fact, a recent resale of a 1,000-square-foot unit at The Kent is asking only $449,000. Transportation options include making the 3 block walk to the Classon Ave G train or taking a bus down Myrtle to Metrotech. With this development lacking a lot of other amenities that are usually associated with an area in which condos are selling for $800,000, James Rigney, the Elliman broker, has his work cut out for him.
163 Taaffe Place [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
Every Thursday, ltjbukem, whose own blog Set Speed scrutinizes the progress and quality of new developments in the area we know as Brownstone Brooklyn, pens a guest post about goings-on in the condo market with an emphasis on new projects.
James Rigney is a great broker, and very kind hearted. Hi is professional and courteous. Unfortunately the owner of these condos insisted he put a high price on them and then they did not sell. Then Corcoran Took them on, and they didn’t sell either. In any case James Rigney is a great person.
I live on Taaffe Place and I don’t mind the G. Truthfully I’m a lazy bastard and I only take cabs though. Even if I’m in Manhattan…I’ll be taking a cab. I’m not a big fan of germs, piss, rats, puke, etc… I just factor it in. If you buy a 700k condo, then its easy to spend 800 dollars a month on transportation costs.
Snatti…you are obviously bad with numbers. The G crosstown to the E/V is faster then taking the F, A, etc.. uptown to where i work on 5th Avenue/54th.
We take the G to Lorimer/Metropolitan, switch to the L and have no problem. Sure the G is crowded at times but if you want to talk crowded take the L! The C is quite a walk from Washington/Willoughby but the L takes me right to work so….a few yrs ago all I heard from my Manhattan friends/neighbors was “stay away from the G, terrible, dangerous train”, a couple years later see what happens? A few years from now it will be THE train to take.
Good point because nyc is not Manhattan centric anymore significance of G train has increased.
I am still working Manhattan but go out always in Brooklyn and then G is great (I wish they would have better service in off hours)
The cool thing about G is that it does not go to Manhattan.
In the terms of getting to Manhattan: Taking G (Clinton Washington) to Hoyt and switching to AC takes me to work (Chelsea) faster then F train from park slope and because I always go after 9 am I usually have a seat.
I agree that those are overpriced. I generally take the c to work. But the g is super convenient to go out in Williamsburg or over to Carrol Gardens.
When I said “Myrtle area” I did not mean to imply it was not Clinton Hill. It is. I understand CH goes from Park to Atlantic, and from Clinton to Classon. Sometimes people split the Western boundary b/t FG and CH down the middle of Vanderbilt along the landmarked neighborhood division line. In any event, I was referring to an area of CH with respect to proximity to the subway. Don’t worry if you bought there, it is getting better and better. I just noted the subway walk, that’s all.
Just thought I’d add my thoughts since I live along the G (myrtle-willoughby) and ride it into all parts of NYC to see my clients.
Its a fine train. Its actually very predictable. I know that a train will be at Myrtle-Willoughby on the hour and every 15 minutes during the off hours and it will arrive every 8 or 10 minutes during rush hour.
Since I live around the corner, I leave the house with about 7 minutes before the train should arrive. I end up hardly ever waiting. Very often the train is arriving as I arrive. Since the G’s run is so short, it stays on schedule.
One last thought.. buying a house or apartment based on the idea that they only need one train to get to work is silly. Does anyone here remember when the D used to run where the Q now runs? I do because I lived next to the D. Train routes do change. And you might quit your job too.
I lied one more thought… Since I do consulting work for customers throughout NYC, NYS, NJ and CT I can also say that the neighborhood is great for driving. I have three bridges all about 10 minutes away by car. I have highways to take me to upstate NY and CT and the Manhattan Bridge and Canal St get me to NJ in a few minutes (not during rush).
So I wouldn’t put down the neighborhood just because its local train doesn’t go into manhattan. The whole area kicks butt in many other ways.
this guy James Rigney, the broker selling this place, is a loser. we had GoBrooklyn help us rent an apartment during their going out of business so i was privvy to all the BS going on over there. the broker who was working with us had no kind words for the guy. then after that person quit he came over himself and insisted we would only be able to get some dismal amount for it, even though we’d already had bites at nearly double what he was telling us. we ended up renting it for way above his pitch.
both ft greene and clinton hill go all the way to park avenue but there is a move to landmark myrtle to park and call it wallabout (extending from something like adelphi all the way to classon possibly). i think this is going to happen.
Man. If these places sell at these prices, I’m going to take our 1BR/1BA lovely, lovely duplex loft in Boerum Hill– right near the Gowanus & Wyckoff Houses and MANY forms of transportation– and sell it for Twenty Frajillion Bazillion dollars. (Oh, wait… we have a terrace… let me add 75K to that…)
Sorry, sorry, sorry… sorry. That said, I dig the Pratt area. Biggest downside is the transport issue.