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.
Anon 04:38 PM, maybe I’m a little confused. Would you care to enlighten me? Which neighborhoods does the G train travel through; pray tell.
anon 2:19 what are you talking about? You are very confused about what and where different neighborhoods are.
It’s actually in a way less desirable location and that’s easy for me to say because I live close by. I actually like Taafe and Kent but the area has a lot of rough edges. I was surpised, and a bit disappointed, that the condos in the Firehouse didn’t sell for more. I also like St. Felix. It’s a crazy market. Lots of crazy brokers and sellers with high expectations. Everybody wants to mazimize profits. Only time will tell.
I live in what is considered “prime” Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill (one block away from restaurant row on Dekalb, just outside of Landmark district) and the G train is the nearest train to me. Yes, there is the option of walking quickly for 10+ minutes to the B or Q at Dekalb or taking the overcrowded B48 bus to that station, but many people prefer a short walk to the train, especially in winter. Many of the historic brownstones that people on this blog drool over are serviced by the same public transportation options as this development, but transportation is never mentioned as a negative for those brownstones. The Pfizer mansion is the best example I can think of right away.
When I lived in Ft. Greene, I took the G train every morning and it was as reliable as any other train. True, I had to transfer at Hoyt-Schermerhorn, but that involved the gargantuan task of taking 10-12 steps forward and boarding a Manhattan-bound A or C train.
On weekends, the G was a quick link to Carroll Gardens or Williamsburg. We rarely waited longer than 6-7 minutes in either direction – while returning home took a bit longer, it was always very doable.
A couple of years ago, the G train was rendered much more useless since during the rush hours and in between, it runs only from Smith-9th to LIC. At LIC you have to either go outside to get the Flushing train, which is elevated, or hike half a mile inside (there’s a moving sidewalk that is broken more than it works) to the E or V train.
So the G doesn’t even work for what it’s intended, which is a Queens-Brooklyn short-cut, unless you happen to want to visit the Citibank building in Queens.
ltjbukem
Looks like the $695k apt at The Firehouse on St Felix is still available (open house Sunday by appt only), the $795k is in contract, and the $895k may be off the market (can’t find it on Elliman.com at all).
Hard to imagine that 163 Taaffe Place can do better than 31 St Felix, based only on location.
Yup, and they’re right next door to the Toy Loft Factory. But that didn’t deter the buyers. The projects are also next door to the luxury loft rentals on Kent and Taafe. It’s a different generation with different priorities than those discussed on this board. I live in the neighborhood and also agree that they’re over-priced but I’m just surprised at the opposition to the G-train here. I go into Manhattan at least 2x weekly and I never have to wait longer than 5 minute for a train. Poll the Pratt students and I’m sure you’ll get a similar reaction. True the train sucks completely after 9pm but otherwise I have no complaints.
SBB, ever considered changing butterflie to scorpion (: >, because that’s how you’re coming across
Where are those projects? Around Kent and Taaffe, no?