Set Speed Condo Report: The Firehouse Condos
On the market since September, the Firehouse Condos, located at 31 St. Felix Street between Dekalb and Fulton in Fort Greene, are worth revisiting given the recent price reductions. All three residential loft units are about 1,100 square feet and are configured into two bedroom, two bath units. The penthouse unit has a huge rooftop…
On the market since September, the Firehouse Condos, located at 31 St. Felix Street between Dekalb and Fulton in Fort Greene, are worth revisiting given the recent price reductions. All three residential loft units are about 1,100 square feet and are configured into two bedroom, two bath units. The penthouse unit has a huge rooftop deck while the middle unit has a back deck. Each unit also has a wall of windows facing Saint Felix St. The units seem to be co-brokered between Elliman and Harbor View Realty. These units, when first put on the market, were priced at $1.3MM, $1.1095MM and $995K, if memory serves correctly. They sat on the market and now the prices are at a more affordable $995K, $895K and $795K.
What sets these units apart from many other new conversions are the high-quality furnishings, such as Poggenpohl kitchen, Toto toilets, Franke sinks, Bosch washer/dryer and jacuzzi tubs with round windows facing the green backyard. It’s hard to say why these have sat around for so long, especially since the nearby Greene Scene Condos have sold 2 of their 4 units at prices of $845K and $1.175K. It could be due to something in the offering plan which we’re not privy to or the fact that the block these condos are located on is pretty grim and lacks the character of nearby South Portland or South Oxford.
31 St. Felix Street [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.
And the walk-in closet-sized BRs might also be a drag. . .
I have to agree with bkborn…no Wall Streeters are swooping in to buy all the unsold real estate in NYC. They probably all own already and besides, the market is pretty up in the air -they have to know better than to buy at the top of a market. I think that’s wishful thinking on the part of real estate agents. If I had a 500K bonus coming to me, I can think of lots of things I’d rather spend it on (if I spent it at all).
Maybe someone can help me understand how many bonus earners there are on wall street?
I keep hearing that they are going to swoop in and buy the tens of thousands of new NYC condos that have come on the market this year. It’s not like the bankers are living in cold-water walk-ups in the Bronx currently. I’m sure many of them used last year’s pretty good bonus to buy something nice already.
There just seems to be such an abundance at the high-end and I don’t see an uptick in demand for condos driven by wall-streeters. They’ll buy Ferarris instead.
I think website is misleading – Same pics for each of these units. But only top floor can have the wall of windows.
Question I wonder about is – yes some expensive fixtures put in these units – but what isn’t the markup because of these several times what the fixtures/cabinets really cost?
Interior pics looks very bland. I would guess that only top floor with all the windows makes up for that.
And look at the monthly taxes on these units!
Yeah, that’s because Murray Hill still has prostitutes on the streets at night. I lived nearby for awhile (on E19th Street) and when I’d walk uptown through Murray Hill it was pretty shocking; I’ve never understood that neighborhood, as it seems like it has a lot of unrealized potential.
Brooklyn Heights, though, has always been the exception to the Brooklyn-Manhattan price differential, due to the miniscule commute to Wall Street.
I think the Dumbo prices are unsustainable; very close to Manhattan, but limited basic services… my parents live there now and they’re constantly complaining about having to go to the Heights every time they need to go to the pharmacy.
I think they were grossly overpriced to start with, that’s all. Who is going to pay over $1 million for a two bedroom condo on St. Felix Street, come on. People are correct to say that these are Manhattan prices. But St. Felix is not the choicest block. Not horrible, but not the best in Ft. Greene. You could buy a new two bedroom condo conversion in Chelsea for $1.2million about a year ago – puts this in perspective. The price was too high to start with.
Actually, some Brooklyn neighborhoods are outpricing some Manhattan neighborhoods. Brooklyn Heights and Dumbo, for instance, get a higher price per sq. ft. than Murray Hill. I’m sure Fort Greene will have no problem challenging Manhattan prices (eventually, if not already).
correction: “It looks like there are NO buyers yet for this project.”
I didn’t mean that there was anything wrong with St. Felix. But $995k for a two-bed/two-bath condo in Fort Greene seems outrageous… you could get a comparable apt in Manhattan for that much money. Probably not with brand-new fixtures, and maybe a little smaller and with less character, but close enough for many to walk to work instead of riding the subway for 25 minutes.
Some people, myself included, like Brooklyn better than Manhattan, but prices have always been higher in Manhattan… no reason why apts on St. Felix should buck the trend.