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Bed-Stuy Real Estate Picks 02/22/08
By The Changeling | February 22, 2008
RENTALS
Hancock and Marcus Garvey (#2)
#1 — $1250 — 1.5 br: This place is cheap and has a nice large bathroom. Long walk to the train unless you don’t mind catching the bus. Madison and Lewis Gates JZ/Utica AC
#2 — $1650 — 2.5 br: This is a nice apartment with an office space. It’s close to Fulton so that’s a bonus.
Hancock and Marcus Garvey Blvd. Kingston-Throop C
#3 — $1550 — 3 br: It doesn’t look too bad and it even comes with a backyard. I know it’s hard to see the value of a backyard on a snowy day like today, but believe me, you’ll appreciate it come summer. Just think of all of those backyard barbeques!
Kosciuszko and Stuyvesant Kosciuszko J
SALES
Spencer and Willoughby (#2)
#1 — $750,000 — 2 family: This place has gotten a serious price reduction since last December. Back then it was $875,000. Yesterday, it was $745,000, so it went up 5 grand overnight. You think the 750K price tag will get it sold? Tompkins and Hart Myrtle-Willoughby G
PICK OF THE WEEK! #2 — $350,000 — 1 br: Here’s one to dispel some people’s mistaken beliefs that all new one bedroom condos are going for half a mil ’round these parts. While there are one bedrooms with that price tag in Bed-Stuy (in fact, there are some in this building), there are also lots of options that fall well below the half mil mark, like this one. I’ve always been a fan of the Kodachrome building, because I think that the Mondrian facade brings a lot of cheer to an otherwise average sidestreet. This property is reasonably priced for a first time homebuyer. I would love to see more young homebuyers enter the area, because we need an increase in people who value the neighborhood, and the best way to do this is to increase the number of homeowners who live in the homes they own. I’m keeping my fingers crossed with this one. Spencer and Willoughby Bedford-Nostrand G
#3 — $1,300,000 — 3 family: This is an unusual building that lacks style. I’m still not sure why developers continue to build such hideous places. This building bothers my eyes because everything is slightly off. Note the air conditioner unit on the right side of the second floor. Why isn’t there also one on the right side of the third floor? Note the way the glass doors on the right are slightly lower than the windows on the left. Overall, not a nice looking building in my opinion. Franklin and Putnam Franklin CS
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:03 pm
“I would love to see more young homebuyers enter the area, because we need an increase in people who value the neighborhood, and the best way to do this is to increase the number of homeowners who live in the homes they own.”
Are you suggesting that the people already living in the area, who have lived in the area before you got here, do not value the neighborhood? I think some of the longtime residents may take issue with that.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Yes. In fact, there are a lot of people who lived here before I got here who do not value this neighborhood. I would like to list all of the ways that they demonstrate this, but I don’t think that our server can hold that much data. On the other hand, there are also a lot of longtime residents who have done a lot for this neighborhood and value it greatly.
The point that I’m making above is that homeownership is key. I’m suggesting that homeowners that live in the homes that they own value their neighborhood more than people whose attachments are more tenuous (e.g. renters and people living in housing projects).
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:44 pm
Thanks for featuring 192 Spencer. Sales are really starting to pick up, after a slow start. I’m in the process of purchasing a 1 br in this building, and am a first time homeowner.
February 22nd, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Sale #3 is ugly and overpriced. They have a lot of nerve to ask that price for a bland new building.
Tammi: I can’t speak for The Changeling, but this is what I took away from the comment …
I do think that streets were the owners of the buildings actually live in the buidlings are better maintained and have a greater sense of community than blocks where absentee landlords are the norm. From personal experience, once I moved into my house and began to make some changes, e.g. flowers/plants/trees in the front yard and barrels on the sidewalk filled with greenery, all the other owners who lived in their buildings, newbies AND longtime residents, were happy. The trend of planting flowers and putting out barrels spread. I am not saying the oldtimers didn’t care. They certainly did. But having someone come along and try something new, or something that the oldtimers had gotten out of the habit of doing, got everyone back in the spirit. It is a healthy sense of competition. Not in a jelous way, but in a friendly, neighborly way. We take clippings of each others plants. We ask about the flowers. We exchange ideas about what to do and how to do it. It is a lot of fun and brings us, as a community, closer together. Though some of the renters on the block do what they can, the homeowners are driving the changes. And I know, in time, I will be the oldtimer and, hopefully, some newbies will come along and bring their energy to the block and spur the rest of us on to bigger and better things.
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Where’s the contact information for the pick of the week?
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I live on Spencer and love the little extra color that new building is giving.
February 22nd, 2008 at 2:24 pm
I think it would be great if there were new homeowners too. In fact, I would like to be one of the new homeowners! But I am a single, public interest lawyer with tons of loans to pay off, and I can’t afford even the cheapest condo you feature on this site. Therefore, I am still a renter, and apparently less-than in your eyes.
Personally, I think that more affordable rentals AND condos would improve the neighborhood, so that the working class, public servants, and artists who make this area so culturally rich could continue to live here. What you are really talking about is the movement of higher-income people into the neighborhood.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:07 pm
it is impossible to make any statements about a brooklyn neighborhood and not have somebody get offended by it these days. i thought brooklynites were thick-skinned!
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:11 pm
Changeling, being from the projects and renting does not make one value where they’re living any less. As a matter of fact, I am from the projects (grew up in the housing projects in Queens and lived there for 21 years) and I currently rent my apartment in Bed Stuy. I’ve lived in the area for a few years, before all the current changes, and find it a little insulting when you paint the community with the “they don’t care about how they live” brush. I, as a renter, do care about the house I live in. I am from the projects and I do care about the condition of the street in front of our house. I care about my block and my neighbors. I even value beauty. I am not an exception. There are a lot of us out there.
I don’t want to get into a flame war with you, but I do take issue with the comment. It’s an insulting generalization. It’s almost as if you’re looking down on your neighbors and judging them a little harshly without knowing their story.
February 22nd, 2008 at 3:51 pm
Sale number 1 was listed with foxtons last yr at 1.1 mil . I think 750 k is still too much for a two family on tompkins right by the projects
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Lina: There are programs for people with lower incomes to buy condos/housing in the area. I believe PACC can give you more information about buildings they are rehabing and are making available for sale. Not sure if there is an organization that is Bed-Stuy specific, but PACC works in the area and in Clinton Hill. (Why do I think there is something in the Restoration Plaza complex that can help?)
As for free-market rents and housing that is affordable, I don’t think that will ever be available in Bed-Stuy again.
February 22nd, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Newbie2: Thanks. I applied for PACC’s most recent condo lottery, but so did probably a hundred thousand others. I’m glad they are doing something both for renters and first-time homebuyers, but they are a small drop in a big pond, and we need more of that kind of good work in the neighborhood!
February 22nd, 2008 at 5:23 pm
I totally agree that homeowners tend to value their neighborhood more than renters, and that is true for BOTH new and longterm residents. I believe blocks with a high proportion of homeowners tend to be cleaner, prettier, and safer, and there is more a sense of community. I say “tend to” because of course there are exceptions. Some renters are very attached to the community and are involved in making in better, and some homeowners don’t care much about what happens outside their house.
I don’t live in northwest bedstuy where the kodachrome building is, but my impression is that many of the recent residents in the area are fairly young renters (student/artist types) that are probably not going to spent more than a few years in bed-stuy (unlike my area Stuy Heights where many of the new residents bought houses and are putting down roots here). So I think it’s great news that there are condo development in that area to increase homeownership and people who are going to have a vested interest in the community.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I hate to say it, but some of those new homebuyers in north stuy might actually be students whose parents are buying, or those interested in a short term investment opportunity. Just because they are buyers doesn’t mean they will be around for a long time or actually invest energy in the neighborhood. The way to do that is to create opportunities for stable working people to establish long term housing arrangements.
I grew up in Michell-Lama housing (what?), where everyone stays for 30-40 years in a rent control situation. It shows a real lack of perspective to say that only homeowners care about the place they live. It reflects a privileged viewpoint and doesn’t take into account that many of the most creative, interesting, and fun neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn were spawned by renters. But now everything is just a land-grab.
February 22nd, 2008 at 6:19 pm
Lina: I hear you on the need for more projects like the ones sponsored by PACC! I think the housing stock they make available is a great addition to the neighborhood but there are so many people and so few units it must be so frustrating to apply. I would much rather have PACC housing over some of the crappy new construction.
February 22nd, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I think the problem is much deeper than renters vs owners. There is a hopelessness in poverty that is not addressed in these simple terms. I’m not going to go out and sweep my landlord’s sidewalk when I’m working two jobs just to feed my family. But, neighborhoods are generally more well-maintained when there is a higher ratio of owner-occupied homes to renters.
Why should I invest in the upkeep of someone else’s investment?
February 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
looking for home: because it enriches your quality of life?
my friend is moving into a rental down the street and is really excited about planting a garden in the back yard. today i salted my front steps, and i often pick up the windblown trash that accumulates just inside my gate. and i’m a renter! poverty does sometimes breed apathy, but having a well-maintained neighborhood is only one thing that makes it a fun place to live. i mean, there’s a reason we live here and not some boring part of queens.
besides, who do you think started the community garden movement in the South Bronx and Lower East Side? low income renters, that’s who! most of whom could not afford to buy a home in bedstuy!
February 23rd, 2008 at 7:29 am
@pick of the week:
“Pete” Mondrian? lol.
As to renters vs owners: I don’t think there needs or ought to be a war. But I know that on my block the high proportion of ownership makes a big difference. Anything that gives residents a stake in the community is a Good Thing.
February 23rd, 2008 at 11:42 am
Windowbox: Exactly. The residents had “ownership” of the community gardens. That is why the gardens thrived.
February 24th, 2008 at 9:48 am
What I read into Changeling’s comment was a statement of proportions and probabilities - more home owners living in the homes they own in the neighborhood is better for the community - not that all renters don’t care.
If you compare the concept to co-ops, generally banks may not lend to a buyer of a co-op unit if the co-op’s owner occupancy is below 75%; and co-ops tend to not permit rental of their units for a certain period of time after someone buys a unit; and then they charge a maintenance premium for the unit not being owner occupied. The belief is owners who live in their units have an incentive to care MORE about where they live - it’s more than just an investment or rent roll.
That is not to say that renters do not care, but with a higher percentage of owner occupied properties, there is a higer probability that there will be greater concern for the community and the homes they live in. In fact, insurance companies charge significantly more for home owner’s insurance if it is an “investment property” with tenants than for a owner occuppied home.
Just food for thought, that these topics are not just about the social aspects, but there are real economic and actuarial impacts.