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Bed-Stuy Real Estate Picks 08/15/08
By The Changeling | August 15, 2008
This week I’m focusing only on properties that are for sale in Bed-Stuy. It’s amazing how wide the price range is around here! I wasn’t feeling won over by any of the properties, so no Pick of the Week this week.
Sales #2
#1 — $365,000 — 1 BR: This is probably on the Clinton Hill side of Classon, but that’s close enough for me to include it. Not spectacular, but not bad either. Classon and Quincy Classon G
#2 — $449,000 — 2 family: Everyone is so brownstone-centric around here that I sometimes feel that I’m alone in liking the brick townhomes and frame homes in the area. This cute little greenie caught my eye because of the low price (which clearly indicates that the inside must be a horror story). I still think it’s adorable.
Jefferson and Malcolm X Gates JZ
#3 — $315,000 — 1 BR: Nice but small. I’ve seen the outside of this building and while it’s not bad, it’s not stop-you-in-your-tracks gorgeous either. It doesn’t look like anyone has moved into the building yet, but I might be wrong. One cool thing about this building was that the caretaker (who was a parttime DJ) used to place a huge speaker in the window of the second floor and play a set on Saturday afternoons. He’d have the mic and he’d try to get passersby in a party mood. On a scale of 1 to 10 I can only give him a 5 on music selection–his choices skewed towards current R&B pop acts like Rhianna. More than once he played some Bob Marley as I was walking by, and I couldn’t help but think, c’mon, Marley? Is that all you’ve got? If I close my eyes and I can’t tell whether I’m at a frat party at a liberal arts college or a backyard BBQ in Carnarsie, then you simply haven’t done your job as a DJ. A DJ is supposed to wow us. Anybody can choose Marley. A real DJ would’ve chosen Peter Tosh. I’d like to give him a 10 for enthusiasm, though. I remember one day when he was playing Marley he had the mic, and he was waving his hand in the air saying “One love, Marcy Avenue! One Love, Everybody!” People walking by only stared at him in confusion. The “one love” never really came together on Marcy that day. I think that many of the people walking by weren’t sure why someone in a new condo building would be throwing a block party by himself. In any case it was nice and I enjoyed it. Of course, once the condo next door started filling up with residents, that was The Day the Music Died. Suddenly he disappeared and there were no Saturday afternoon music fests. I think when he closed his set one afternoon he announced that he was heading down to Prospect Park to spin tunes. I think he said he spins there every Saturday. Bye-bye, Mr. DJ. You will be missed. Anyway, there’s an open house on Sunday from noon to 1:30 p.m. (sans music).
Marcy and Myrtle Myrtle-Willoughby G
#4 — $239,999 — Studio: This is definitely the least expensive unit I’ve seen in the neighborhood. Has anyone seen anything under 240K? I remember seeing this building when it was first built, and I thought it looked a bit out of place. It would probably be more at home further up on Bedford Avenue (like in the South Williamsburg section). Not much to say about the unit–seems like a regular studio–but the building, in my opinion, no longer looks brand new. In fact, it looks much older than it actually is. Bedford and Halsey Nostrand AC/Franklin Shuttle
#5 — $999,000 — 1 BR: This is a nice looking loft but the price is less than nice. There are at least 4 (much cheaper) units in this building in contract, but there are several others still available. Is Classon and Lexington on the path to deserving these prices? That is, are the amenities in this area enough to make buyers want to shell out for these lofts? Lexington and Classon Classon G
Topics: , Real Estate |
August 15th, 2008 at 12:01 pm
My friend has a studio in #4, in fact it looks exactly like that pic minus the terrace. The building is hard to get a read on the outside but it’s very nice. Clean, well-maintained, nice tenants, and laundry in the basement.
I tried to score a 2-bedroom rental last summer but some twit got there 10 minutes before me and had already slipped the owner a security deposit.
August 15th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
So it’s really nice on the inside? Is there a parking lot behind or underneath the building?
August 15th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
It’s nice inside. My friend’s studio is on the 1st foor and the hallways on the first floor have wood flooring. Well lit. Nothing fancy or art-directed in anyway, but definitely nice. Tenants seem like a great mix of people, too.
The building is really bizarre from the outside but it’s worth checking out.
Also, you can get yourself a drink at the Denim Lounge right across the street.
August 15th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Hmmm, I don’t think there’s a parking lot under the building… but there might be behind it? Not 100% sure.
August 15th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Never thought I’d see the day when anything on lexington ave would be a million dollars. Just had to comment on that. Wow. thats beyond crazy… BTW, you’ll never get your money back on that “investment”
August 16th, 2008 at 11:58 pm
laduchessa, I have a 2 bedroom in #4. If you are serious about buying then we could make a deal and cut out the broker’s fee. I was planning on putting my place on the market in November or December but I coudl find a couch to crash on until I leave NY.
August 17th, 2008 at 2:21 pm
The frame house is cute but that saggy roofline is a little scary. And woodframe houses are a lot more expensive to insure. And the shingles are probably rotting under the aluminum siding. But a lot of these frame houses are actually really nice inside. Nice details, anyway.
August 17th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
I didn’t know that they were more to insure. Huh. Too bad so many of the ones in Bed-Stuy are poorly maintained. I really like the frame homes with front porches. Saw some beautiful ones in Clinton Hill.
August 18th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
i too like some non-brownstone homes, but now that i’m a homeowner i really can appreciate the fact that a brownstone facade can go 100 years before needing serious maintenance. they don’t make em like that any more!
August 19th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
Don’t know what your brownstone facade is made of (joke), but brownstone is a notoriously poor building stone, particularly since most blocks were laid with the grain going vertically so that the outside peals off when water infiltrates. Thus you see all the stucco and concrete repairs.
1 million for a studio loft (okay the “dining room” is meant to be a bedroom sans window) on Classon? Wow. Wow. Bow. Wow.