122 Newton Street is a boutiquy condo building I toured back in April well before it was finished. Well, good news – it’s been finished and is available for your buying pleasure starting at $900k and change. Shane had guessed the approximate cost at around $1.2 million while the Developer’s Group called it $1.1. Not too shabby lol.
So what was the final product? See the before and after pics after the jump!
From The Brooklyn Paper’s police blotter section:
Crooks broke into two unfinished condo buildings last week and heisted stoves, oven hoods, and other equipment.
The thieves broke a rear window to get into a yet-to-be completed building on North 11th Street between Roebling Street and Driggs Avenue and stole kitchen fixtures between May 14 and May 19.
At least they aren’t squatting in those “yet-to-be completed” condos on that particular block as they have on North 9th.
The same week we checked out 115 Kane Street, I saw a posting for a 2BR/2 BA apartment in Boerum Hill with the following:
Beautiful new construction building, 2 BR apt. with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline and harbor from the apt. and roof deck. This unit has a living room with balcony, 2 spacious bedrooms and an Italian designer kitchen with Bosch stainless steel appliances and quartz countertops. There is a dishwasher, stove, fridge and built-in microwave. There are 2 large, modern bathrooms with ceramic tile and quartz counters. There are beautiful blond hardwood floors throughout. There are two huge shared decks, the roof deck has a panaramic view of the skyline. There is a gym and shared laundry in the building. Underground parking is available. Call owner. Pet upon approval. Available now.
Sounded great! Even though the price point was a bit higher than I wanted (although it was in line with what everyone else is charging in this neighborhood and was comparable to Williamsburg or Greenpoint) I figured it was worth seeing and perhaps negotiating the rent if we liked it. The area is not bad – it’s between Smith and Hoyt. Hoyt does have subsidized housing, but we’d be far enough away to not worry too much. Additionally, I liked the idea of keeping Sarah in the same school. Initially I had thought that a change of scenery would be good, and chose Greenpoint, given the good schools, but having her stay put was also a great option. Her current school is well above average, and she can keep the friends she has made.
So off we went to check out the new 378 Baltic tower, a for sale only condo building for now – 360 Baltic down the street has gone rent to own so who knows what will happen, given the market conditions.
Details and real pics after the jump.
So today I’m going to highlight random rental listings that have caught my eye. After the jump – a hodge podge of apartment porn: some just interesting, some just wonderfully pricey, like the penthouse apartment overlooking Times Square.
When we were standing outside, looking up at the guys painting 128 Newton, the building we had just checked out, we noticed the smallish (in comparison) building next to it that’s still under major construction. It’s clearly been developed by the same company that’s responsible for 128 Newton and the Manhattan Avenue Condos – Tahoe Developments as it had the same gray brick exterior (can’t even imagine the wholesale discount on those particular bricks, heh). It appears to be 122 Newton based on cursory Google research. We figured why not see it even though no one was showing it and it was far from done?
Extensive pics after the jump.
On Saturday we checked out a few more places. One of them was for an advertised 2 BR/2BA, 1,000 sq feet condo on 128 Newton aka The New Condos in North Williamsburg via Corcoran that was available June 1st, as follows:
Jaw-dropping, modern, BRAND NEW construction on sought after McCarren Park. Residence features thoughtfully designed open-plan designer kitchens, private balcony, designer bathrooms with deep soaking tub, floor to ceiling windows, hardwood floors, central heat and air conditioning, dishwasher, and washer/dryer hook-ups. Elevator opens directly into the 1000 square foot apartment!
It was listed for $2,950. The address sounded vaguely familiar but I’ve seen sooooo many listings with these features that at this point I think I may be confused. Not surprising since The Developers Group created most if not all of these buildings around McCarren Park- I think they’re referred to as gray zombies on blogs. But it had parking, looked sleek and modern and even though we were sure space for a desk could be challenging, given it was slightly larger than the 36 Eckford penthouse, we sallied forth to take a look.
So, post 240 North Henry, we went to see an advertised 2 BR/2 BA 1,200 square feet condo loft at 82 Guernsey Street, advertised for $3,200/month. I had seen this apartment listed back in January for $3,400/,month, so it seems that 2 BRs/2 BAs around $3,500 are moving verrrrrrrrry slowly, if at all. Now that I know the area much better, I knew I liked the location. It’s close to McCarren park, near the Nassau G station and still a walkable distance from the Bedford L stop. That’s key because 2 trains can sometimes be a real drag, mostly at off hours and the weekends. And, even more importantly four our commute, PS 31 is really close. Awesome.
We were let in to the unit 3B by the departing tenant. It’s a nice, not tall building done up in gray and white. The elevator is one of those that brings you straight into your apartment. We walked into a spacious living area with the high ceilings, modern kitchen and hardwood floors: all of which I would love to get in my next apartment.
Time has flown by! I’ve spent the days busily hunting down listings and trying to find the right space for the family. This move is important because we’ll be putting down roots until middle school. Overall I’ve been excited with Greenpoint because a lot of the listings show gorgeous places. The downside is the lack of 3 bedrooms – every real estate person I’ve talked to has shook their head and pointed to Williamsburg. But while the places like The Jacksonia look beautiful, the zoned schools scores, like PS 132, don’t compare favorably to the Greenpoint elementary schools, PS 31 and PS 34. In addition, the pricing hasn’t dropped off as much as everywhere else, making it seem relatively inflated.
For a bit we considered possibly moving to Park Slope *shudder* and braving the somewhat rabid parents there, but we are going to potentially have to make a 2 bedroom work, which means no office door. I saw the listing for a “2 BR Modern Masterpiece” and I dragged Shane out the same day to view it, even though it had only 1 bathroom. A 2 BR/1 BA duplex for $2,500 seemed like a decent deal, and it was at 240 North Henry – just across the street from 235 North Henry, which we had seen. We had liked the area so off we went.
In New York City, real estate agents lying is the norm rather than the exception. There are good agents out there but they get lost in the general loud mouth-ed bad ones. Meet Jorge A Perez. He’s an agent for Rock Rose Developments, who is the developer behind a lot of those Long Island City high rise buildings. He pushes his LIC listings as “Midtown East” and, since we saw him in January, has resorted to absurd and over the top listing subject lines vs. blatant lying, such as:
Actually, he may still be lying: back then we went to see an advertised 3 BR/2 BA for $3,000 which turned out to be a 2 BR/2 BA for $4,200. That particular listing did note that it was in Long Island City. More of his particular work from just the past 24 hours after the jump and 1 copy catter who’s using celebs.
Last week I told Kristina from Bridge Realty that we were interested in 185 India but was told that someone was interested in actually buying it. Can’t knock that! It’s been on the market since 2007. The realtor, Kristina, is the nicest – she called back to tell me that she was going to check out a place that was potentially better than 185 India. I stressed that the home office was important and that, even though 185 India was strictly a 2 BR we were going to convert the walk-in closet into Shane’s office. She said she’d report back to me on whether or not this place was better.
She called me the next morning saying that this place was much better than 185 India. It was a 2 BR/2 BA duplex with a private roof deck at 182 Huron for $3,000. So off we went.
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