House of the Day: Crazy in Crown Heights
This is one of the more insanely overpriced houses we’ve seen in a while. While the original exterior is perfectly nice, $1.4 million for a three-story (basement doesn’t count in this case in our opinion) house in Crown Heights is pushing it. And if you consider dropped ceilings and linoleum floors to be “luxury” (as…
This is one of the more insanely overpriced houses we’ve seen in a while. While the original exterior is perfectly nice, $1.4 million for a three-story (basement doesn’t count in this case in our opinion) house in Crown Heights is pushing it. And if you consider dropped ceilings and linoleum floors to be “luxury” (as the ad calls the house), then this could be your lucky day. If, however, period details and preservation of capital is your thing, you may want to steer clear of President and Nostrand, where this house and its delusional broker sit waiting for a fool and his money.
Beautiful Luxury House [Craigslist] GMAP
“Alex lives in a ghetto, his house is ass-ugly, and anyone who could afford $1.4m to buy anything in NYC is a twit.”
Whoops, went crazy with the search and replace.
On a more serious note, I live and own a brownstone in Crown Heights, and this block is truly beautiful. Less pretty and spacious brownstone have just sold blocks away for $900K, so I could see that someone attracted by the community and space would pay the price.
Given the choices in the metro NYC area, supply is still driving the demand curve, even in Crown Heights.
anyone who classifies all of crown heights as ghetto is just straight boneheaded. some of the finest blocks in all of brooklyn are in crown heights, particularily close to this listing–which i’m not suggesting merits the $1.4MM price tag. the surrounding areas aren’t all that bad either, which some of you would discover if you actually got away from your computers and dared to venture around the “hood”.
Certainly most of Crown Hts would not command price of some Brownstone neighborhoods.
But the house in question is very short walk to
world headquarters of Chabad hasidim sect on Eastern Pkwy. And besides the house being quite large and on spectacular street you have a very special market of people needing and wanting to be in this very spot.
Some can afford well over a $1m – and will buy here and ONLY here (that small area of CrownHts). No matter what the rest of us think about the area or the cheap kitchen.
Hal got it exactly right — will probably be knocked down/expanded beyond recognition to serve as a very large one-family house a la Ocean Parkway. And surprisingly enough, Crown Heights is not the ghetto people would believe — if anything, it’s two ghettoes, co-exisiting peacefully (usually, apart from the infamous riots) in an at times very surreal manner. And both of these ghettoes fear the “gentrifiers” moving in and paying over $1 million for townhouses (albeit for different reasons).
Due respect to Drew, I don’t think you can justify the price simply by saying that it’s a “special block” and doesn’t deserve to be lumped in with the rest of Crown Heights. You buy the house, you will be surrounded by the rest of Crown Heights. Fact is, you don’t just buy a house or a block, you buy the neighborhood that comes with it, unless you plan to commute by helicopter. That’s why you have price differentials between neighborhoods. It’s why a house on a relatively homely block in Park Slope or Cobble Hill will fetch more than a grander house on a lovely block in — well, don’t want to start another flame war, but you can insert a neighborhood here.
Without hating on Crown Heights, it is entirely justifiable to say that no house there should command a Clinton Hill-level price. The block matters, but it doesn’t matter that much.
That said, it could all be different in five years. Five years ago, I couldn’t have imagined using the phrase “Clinton Hill-level price.”
careful not to criticize brownstoner : they like to be quoted by big press but refuse any responsibility for the impact of their lack of credibility.
Here’s another glaring example of the ludacris crap brownstoner does validate. Another faithful reader signing out, for good.
Crown Heights is a ghetto, that house is ass-ugly, and anyone who would even begin to justify paying $1.4m to live there is a twit. It doesn’t matter what block it’s on. It’s a horrendous piece of crap. If you think it’s such a dope block, buy the goddamn house and live in it and post about it here and we will all laugh about it and hate on you instead of hating on the moron that posted it on Craigslist. If you’re so psyched to live in Crown Heights, buy the house next door for $600k or whatever it’s selling for and spend your $800k of savings on a flak jacket and a bodyguard. And no, we don’t need to know the whole market to make comments like this, just that if you are middle class, not Hasidic, and thinking about spending that price for that house in that neighborhood (on that block, near that train station) you are stupid. Good night.
Posting to confirm the address of above controversial property is 1265 President Street. I checked it out on the way home. I will reiterate the R2 zoning of this block, which is restricted to single family detached houses. The fact that this house is attached means that the zoning came later. No multiple unit dwellings are going up on this block. That doesn’t mean someone can’t build an ugly single family house.
yeah, what happened to the reno blog? did people post mean comments again? stop ruining it for the rest of us!!