Condo of the Day: The Mill Building
We were talking to a (non-Corcoran) broker the other night who was contrasting Toll Brothers’ lack of understanding of the Williamsburg market (as evidenced by the 8-foot 9-foot ceilings in North 8) with the spot-on aesthetic of The Mill Building on North 3rd Street. We haven’t been inside either, but we are excited to see…
We were talking to a (non-Corcoran) broker the other night who was contrasting Toll Brothers’ lack of understanding of the Williamsburg market (as evidenced by the 8-foot 9-foot ceilings in North 8) with the spot-on aesthetic of The Mill Building on North 3rd Street. We haven’t been inside either, but we are excited to see a condo project that wasn’t afraid to keep the original factory floors in place, regardless of their “imperfections”. (He also mentioned what a broker dynamo Kara Kasper is, but that’s another topic.) For those of you who have been inside The Mill Building, do you think the developers did a good job of preserving some of the original building’s original charm? It looks like prices are about $600 a foot which seems okay for the location and quality. Agree? Disagree? The Corcoran site shows 17 listings still available, which means that a lot of the units have already sold.
85 North Third Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Photo by justiNYC
Violations with respect to safety are in no way the equivalent of a parking ticket! Public safety is at stake and serious violations will indeed prevent the issuence of even a TCO. TCO’s are issued when a building is substantially in compliance with the submitted plans and only minor violations and unpaid fines remain. A review of the building code violations on the DOB’s website, regarding the Mill building, reveals that many, more than minor violations remain open. This building has 37 open DOB violations and 23 open ECB violations. If satisfactory inspections have been made, why haven’t these violations been cleared? One building code violation relates to a penthouse on the roof, built without a permit. The likelihood of a TCO being issued while a violation like this is outstanding, is remote. Buyer be careful and get any promises in writing for legal occupancy within a resonable period of time.
Violations are the housing equivalent of parking tickets. You don’t foreclose on a property over violations like you don’t go to jail over parking tickets.
Not being able to obtain a CO on a project is EXTREMLY rare and has NEVER had anything to do with old violations. I only know of 4 scandalous cases where a developer had serious problems with the application for a TCO and they ALL had to do with the same concept of being “overbuilt†on a lot. They were all “new†construction. They were all “self-certified†jobs. And they were consistently coming out of the same 2 architect’s offices. And even in those extreme cases 1st- the buyers were granted the right to rescind. And 2nd the developers ultimately got or are getting their paper work from the city.
This building has to be THE MOST UNLIKELY site to have a problem obtaining a CO in all of Brooklyn. It is a highly respected architect. Nothing was self certified. There is ZERO new construction on this site so it couldn’t possibly get overbuilt.
Does anyone have anything good to say about the Mill Building?
The Milol Building has many problems. I was in constuction for NYC for 16 years. Check out the official NYC Dept of Buildings website for this building
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?requestid=10&bin=3062363&restore=1
If you scroll down the web site of the NYC Dept of Buildings Property Profile for The Mill Building,you will see 3 categories — Complaints, DOB(Dept of Buildings)Violations, and ECB(Environmental Control Board)Violations. Some of the excessive 83 complaints might have come from a disgruntled person, however the 46 DOB Violations with 37 open, and 41 ECB Violations with 22 open, were issued by the DOB after inspectors came to the building. They were issued by the Dept of Buildings. These violatiosns include the boiler and elevator, and failed safety tests. According to the DOB website. the sponsors have failed to file for some required construction permits, and there exists among many violations, an unsafe building shed. The web site also states that dangerous and unsafe construction practices exist and many of the violations are listed as “High Severity.” As far as I can see there has been “Default” or “No Compliance” in many of these violations with fines imposed which are still outstanding.
What does this all mean to a potential buyer? A buyer can not legally move into a building until it has a C of O, or at least a Temporary C of O (TCO). It will also be very hard to get a bank to issue a mortgage after the bank does “due dilligence” on the property and finds the property has numerous violations and no C of O. Even with a Temporary C of O a time limit of 3 months is imposed for the curing of violations. The final C of O will not be issued until all violations are cleared and fines paid. In light of this, I would seek a “date certain” from the sponsor before handing over any big money and making a commitment to this building.
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I have purchased a 4th floor unit that has a projected move in date of May/June.
I don’t know how realistic that is, but typically most projects come in after their stated completion dates.
What are you buyers being told for a move-in date?
Have you bought in the Mill Building in Williamsburg?
I was a back-up buyer but did not get the apartment. I would like to talk to a buyer who might be interested in selling an assignment of their contract, pre-closing, with the Sponsor’s consent. Price is negotiable. I would also be willing to cover a reasonable consent fee to the Sponsor. This is a serious offer from a private buyer—I’m giving you an opportunity to walk away with a substantial amount without ever having to close. Please drop me an email if you are interested. Thanks.
Whitney@nycmail.com
“Is the Corcoran group getting too confident in this soft market?”
In any market there is product that is superior to others. Those products will garner a higher price.
The NYT article “Lemons” a few weeks back was about that.
In a white hot market, they can sell snowballs in hell. When the market slows the bad properties suffer the most.
If you buy location, a lot of square feet, doorman, indoor parking, view, outdoor space, you cannot go wrong.
I have a friend in Tribeca in one of the few doorman buildings and there is a premium to buy there as there are few doorman buildings down there and his was the only one for a long time.
Williamsburg will be no different. There are some buidlings with great locations and less than great features. You have to weigh this when apartment shopping.
In this case Corcoran has a good product relative to most everything else in the area.
North8 has a great location, but small units, limited doorman.
Gretsch has amenities and views(for now), but no parking, even though it was promised and may eventually get built.
Indoor parking is the big difference out in Brooklyn. Very few buildings are being built with it. The Macarren park towers all have outdoor parking. Better than nothing, bad for you car. Someone buying a $2million+ penthouse is going to have a really nice car or two.
Nice conversion, however few units have an awkward layout. I have looked at 1750 square feet units, listed initially at 830K and two weeks later the price was updated to 950K – not sure will go for 15% increase!!! Is the Corcoran group getting too confident in this soft market?