« A Feast for the Eyes at Palo Santo Architecture 101: 186 Quincy Street »
October 3, 2006
For Former Crackhouse, Affordable Housing Future
We learned last week that the owner of 422 Classon (the building at left) who had been holding out for top dollar ($1.15 million when we checked a year ago) has finally sold the place to the Pratt Area Community Council, the owner of the two sister buildings (at right). From what we gather, the seller's game of chicken worked for him in the end, as he was able to jack the affordable housing org for pretty close to the asking price. To celebrate the sale (and hopefully the upcoming restoration -- we're gonna be watching closely), we thought we'd show you a photo that captures the building's former glorious history as a center of neighborhood trade. The photo, on the jump, comes courtesy of Disassociate.com.
Delusional Pricing on Classon [Brownstoner] GMAP
Comments
aw i love that place! i hope they can fix it up nice.
Posted by: Jimmy Legs at October 3, 2006 10:18 AM
It's a beautiful building, I'll be glad to see it fixed up.
Posted by: renogirl at October 3, 2006 10:48 AM
I remember these houses from the early 80's, when I first started roaming around Clinton Hill, and they were a mess then. I'm glad to hear that they will be reborn as affordable housing.
Shame on the owner who just sold his building for letting it stay a dangerous eyesore for all these years, contributing nothing to the community, and then getting top price for what looks to be a shell. Some may think that's canny playing of the RE market, but I wouldn't run around and brag about it.
Posted by: CrownHeightsProud at October 3, 2006 10:59 AM
i love this building, despite its disrepair. i was worried it would fall victim to the wrecking-ball.
Posted by: janelle at October 3, 2006 11:07 AM
Wonderful news! These buildings are beautiful, even in disrepair. Keep us posted.
Posted by: lesterhead at October 3, 2006 11:14 AM
Thank God for the affordable housing. Too many people rent their units at market rate these days - that gives nothing back to the community!
Posted by: Anonymous at October 3, 2006 1:26 PM
While I agree that the government should either build or subsidize more affordable housing most people have to get as much as they can for an apartment in order to pay their huge mortgages. Those of us who rent units in our own homes may often set the price lower than the "max" in order to encourage stability, but it would be hard for us to gauge who is worthy of getting my place if I decided, for instance, to offer it for half what I could on the open market. Okay let the games begin on this discussion...
Posted by: putnam-denizen at October 3, 2006 1:58 PM
pd: i think that all us cash-strapped renters out here understand that owners would rather have stable tenants, etc, but that setting the rent too low is counterproductive, etc... but that doesn't help us find an apartment, does it?
sigh. capitalism's a bitch, idn't it?
(ps, mr b: the gmap link is for 404 stuyvesant ave. no biggie.)
Posted by: sylvia at October 3, 2006 3:10 PM
some might think it is premature, but since so many people seem to really enjoy it, can we start the PACC-bashing now?
Posted by: Anonymous at October 3, 2006 4:08 PM
See, none of us are really "trolls", because we can't get a rumble started even when we want one. Okay, back to reasonable analysis of housing trends, challenges to home renovation in an unjust world, etc.
Posted by: putnam-denizen at October 3, 2006 5:04 PM
p-d, that wasn't an invitation to rumble, it was a sarcastic editorial. I love PACC.
Posted by: Anonymous at October 3, 2006 5:11 PM
Government efforts to create "affordable" housing often result in slums (look at the city's housing projects). Good chance that this will become a crackhouse once again. Thanks, Big Brother!!!
Posted by: Anonymous at October 3, 2006 8:25 PM
So the owner did well. Good for him and good bye! This building has been an upsetting sight for years. Normally I am not in favor for low income housing, etc. But with all the new luxury development and PACC's record for restoring correctly I think this will present a healthy balance. This is great for the area.
Posted by: anon at October 4, 2006 8:42 AM
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