Windsor Terrace Condos Sell in a Heartbeat

My thoughts: The stairs are placed on the outside of the building so as not to reduce the available floor area from the first floor. Stairwells take up space and if you can place it on the outside of the building as opposed to the inside that is more usable square footage that can be sold. Moreover the stairs, as someone else pointed out, provide exclusive entrances to each unit, which diminishes the feeling of being in an apartment building. Elevators would not be cost efficient for a 3 story building. ADA only requires that the ground floor units in a building under three stories be handicap compliant, thus the can get away with making the first floor ADA and not the upper floors. I just bought a condo from the same team at 11 Terrace Place. I did not buy in the Simone (the building next door to 11 Terrace) but I think that the developer did a good job with both 11 Terrace Place and the Simone in bringing an architecturally interesting design to the neighborhood which does not really compete with the character of the existing stock because matter of fact there is no prevailing character on that side of the prospect expressway, especially on the triangular shaped block that faces the cemetary where the two new buildings are located. Note the lots 11 Terrace and the Simone are located on was a previous bus parking lot and the Parc Maison (I hate the name almost as much as I hate the name Simone) was a previous gas station. So overall the modest condo developments that are built in those locations now are an improvement to the neighborhood. Actually the Simone and 11 Terrace Place evoke a sort of Bauhaus style of building combined with a traditional red brick feel prevelant in that area. Although these buildings are not oustanding the developer was sensitive enough not to just throw up typical fedders buildings. The design of Parc Maison, if you actually go to the site, actually works well with at the confluence of the street grid at that location, as Prospect Avenue proceeds down the hill toward Terrace Place the buidling adds symetry the existing building stock on that block, although it could use some more windows facing 11th and yes it seems odd to have not included more glass even in keeping with the existing brick and smaller window stock which the building is adjacent to. And yes there are a number of areas in Brooklyn, Park Slope included, where the stairs to the brownstones are just as tall as this building, and might I say they are some really beautiful brownstones at that, but they just happen to have very high stairs. That said as a developer you do not want to over do it in nabe like WT or you will miss the sweet price point. People do not want to pay more than 600/sq ft to live in WT and the building amenities and quality is obviously going to reflect that. I lived in Carrol Gardens for 5 years and YES living in Windsor Terrace is obvioulsy a comprimise in terms of proximity to the Manhattan and the amount of restaurants, cafe’s, boutiques, etc at your fingertips. There is a buzz that is lacking in WT, which will be hard to create because of the lack of zoning commercial overlays in the area which prevents any influx of commercial activity, which is actually very attractive to lots of young families with children. That said as a first time home buyer without lots of capital you have to make comprimises in this city and it is king of disheartening that people would hate so much on developments that provide young striving professionals and families some sort of foothold in this increasingly hard real estate market to enter. If you want new, reliable building systems, space, convenience of off street parking, the possibility of a yard, storage space, new appliances, low common charges and abated taxes that new condos have to offer, and the peice of mind that you own real estate rather than shares, new condos in WT in the 400k to 600k range are an obvious choice for many with modest means. And in reality compared to how poor many new yorkers truly are in the outer boroughs and parts of Manhattan, purchasing a 500k apartment is really not that modest. So everyone stop being class elitists and psuedo architectural snobs and look for the good in life rather than being ubber critical. How many posters on this thread have even seen these buildings in person, in the context of the neighborhood? I am sure some have, but others that have not and are spouting things like “queens” as if that is supposed to be some sort of derogatory remark or judgement on the millions of salf of the earth folk that live in Queens, have no authority to opine. By the way, have any of you checked our Forest Gardens, Douglaston Manor, Jamaica Estates or Holliswood. If you have you probably would not be ripping so hard on Queens. Some of the most beautifal examples of early 20th Century Tudors exist in those neighborhoods. Open your minds and stop being so ignorant.

It was an auto repair shop with a filling tank for 50 years. It could be toxic but I don’t know.

Most of you people are so duplicitous and fickle it makes me laugh out load.

These boards are full of affordable housing Rhetoric and lamentation of the ugly monstrosities going up all over Brooklyn, then along comes this fairly contextual non-intrusive building that is relatively affordable and you all hate it so much.

Dont you get it – People dont build Brownstones and Town Houses like they used to anymore for a reason. Its vastly expensive, time consuming and inefficient.

It would cost millions to replicate the brownstones from days past and nobody would buy them except the very rich.

What do you guys think, these building are free? Do you think It makes sense for anyone to spend millions on land, material, labor, countless regulations manuvering through city permits only to build a 2,500 sq foot town house that no one can afford?

Get a clue.

Now is a good time to ask you Browstone and 100+ year old wood frame biggots who despise all new construction, How are your heating bills working for you? Is that asbestos and empty space in between your walls doind it’s job for you? Those oil furnaces should be cranking pretty hard about now.

5:20 – What nonsense are you spouting about a contaminated site? While I love a good conspiracy theory as much as the next guy, PropertyShark says:

Toxic site data reported for this property:
NONE

Leaking Tanks and Spills:
NONE FOUND

Superfund, Brownfields and Solid Waste Sites:
NONE FOUND

Other Toxic Sites:
NONE FOUND