House of the Day

Extra-Wide Park Slope Row House With Lots of Parking Asks $4.499 Million

This is definitely not your typical South Slope frame or brick row house. This 25-foot-wide, three-story building at 404 15th Street has a 100-foot-long, 2,500-square-foot open space on the ground floor behind a massive garage door. Above it are two 1,150-square-foot apartments that are each about 45 feet deep. The lower apartment opens onto a…

by Jim Rendon

12/30/2015 2

Above it are two 1,150-square-foot apartments that are each about 45 feet deep. The lower apartment opens onto a massive 50-foot-long roof deck.

It’s an unusual layout filled with potential and some serious potential challenges — what exactly does one do with a 2,500-square-foot windowless space besides park your and all of your friends’ cars?

It will take imagination and considerable work to to turn into a home — even the listing cautions that that the immense lower level (which currently has a C of O that allows for commercial use as a garage) will be in need of a total renovation for any use.

As recently as 2012, the lower space was used as a commercial bakery according to a post from a Brownstoner reader about the enticing bakery scents that once wafted from the building.

From the outside the building is handsome with a brick facade, stone lintels, a prominent cornice and false gable. “Belmont” is written across the top of the facade — though the “O” seems to be broken in half.

According to PropertyShark, the building dates to 1901 — perhaps it was originally a stable? From the three interior images, the upstairs units both appear to need quite a bit of work, though some details — including the original staircase, fireplaces (there are six of them) and some crown molding — look to be in serviceable shape.

There is no question that this place will require a lot of work and a significant budget, but there really isn’t anything else the neighborhood like it.

What do you think? Will the right buyer be willing to spend $4,449,000 on this building to make it a one-of-a-kind home, or will it go to a developer hoping to use the large footprint (it is not in a historic district but the FAR is nearly maxed out already) to cash in on a condo conversion?

[Listing: 404 15th Street | Broker: Corcoran] GMAP