Monday, October 3, 2011

Large Windsor Terrace 3-Family: 502 Prospect Avenue



Windsor Terrace is a great little neighborhood just off of Prospect Park with a commercial stretch and housing stock that rivals even parts of South Slope. While this definitely isn't Park Slope proper, we're categorizing this as Park Slope for the time being because it's as good as any play in South Slope to us, and Windsor Terrace is so small and so rarely covered by us, it's hard to justify as its own neighborhood category so far. Plus, we think anyone looking at this seriously has Park Slope in mind, and they aren't too far off.

502 Prospect Avenue is a HUGE 3-Family brick building that boasts a healthy 20' x 55' floor plate and over 4,500 sqft. While $1.559M sounds like a price you might go to Park Slope proper for, $341/sqft for an area with all the same kind of upsides as Park Slope is pretty compelling. The listing tells us the house is "currently used as an owner's top floor apartment with two rental units, which can generate $4400 per month in rental income." That's not going to carry your mortgage or anything, but pretty impressive income in our book for a floor-through that's supposed to be a 2BR, but really looks more like a railroad-y 1BR with an office. To remedy the railroad-y aspect, it might be worth reconfiguring the layout a bit, which shouldn't be too expensive. The look we get at the interior space is pretty standard, and nice:





Some other added bonuses inclued a "a semi-finished basement, currently used as an artist studio/workshop"...



A nice 25' deep garden...



And "a stair case leads directly to the roof with unobstructed views, ideal for creating your own private rooftop oasis..."



And, indeed, the building has plenty of FAR to work with too. All in all, you get a pretty well-conceived listing that pitches what the property has to offer. We're not sure if this is the right price, but we wouldn't be surprised to see someone pay it. We might go to Prospect Heights with this kind of money for better value and the same proximity to the park that Windsor Terrace offers, but true Slope-sters know Windsor Terrace is its own great little pocket too. Compare to another turnkey place in Park Slope proper around $1.6M, 706 Degraw, for example.

Pro's: curb appeal, size, full listing, rental income, Park Slope-esque neighborhood, backyard, finished basement, turnkey

Con's: railroad-y layout, pricey, interior quality looks fairly generic

Ideally: you've gotta see the rest of the inside and judge how well the layout plays, but it's definitely worth a look.

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