The $700K Condo Game Ticks Up: 35 St. Marks Avenue, #2

When a developer listed a nifty condo conversion at 33 St. Marks Avenue with Corcoran for an average of over $1M per unit last fall, the next door neighbor wanted to get in on the action. And who could blame them? When you see $1.6M in 2010 turn into over $4M in 2011 just 3 bricks away from you next door, you'd want your pay-day too. We felt like the neighbor's for sale by owner listing was a bit of a stretch at over $3M, and didn't really factor in the year of work, probably over $1M in renovation, and Corcoran's marketing reach it took to fetch those numbers. Lo and behold, Corcoran swooped up on that owner after some other broker took a shot for a while, and convinced him his condos as-is could at least fetch $775K, if not the $925K that comparably-sized floor-thrus were getting next door. Sounds like a good compromise to us. And, alas, now 35 St. Marks, #2 is in contract with its list price of $775K after barely 3 months on the market.

Is $775K the price? Heck, nothing surprises us in Park Slope anymore. Is this apartment $150K away from being the gorgeous-ness next door? Probably in somebody's book. It's not like there are lots of 20' x 65' floor plates out there, people. You gotta get in while the gettin's good. And even clean, white, generic space in Corcoran photos will "gitter done" in this market. We called this out as the next shoe to drop in the value condo game after 89 Dean Street, #2 went in contract so quickly with its $700K list price, and it didn't take very long to come true.

Personalize the kitchens and baths to your taste, and you might really have something. The centralized North Slope location is good for trains and strolling, but you also have the stadium out your rear window. Also, there's uncertainty as to if and when the rest of the building might condo convert and/or go through some intense construction (which is all done next door already). Either way, $746/sqft for livable-but-dated space shows what a condo conversion can do in the "Slope Heights" area, even if you mail it in on the interior and slap up some pics on Corocran.com.

Pro's: huge floor plate, customizable space, low maintenance for the price point, centralized location, almost in the $700K condo game territory

Con's: kind of riding neighbor's coattails to a higher price point, the whole is greater than the sum of the parts next door for sure, more construction might be looming with your neighbors' apartments due for updating, many prefer deeper into the Slope (but good luck getting it at this price)

Ideally: this bodes well for anybody contemplating even the most mediocre of condo conversions in a decent location. A few buildings come to mind that could do this overnight.