Price Drop in Brooklyn Heights: 102 Pierrepont Street

You know we barely cover Brooklyn Heights.  It's basically the Upper East Side in our book, and it's adorable how many folks treat it like it's deep Brooklyn - even people that live there.  But today's pick is too juicy not to cover.  102 Pierrepont Street just dropped from $3.8M to $3.5M this week.  That's still a ton of money, to be sure, but it's also $525/sqft in a neighborhood where fixer-uppers can easily command close to $1,000/sqft.  One developer even told us they'd underwrite a condo conversion over here at $680K a piece.  Maybe they haven't been following the $700K condo game in Gowanus-y Slope or 4th Avenue Park Slope or North Slope or neighboring Boerum Hill or anywhere in Brooklyn for that matter.  How many people do you think you'd have at the open house for a 20' x 55' condo in prime Brooklyn Heights for $680K a piece?

6 stories just a few blocks from the Promenade?  This is a screaming opportunity on a lot of levels, but you know how Brooklyn goes.  Whether you have $1M or $100M, since there's no one place where all the listings are, it's still needle-in-a-haystack time searching for properties.  And, as we've seen, how and where properties are marketed makes a HUGE difference on sales time and sales price.  Palmese & company aren't going to give you any interior pics or even market the thing in the traditional channels where properties like this are bought, and they probably could care less.  The property is in totally turnkey condition, not that you'd know it.  They openly call out the rent controlled tenant, to their credit.  There are lots of angles they could hype up about the place, but that's simply not their game.  The fact that it was the one-time home of Arthur Miller is a nifty detail worth geeking out about to some.  But these brokers don't care if it was Arthur Miller's or Brooklyn Heights neighbor Norman Mailer.  Mailer once said of Miller, "I can remember thinking, This guy's never going anywhere" - which is how some would-be buyers might feel about the rent controlled tenant at this house.

There's a funky little extension on the back of the house that some portrayed as a deal-breaker, but we think could make a really nifty rear kitchen with a little creative design and some added windows for light.

Any number of other things make this an adorable place to be.  Geek out about St. Ann's across the street for all you top-notch school connoisseurs, or cool off from this heat at the refreshing lemonade stand on your way to a Promenade stroll:

Pro's:  location, size, turnkey, versatile


Con's:  rent controlled tenant, no pics of the inside, listing living under a rock for some (which can be a plus)


Ideally:  whether as a condo conversion, an income rental property, or a single-family home - there are plays to be made here.  (especially compared to what else wants $3M+ in Brooklyn Heights)