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Wednesday, January 14, 2015

$1.5M Fixer-Uppers in Crown Heights: 815 Prospect Place






You can almost feel the new wave of townhouse prices as they crest over Nostrand Avenue in Crown Heights.  And here comes another with a fixer upper between Nostrand and New York Avenue, asking $1.499M at 815 Prospect Place.  This is a unique little 2-Family townhouse with a front porch that sits on a block with a couple of shells and some real winners.  On a 25' x 126' lot, this 20' wide house is unattached on one side and attached to its twin on the other side.  Full of original details on the duplex and modest upgrades on the rental...











 An extra-deep yard that's currently all paved...




Not a gut, but not quite ready for its close-up either.  This house looks way better than it did even a month ago, and another quick month or two of TLC could make a HUGE difference.  And who doesn't wanna be across the street from killer houses like this, one of our all-time faves in Brooklyn?


 

815 Prospect Place has been on Platinum Member radar pre-market for over a month now with an asking price of $1.3M, so we're not surprised to see the higher list price on the open market.  A few bids came in pre-market, even around the holidays, but no one could quite hit $1.3M.  Most buyers would like this house for $1.3M a lot better than $1.5M, but it's not like fixer-uppers in Bed-Stuy aren't getting $1.5M.  Just ask 24 Herkimer Street:




Or 204 Jefferson Avenue:




And even the Aussies paid almost $1.4M a while ago on this same Prospect Place block for details that basically needed a gut at 843 Prospect Place...



 
Those, however, are true 4-stories, not 3 like 815 Prospect.  While it's not what most people wanna hear, the $1.5M fixer-upper is alive & kicking in the "emerging" brownstone neighb's in Brooklyn, so you can't blame these owners for trying.  And since it's not like people haven't been paying closer to $2M than $1M at times east of Nostrand and as far out as Utica in Bed-Stuy for well over a year now, there's no reason why Crown Heights should lag significantly behind.  In fact, maybe Crown Heights could be more preferable to heading deeper into Bed-Stuy.  With a better proximity to the Franklin Avenue activity everyone covets Crown Heights for, the commercial stretch of Nostrand on the Crown Heights side looks better poised to be that next leg of development than Bed-Stuy's.  Just ask the folks with the upcoming coffee & cocktail bar on Nostrand.  'Cause who knows that Nostrand is the new Franklin better than the folks that knew the old Franklin was the new Franklin??  Or maybe the upcoming Miami-inspired bar at Bergen & Nostrand is a better canary in the mineshaft of gentrification than the Connecticut Muffin across the street was 2 years ago?




"Nostrand is too far" has less and less of a ring to it everyday.  It wasn't long ago that they told us 845 Prospect Place was no good near or above a million, when we dubbed it the "next-best buy in all of Crown Heights".  It wasn't long after that they doubted our bullishness on 1134 Bergen Street under $1.3M.  The Crown Heights trajectory has been even steeper than we imagined, but we're not blessing 815 Prospect Place at $1.5M quite yet.  It's not the only show in town for that price even.  However, the market will tell the story, and there may be some people wishing they'd stepped up to $1.3M when they had the chance...


Pro's:  curb appeal, owner's duplex with a rental on a nice block in Crown Heights, deep lot, delivered vacant, seems like financing's do-able

Con's:  3 stories not 4, work to be done, price feels a little aspirational, no secret anymore now that it's on the open market

Ideally:  this house has got flagship potential at the right price, if you play it right

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