APB: Ft. Greene con man alert

Perhaps it's the warm weather. Perhaps it's a winter-long hibernation spent thinking of new ways to part a fool and his money. For those unaware, fellow bloggers at Daily Heights had a lively thread about the 'Panhandler with the Mother who has wrecked her car.'

To make a long story short, there was a man roaming the streets of Prospect Heights, Ft. Greene and Clinton Hill preying on unsuspecting (hopefully not anymore) citizens, asking for monetary aid to get a car that had been towed or asking for train money home after his car had been stolen or needed money to fix his car.

I had a run-in tonight with a similar man. I can't recall if it was the same person (I don't think so), but this guy was African American, male, late 30s to 40's, about 5' 10" and perhaps 190-220 pounds.

As I was warming up my car, he walked up on my side of the car, peered in, held out his hands completely unmenacingly, as if to say, 'relax, relax, I'm not here to do harm.' I opened my door and he asks if I can push his car because it ran out of gas. I think, then say, I'm kind of in a hurry. But in my best friendly manner, backtrack and say, well, where's your car. He says that it's on Washington. Here's where my spidey sense goes off- I'm parked on South Portland off of Lafayette, across from the restaurant Pequena. This guy had walked almost a mile trying to get someone to give him a push?? Almost immediately, (as if to ward off my possible offer to go push his car) he says, if I give you my driver's license to hold, can you just give me $4 to get some gas? I immediately kept repeating, sorry, i'm in a hurry a few times. He keeps trying to convince me and then he just walks away shaking his head. I look back and he's wearing a black leather jacket with the HBO Sopranos logo on it.

Thou shalt not steal a bike fork else you will face bad karma

Cafe Lafayette closed by order of Dept. of Health

There was a CLOSED sign on the front of Cafe Lafayette's windows tonight. It may have been there a few days, but I just noticed tonight. The sign was a Department of Health notice.

Searching the restaurant inspection section of the DoH website results in the news that:

1. Current valid permit, registration or other authorization to operate establishment not available.
2. Hot food not held at or above 140°F.

Anyone hear any more news?

Why is everybody selling at this Clinton Hill building?

A search of the Corcoran database shows that there were recently no less than 5 units being sold at this building in Clinton Hill.

This building is on Dekalb, between St. James and Classon. It is right next to the Pratt campus and down the block from the local NYPD precinct.

Apt 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5

I recall reading a few months back somewhere that this building was being sold. That could be a reason. If anyone knows, please drop a comment.

The Lebron James of Real Estate

Highly entertaining article in this week's New York magazine on broker extraordinaire Michael Shvo. At the age of 32, he's managed to become the highest grossing broker of all time at Elliman and piss off just about everyone.

Some interesting bits, including his love of Brioni suits and $800 LV shoes. He's purported to own 35 apartments, all in luxury apartment buildings in NYC.

Comments

One of our readers pointed out to us that I didn't allow anonymous comments. Well, I just fixed that, so please, post your comments!

BTW, the reason I have those graf pictures are because I went driving looking for the new Pearson Condos in LIC.

One for the graf heads...in LIC Queens

Kicks hanging from the LIC site

Washington Square and WTC immortalized

Nexus mania in DUMBO uncovered by the print press

The recent to-do over the Nexus condominium sales in DUMBO has resulted in the New York press writing up a few articles on the camp-outs.

The Daily News covered it in this article on March 20. The NY Times has a feature article today on the US real estate market and specifically mentions the Nexus camp-outs.

It seems these traditional print writers are trolling real estate blogs like our friends at curbed.com for the most up-to-the-minute dirt on news and creating articles out of it weeks later.

Authentic French food in Brooklyn spawns hilarious response

A hilarious Chowhound post by a Park Sloper in response to authentic French food in Brooklyn.
Check out the good bits:

• I would kill each and every one of you dirty foodie bastards for just one more bowl of those raviolis.
• Warning: Don't mess with the owner, he acts perfectly nice and friendly and will even talk to you about his previous kitchen jobs in Manhattan restaurants, and where exactly in France he comes from, but he looks a little too much like Vladimir Putin, he might just reach out and crush you like a seperatist
• Decent prices, phenomenal food. Don't front on Brooklyn!!!

Ft. Greene Chinese food?

Some poor soul on Chowhound was asking about good Chinese food in the nabe. I had to reply ruefully that such a thing doesn't exist.

Elliman sets its crosshairs on Brooklyn

The Elliman website has upgraded its' search function to include specific parts of Brooklyn, as opposed to before where Brooklyn was one entity.

They don't seem to have that many listings, but it is a harbinger of things to come. One interesting listing is this 2200 sq ft loft in the Clocktower building. Granted, it's on the 2nd floor, I think, but $630 a square foot is alright.

Corcoran reduces the Citylights 2br apartment

See the Curbed link. Apparently there was no support for the $699K level. They have reduced the price to $625K. Curbed initially reported $599K, but perhaps the hype surrounding this post caused the seller to flip-flop, thinking they could get another $26K based on market news.?

The bottom line is that the seller probably threw out a high-ball number just to see if anyone would bite. I can't blame them, especially in today's real estate zeitgeist. But alas, it was truly delusions of grandeur on their part. Their strategy may backfire, as this drastic price decrease brands them as a seller with motives that aren't transparent.

Still, at $625K, I don't see any bids.

...what the market will bear...

Regarding the Graham Condos 1100 sq ft unit on the market for $785K on Corcoran, we get an email today asking if we would like to make an offer. Because, apparently, they are getting an offer on it by the end of today. Whether that offer is for asking, ie $785k, we don't know.

But what we do know, is that these square foot prices ($713) for those keeping track, is stuff that we find in Brooklyn Heights, DUMBO, prime Park Slope. But little Clinton Hill flexes its' new muscles and tells the Brooklyn world that this is their debutantes' ball, their coming out party, that they are here to stay.

God bless the bidder. Major League Baseball once was up in arms over the Yankee's money and their blatantly audacious free-agent offers. The pundits accused them of raising the level of the
market. Now they barely register a blink. Will this be the start of something new for Clinton Hill?

NB Thanks Curbed for linking to us today.

Update on the Graham Condos and Greene House Condos

See the 2 posts below for open house updates.

Slowdown in the Carlton/Greene condo sales?

The Corcoran website shows that there are still at least 15 units left in the 383 Carlton Ave Condos. I would have thought that the premium that Corcoran and Minsky brought to the table would have made this project a quick sellout. But apparently, the buyers have spoke with their wallets and balked at their nearly $1,000 per square foot prices.

Loyal readers, please remember that back in December or so, I railed heavily against some of the prices at this complex. Perhaps people who are dropping three-quarters of a million dollars are demanding kitchens large enough where they can actually lie flat! Remember the pictures I posted which showed the kitchens fit for midget gourmet chefs?

3/20 update: went to the open house today and were told by the guy who built the place (yes, the construction guy who literally poured the concrete there) that it won't be ready for another 3 months at least. New construction delays in Brooklyn are the news of the day, folks. The Canadian floors were put in already. One open house-goer asked, so there are no walk-in closets, right? The construction guy said, yeah, there are closets. She replied, yeah, but no walk-in closets, right? Apparently, she was none too enthralled with the tiny closets either. I mean, where is a woman going to put all her clothes. Or a guy his dress-shirts and suits? The subway-tile motif in the bathrooms were a winner, though.

Clinton Hill condos push the envelope

The Graham Condos were originally converted in 2002. From my informal research, the first couple of units are now starting to be resold on the market. When they originally went for about 400K, it probably set a watermark for the neighborhood in terms of pricing. In January, one unit came on the market for $639K. Now, this new unit pushes the 650/sq ft mark at an offer price of $780K.

This listing says it has brand new bathrooms and kitchens. If this is true, it seems like the buyer had larger hopes than the bottom-of-the-line stainless steel appliances that originally came with the apartments.

3/20 update: went to the open house today and it's not worth it. It is a real 2BR, but right now, they knocked down the wall. If you put the wall back up, the living room is very small. The kitchen is tiny. The fixtures in this place don't warrant 785K (oh, did I mention that the price was raised another 5K?) and neither does the added stainless backsplash they put in.

I honestly don't think you could fit 2 people in the kitchen to cook together. But what the hey, I hope someone pays it, so the comparables are there.

Greene House Condos open house this weekend!

Any one wishing to see how interior construction has progressed on the Carlton Avenue condos will have their chance this Sunday from 1 to 3:30PM. The last time we went, it was still a shell of a space, the partly modeled units notwithstanding.

I'll let you know what the latest incarnation of these luxury condos look like.

New restaurant to open in old A Table space

When we reported a few weeks ago that A Table had closed up on Lafayette, a few people were wondering what had happened. Well, the Chowhound board has a thread today that reports that a new Mediterranean restaurant with raw bar will be opening up. It is going to be run by the same people as Pequena on South Portland and Maggie Brown's on Myrtle. These people are quickly amassing a mini-empire of restaurants in the Ft. Greene/Clinton Hill area.

Real Estate Board of NY sound bites

In a recent continuing education class we took at the Real Estate Board of NY, a few of the topics of discussion were coop horror stories and belligerent real estate brokers. Herewith, are a few select bullet points:

• One buyer's broker (BB) bought their client to an apartment that was advertised as a 2BR. Upon arriving, BB mentioned to seller's broker (SB) that it couldn't have been a 2BR and that it was most likely a 1BR. BB proceeded to start punching the female SB; female SB fell back and end up breaking a toe. This anecdote was apropos of discussion on the Elliman broker who clawed a buyer's face to a bloody stump.
• An BB had a gay couple who wanted to purchase a coop. BB went to the SB, who happened to be on the board of the coop and was also the broker. SB flat out told BB that the gay couple would be rejected and that she knew it would happen because she was on the board and they didn't want gay couples in the building. This led to a heated discussion on whether coops can be bought up on charges. One person said that until a class action suit is brought to bear and an analysis is done on people who have been rejected, this won't happen. Another broker said he would've never steered the gay couple toward that building. Someone else said this discrimination has to stop ASAP.
• A Harvard grad who had a degree in Christian theology was rejected from a largely Jewish coop on the UWS because they thought he would have baptisms in the lobby.
• Some broker mentioned that a good tip is that those who bring dogs to closings should give them half a valium to sedate them!

Myrtle Ave liquor store feature

The NYT always has great articles on neighborhood phenomenons in New York City. Saturday's edition featured Andy's Liquor Supermarket, located on Myrtle Ave in Ft. Greene. Known as a neighborhood gathering place for those with a penchant for the drink, it has been around for years and its' best seller is what's known as "liquid crack" or "bum wines" -- a low-income bargain at $1.75 a pint.

There are a lot of money quotes in this article:

• In a nod to the well-known gentrification in the nabe, one of the customers says " Back in the day, a white guy like you would have been shot for coming down here"
• "Every 'hood needs a liquor store, but they're also the bane of the ghetto"
• "Everyone knows a liquor store in a black neighborhood is a gold mine."
• "This is like our Cheers...When someone dies or during holidays, the place is packed."

Slowdown in the Carlton/Greene condo sales?

The Corcoran website shows that there are still at least 15 units left in the 383 Carlton Ave Condos. I would have thought that the premium that Corcoran and Minsky brought to the table would have made this project a quick sellout. But apparently, the buyers have spoke with their wallets and balked at their nearly $1,000 per square foot prices.

Loyal readers, please remember that back in December or so, I railed heavily against some of the prices at this complex. Perhaps people who are dropping three-quarters of a million dollars are demanding kitchens large enough where they can actually lie flat! Remember the pictures I posted which showed the kitchens fit for midget gourmet chefs?

And for a change, let's talk Queens

After reading on Curbed about an apartment in the Citylights building in LIC, Queens, I knew I had to get in my two cents (more like five cents) on it. For those who don't know, this is one of the high rise apartment buildings in Queens directly facing the UN across the East River.

This building and its' apartments have always intrigued me. Way back in 2002, perhaps, I went there to check out a listing. They have plenty of 1100 sqft 2bed 2baths for about $245K (at that time). But the kicker was that the maintenance charges for this unit were about $2K a month. Some similar units had higher charges if they had better views, I think.

I ran the numbers (as I am wont to do) and just couldn't justify it. In the meantime, I had posted a message on the Queens West forum regarding it and was hit from all sides from staunch defenders.

Then the listing on Curbed...a 1200 sq ft 2bed, 2bath for $699K and $2604 a month in maintenance. Some enterprising Corcoran broker had the listing. Either the buyer thought he could cash in on the frenzy or Ms. Dominguez had them thinking that they could.

I mailed my friends at Curbed. See my comment on '...inflating due to their bulge bracket premium...' I made some more comments, specifically on how if you purchased this, your carrying costs (about $5600/month) would also buy you a "$1.2MM apartment with a monthly maintenance of $1200."

Now, Curbed has upped the ante by offering a special reward for the first picture from the open house.

Vanderbilt Yards in the NY Observer

New article in this week's Observer.

New condo financed at 651 Washington Avenue

From this month's Real Deal - New Developments:

Prospect Heights
651 Washington Avenue
Commerce Bank provided a $1.25 million construction loan for a six-story, nine-unit condo building.

This is not too far from the Washington Condos. It will be good to get a few new condos developed in the immediate area, which is the case.

MOU signed for Vanderbilt Yards project

Attended the PHNDC meeting tonight at PS8 regarding the Vanderbilt Yards project. Borough Prez Markowitz made a showing and I must say I was quite disappointed by his performance. For an elected official (of the borough which would be the third largest city in the US, no less) to read off a 5 minute statement verbatim from a sheet of paper shows utterly, a lack of respect for his citizens. At least Councilmember James was able to expound more upon the memorium of understanding that was signed. I was so apathetic at this point that I left after 25 minutes.

Some community member distributed these double-sided color photocopies-- one side said in bold: EMINENT DOMAIN THY NAME IS MARKOWITZ. The other side basically contained a parody of how Markowitz, Pataki and Bloomberg sold out to Forest City Ratner. But the thing that irked me was that it contained at least 5 spelling errors.

More Nexus reports from a person who camped out

Curbed has an entry today with a report from a person who spent over 24 hours sleeping out in front of the sales office. Apparently some woman drove from Virginia for it also. Welcome to Brooklyn.

The hopefuls in search of a condo.

Nexus condominium mania

Because we have nothing better to do on a Sunday morning at 10:30am than to drive by and document this for our readers, I did just that and drove by the Developers Group sales office to check out the line. Remember that we reported on Friday that 11am Sunday would be the start of sales for the 2nd round of condos. Well, here's what it looked like.

Needless to say, the hopeful were lined up 30-40 deep in the hopes of snatching up 732 square feet units going for $545K or slightly larger 1050 square feet units in excess of $715K.

When I went back at the slightly saner time of 3:30pm, I walked in to see still, at least, 10 people in the model unit perusing floor plans. As I signed in, I asked, well more like commented, 'I'm sure all the units today are accounted for right?' She said, well, some slept outside overnight, so they deserve them. Deserve them, they did.

Note that still more units are coming on the market on Wednesday morning, so start lining up folks. The saleswoman stated that prices would be yet, 3-5% more than what they were today.

And the kicker: the opening party on Thursday evening from 5:30 to 8:30pm - drinks, cocktails, sales, the whole bit.

New DUMBO condominiums

How crazed is the condo market in DUMBO now? Well, the new Nexus building marketed by the Developers Group is having a 5-hour open house this Sunday. Not two or three hours - five hours.

Apparently 5 units have been snatched up using the 'best and final offer' process. They are releasing a few more this weekend. Units range from 729 square feet 1 bedrooms to 1071 square feet 2 bed, 2 baths with outdoor balconies. Prices range from $512K to $760K.

In a letter we got a hold of from one of the marketing agents, they said:

"The following will be released on Sunday at 11AM at the Sales office. It will be on a first come first serve basis, so arrive early if you are interested...To take a unit off the market, you have to write a check to The Developers Group for $100. There will be no bidding...You will then have to get a pre-qual letter" from the mortgage banker they have retained.

As the yuppies descend upon Clinton Hill...

The gentrification of Brooklyn has become the new curse word around these parts, from real estate bloggers ruing the fact that they can't afford anything to those against eminent domain
abuse, who cite it as a reason to fight Ratner, et al.

Today set speed brings you some lively commentary from a blogger who evidently can't stand the 'Rich white dads with baby backpacks. People standing in front of the Clinton Washington stop asking for directions to Myrtle Avenue. Nannys wheeling children in expensive strollers. And lots and lots of Volvos. They're already swarming. I've gotta get out of here.'
This is great stuff - you can't make this stuff up...

Update 3/7: this post was linked to curbed.com

Premiere of the Washington Condo website

Not much yet, but it's here!

The empty lot behind the Washington Condos

Have you purchased at the Washington and wondered who owns that plot at the corner of Washington and Dean? Have you noticed the two guard dogs who patrol the weed-strewn lot?

Well, I found the sales listing for it here. Scroll down to the very last listing. It had a list price of $675,000.

From the picture, it was taken even before the Washington broke ground!

According to the person's email response, he doesn't know who bought it and for what reason. As he put it, he doesn't 'read minds. He only buys and sells.'

Affordable condos close to the Washington Condos

A new Corcoran listing showcases new renovated condos from two years ago at 579 Washington Avenue at the corner of Pacific Street. This apartment is diagonally across from the Washington Condo lot.

$525K gets you 1125 square feet, 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, almost-new kitchen appliances, what looks to be a Bosch washer/dryer and common outdoor space. Monthly common charges are $416 and in two months, the taxes will only be $25 per month.

The building has four floors and this unit is on the top floor.

Let us know if you go see it.

How much is the smell of Starbucks in appraising apartments?

The Real Estate Board of NY held a day-long seminar on the hot Residential Real Estate market in New York City on Monday February 28th. The featured presenters were Drew Fautley of Vanderbilt Appraisal, Betsey Dean of Stribling, Kay Grover who is a real estate consultant and someone from Elliman whose name escapes me now.

Drew was the most charismatic of the bunch. He gave a very interesting and thorough seminar on the appraisal process. He told the class how he has appraised everything, from a drug
den to multimillion dollar condos to interestingly, the smell of Starbucks Coffee - yes, he was asked buy a judge to appraise the smell of coffee for a buyer of an apartment on West 13th street. Apparently the buyer hated the smell of Starbucks coffee, but happened to live above one of its' ubiquitous retail outlets. Apparently it was worth a 23% discount
in the apartment!!

Other tidbits include the fact that the square footage for coops is measured from the inside wall, while for condos, it is measured from the halfway point of the exterior windows and interior walls. Apparently the Donald is infamous for measuring it from the exterior
windows. Taking into consideration the wide berth in the construction of condos, this could add a couple of hundred square feet to his behemoth apartments.