So, the building I wrote about before has officially gone condo; there are now signs up advertising the new spaces -- which are exactly what this neighborhood needs, obviously. Off the top of my head, I can only think of half a dozen other condo conversions within 2 blocks of that one, none more than 75% sold. And hey, who needs affordable rental housing?
On the plus side, last weekend we saw them prettying up the outside of the building at the retail level, so maybe we'll actually get some new stuff in there soon.
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I blogged about this comic condo conversion on my blog. I live next door, at the beautiful courtyard on Pratt, and am glad someone closed this building for rehab, because when it was rental it was always a problem building, and I was placing calls to 911 constantly about fights taking place in front of it.
Having said that, I'll say the condos are jokes- impossibly small and outrageously overpriced little boxes, badly configured, with no closet space. $129K for a matchbox studio, $155K for a tiny one bedroom with 550 sq ft. That's about $280 a square foot, which is no bargain.
Sad part is I saw a buyer moving in with her pathetic belongings. I thought, it'll be a long time before you can buy furniture at that price, kid.
Worse, the prices are dropping. I am seeing much better deals for better places in better areas.
Buyer Beware.
This building has always been a blight on the neighborhood. See ya. Starting to look much better. Looking forward to frequenting the new shops.
I hope it doesn't turn back into a blight down the road, because only at the height of the real estate craze could you palm these tiny, badly-configured little places off on buyers, especially at the outrageous prices at which they're being offered.
They are, I see, counting on glossy, pretty new finishes and, of course, really insane financing to sell these places.
But once the rehab begins to age,and the glossy new finishes and appliances begin to wear out, people will see the places for what they are- squeezy little places with wierd floor plans, which was always that place's problem.
It will be interesting to see how things play out with the condo conversion now that the bubble has popped and prices are beginning to drift down.
..and I sure hope they do something with that plaza, which could be a focal point for the neighborhood. A new brick parquet pavement with new trees and plantings would be attractive and I hope that's what they have planned. I tried to ask, but found them tight-lipped and unfriendly.
Personally, I wish the place had been razed and an attractive 4 or 5 storey mixed-use building with real architecture and large, well-designed condo units had been built there. I always have visualized something built of stone and brick, or stucco, with a terracotta roof and balconies and french doors, configured like a courtyard building around a central garden, with retail on the ground floor.
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