Dumbo NYC

When we wrote about the cheapest Dumbo apartments on the market in August 2007, the real estate market was well on its way down outside of NYC. The lowest priced condo on the market was $475,000 ($880/sq.ft). Today, 10 months later, there’s still talk of real estate bottoming out, but based on some of the recently sold condos in Dumbo on streeteasy.com, it doesn’t seem so much a bottom…yet. The price per square feet for smaller condos (under 800 sq.ft) in contract are pricing out around $740, while the larger condos (above 1200 sq.ft) are pricing out over $1200. (Excluding the Brooklyn record at One main Penthouse at $7million ($2187/sq.ft)).

To get a better sense from realtors, we spoke to a few Dumbo-based realtors who said, “although there are units sitting on the market a little longer, they’re still selling at or near asking price.” They agree that inventory is still tight in Dumbo but the ones sitting on the market longer aren’t in “prime Dumbo” buildings.

Currently the cheapest Dumbo condos listed in contract are:

• $550,000 (70 Washington, $686/sq.ft)
• $580,000 (85 Adams, #15B, $745/sq.ft)
• $580,000 (85 Adams, #15C, $745/sq.ft)
• $590,000 (100 Jay, #8H, $737/sq.ft)

The cheapest on the market not in contract is listed at $599,000 at 100 Jay Street, #8L ($795/sq.ft) offered by Nestseekers.

What do you think? Is the Dumbo market stable? or will it go down much more?

According to data on StreetEasy.com, the current median price of real estate in Dumbo is approximately $870,000 (although they count 167 Sands Street with 5 active listings averaging $307,900 and 189 Bridge Street into the mix). So let’s see what $900,000 (give or take $50k) will get in Dumbo currently:

1) 70 Washington Street, #12P

• $850,000
• Maintenance: $272/month (RE tax: $11/mo)
• 1 bedroom, 1 bath
• 720 sq.ft. ($1180/sq.ft)

This high floor condo unit at 70 Washington Street has 1 bedroom and has 12 foot ceilings with a nice view of Manhattan Bridge. It is listed by Halstead and there is an open house on Sunday (June 1) from 2-4pm. [12P Floorplan]

2) 57 Front Street, #205

• $879,000
• Maintenance: $722/month
• 2 bedroom, 1 bath
• 1070 sq.ft. ($830/sq.ft)

This condo unit at 57 Front Street says that it’s a 2 bedroom but the floorplan doesn’t look like it. It is listed by Corcoran. [205 Floorplan]

3) 189 Bridge Street, #14B

• $928,000
• Maintenance: $674/month (RE Tax: $36/mo)
• 2 bedroom, 2 bath
• 1039 sq.ft. ($893/sq.ft)

Technically not in Dumbo, this condo unit at 189 Bridge Street has 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 balconies. It is listed by Corcoran. [14B Floorplan]

4) 85 Adams Street, #5D

• $929,000
• Maintenance: $825/month (RE Tax: $27/mo)
• 2 bedroom, 2 bath
• 1169 sq.ft. ($794/sq.ft)

This 2 bedroom condo at 85 Adams Street, aka Beacon Tower has lots of windows. With the Manhattan Bridge just outside, the soundproof windows are essential. It is listed by Elliman. [5D Floorplan]

An article by Sarah at The Real Deal about Dumbo’s One Main (aka The Clocktower Condo) provides us with some detail about the 14th floor penthouse featured in late March on DumboNYC. According to the article, the “$7 million-plus sale of a 14th-floor penthouse at Dumbo’s Clock Tower Condominium, a former corrugated cardboard factory built in 1915, has broken Brooklyn’s most expensive condo record.”

Karen Heyman, senior vice president of Sotheby’s International Realty’s Downtown Office, told The Real Deal that two West Coast men working in the financial industry bought the Clock Tower penthouse. The apartment had listed for $7.8 million, but Heyman could only confirm that the price topped $7 million.

The 3,200 square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment had been on the market since August 2006, when it listed with Sotheby’s for $10.5 million. Heyman said the former owners, Bliss Spa founders Thierry Boue and Marcia Kilgore, weren’t “really particularly motivated at that time to sell” and rented the penthouse out for a year while the price was cut repeatedly.

Heyman said the buyers plan to use the penthouse — last renovated at least seven years ago — as a pied-a-terre, and would begin their own renovations before moving in.

David Walentas lives in the 15th floor penthouse and is renovating the 16th floor penthouse, which is the condo unit behind the glass-faced clock. It “will definitely be the most expensive unit in Brooklyn” when sold. It is expected to sell for up to $30 million.

Previously: {High Priced Condos at One Main Under Contract, 26Mar2008}

This week’s issue of Time Out NY takes a look at buildings in NYC built as condos converted to rental buildings. We saw both 99 Gold Street and 133 Water Street go rental last spring. In the midst of a subprime-mortgage meltdown, overbuilding, and an increase in inventory of condos, condo developers are turning to rentals for several reasons. Developers who believe in a neighborhood will hold on to some rentals to keep a revenue stream coming in the future, betting on a rebound once the market gets hot again, or sell them later once an area becomes gentrified. Jed Walentas of Two Trees Management, was quoted and said “Our mission and our objective is to build rentals,” Walentas says (though his company does own three other condo properties, in Dumbo). “We like to own our real estate and invest in areas we really believe in.” Two Trees also intends to keep some units in their 110 Livingston Street building as rentals.

Current rentals at 99 Gold and 133 Water from aptsandlofts.com:

{The new switcheroo, 29Apr2008, Time Out NY}
{99 Gold Withdrawing Offering Plan, Turning to Rentals, 25Apr2007}
{133 Water Street Received Their TCO, 16May2007}

Rent check is a scan of some current rentals in Dumbo listed by building. Today’s post looks at 85 Adams Street (aka Beacon Tower).

3 bedroom, 2 bath, 1785 sqft Penthouse for $9000. This unit was featured on DumboNYC in October for sale and is still on the market for purchase (price lowered since from $3,390,000 to $2,999,990) but can also be a rental. [Corcoran]

2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1165 sqft, 16th floor for $5500. [Corcoran]

1 bedroom, 1 bath, 847 sqft unit for $2950. [Corcoran]

Today’s listings show one higher priced and one of the less pricey condos in Dumbo.

1) 79 Bridge Street, Apt 3C

• $699,000
• Maintenance: $365/month (no RE tax until 2014: J-51 Tax Abatement)
• 1 bedroom, 1 bath + sleeping loft
• 917 sq.ft. ($762/sq.ft)

This condo unit at 79 Bridge Street (Scarano-designed conversion in 2003 called The Bridges Condominium) was listed last week. This 1 bedroom plus sleeping loft has 11 foot ceilings and seems like a good deal at $762 per sqft. It’s located in Vinegar Hill. It is listed by Corcoran and there is an open house on Sunday (April 13) from noon to 2:00pm. [3C Floorplan]

2) 100 Jay Street, Apt PH31D

• $2,750,000
• tax: $54/month; cc: $2037/month
• 3 bedroom and 2.5 baths
• 1961 sq.ft. ($1402/sq.ft)

This penthouse condo unit at 100 Jay Street was listed last month. The price per sqft is high, but doesn’t include the 1700 sqft of terrace with its views of both bridges and the Manhattan skyline. Will it sell at this price? It is listed by Prudential Douglas Elliman and there is an open house on Sunday ‘by appointment only’. [PH31D Floorplan]

 [+ enlarge]

Holy cow. Certain areas of Wall Street are in a tailspin and the economy is in a perceived recession, but that’s not affecting these two high-end 1 Main Street condo listings, now in contract. The first one is currently the most expensive condo on the market in Brooklyn at $7,800,000. This penthouse unit (listing) was first put on the market in August 2006 at $10,500,000 and subsequently reduced to $9,000,000 on Aug 30, 2006, then to $8,600,000 on Sept 14, 2006, then to the current price on Aug 15, 2007. The listing entered contract last week, but the final price has yet to be public. This condo can be used as a 2 or 3 bedroom, 2.5 baths, and has 3200 sq.ft. ($2437/sq.ft.). RE taxes are $757/month and common charges are $2061/month.

 [+ enlarge]

The second condo (listing) in contract at 1 Main Street is currently the 20th most expensive condo in Brooklyn at $2,875,000, and was first listed in Sept 2007. This condo has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a home office, and 2198 sq.ft. ($1308/sq.ft.). RE taxes are $307/month and common charges are $1254/month. Any 1 Mainers know if anyone famous is moving into either of these? There’s still 4 other listings, including this one for $4,300,000 at 1 Main for those who want to get in on the action before the stock market really tanks.

(16 Main Street, the future home of The Galapagos Art Space. Photo courtesy of blackoutny)

An article in today’s NY Times talks about artists and organizations receiving subsidized rent from the Walentas’ Two Trees Management. Of course there’s the notion that the subsidized rents are temporary and that given the pace of gentrification, the future of Dumbo’s artists remain uncertain. A few tibits from the article:

• When 70 Washington was converted to condos, Two Trees offered every artist in the building below-market rates at 20 Jay or 55 Washington and 80% accepted.
• Mr. Walentas would like to move St. Ann’s Warehouse to the 19th-century Tobacco Warehouse in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and convert the Empire Stores Warehouse, on Water Street between Dock and Main Streets, into studio and gallery space. Both are owned by the state.
• The Galapagos Art Space almost moved to Berlin before Walentas offered a 15 year lease at 16 Main for $6.82 per sq ft.
• The rents vary depending on the organization and “depends on the space and who they are and what they contribute”: In the 55 Washington building, for example, the James Glass Studio pays $6.77 per square foot per year; Chris Perry Woodworking, $11.39; and the Robinson & Grisaru architectural firm, $19. At 45 Main Street, Lynn Veitzer, an artist, pays $14.61; Jennifer Riley, also an artist, $12.79; and the Dumbo Arts Center, zero.
• “In 2003 the Walentases told Smack Mellon that it had to vacate its gallery and studio space at 56 Water Street to make room for a 1922 carousel restored by David Walentas’s wife, Jane, an artist. But the developers moved Smack Mellon into a former boiler house at 92 Plymouth Street, gratis, and helped pay for the renovation.”

There’s no question that artists add value to any area/neighborhood, but as gentrification (and rezoning) takes place, and market rate rents go up, artists are forced out of a neighborhood they originally helped to create.

{The Lords of Dumbo Make Room for the Arts, at Least for the Moment, 06Mar2008, NY Times}

Our friends at both Brownstoner and Gowanus Lounge have great summaries of The Department of City Planning’s preliminary proposal for the rezoning of Dumbo. According to a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article, in attendance were representatives of Councilman David Yassky, representatives of Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez, Community Board 2, the Dumbo Neighborhood Association, the Dumbo Business Improvement District and property owners. City planning presented proposed boundaries to allow buildings to be built up to 12 stories tall along Jay Street, with street level fronts rising to 6-8 stories. Buildings along Bridge Street could rise to 8 stories, with 4-6 stories at street level. [Google Maps] The land use review process should begin in the fall and will have a plan ready for approval by Spring or Summer of 2009.

This could mean that some of the two/three story buildings along the east side of Jay Street between Front and John Street could be built up to 12 stories tall (provided that the Landmark Commission approves the designs). It’s not as likely that the west side of Jay Street will be rebuilt higher anytime soon since those buildings already rise over 7 stories. The west side of Jay Street include:

• 68 Jay at 10 stories,
• 42-44 Jay at 7 stories (Phoenix House),
• 20 Jay at 11 stories, and
• 10 Jay Street at 9 stories (plus a possible 5.)

{Brooklyn Planning Director Explains Dumbo Rezoning, 04Mar2008, Gowanus Lounge}
{Planning Reveals More Deets About Dumbo Rezoning Plan, 04Mar2008, Brownstoner}
{City Pushing Dumbo Rezone for 2009, 04Mar2008, Curbed}

According to a story in the Architect’s Newspaper, the City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden announced at yesterday’s commission meeting that the Department of City Planning was undertaking a rezoning of Dumbo. They will be presenting its first official version of the rezoning to Community Board 2, elected officials, local preservationists, and other concerned parties during a closed-door meeting on Thursday.

“Everyone’s been taken aback by how fast this has taken place after the landmarking,” Simeon Bankoff, executive director of the Historic Districts Council, told AN. The Department of City Planning did not return calls for comment, but Bankoff and another source said they have heard talk of rezoning the area R8A.

Such a contextual zoning that would create bulky 10-12 story buildings, which would conform with some of the areas taller lofts but tower over others. The area is currently a patchwork of lots zoned for manufacturing or residential [.pdf]. “It’s looking like they want a high-density residential neighborhood,” Bankoff said. “What will happen to the remaining factories and illegal lofts, we don’t yet know.”

That mix—new condos, converted lofts, and factories, both active and derelict—captures the neighborhood’s meteoric rise over the last decade from industrial hub to artists’ colony to haute ‘hood. As with previous rezonings, this one should update the area’s outmoded regulations while trying to both encourage and control development. The question remaining for those in the neighborhood is what is appropriate development.

According to the Department of City Planning spokesperson Jennifer Torres, the “proposed rezoning aims to preserve the mixed-use character of the neighborhood, allow for residential conversion of existing loft buildings, promote new construction at densities consistent with the built character of the area, and provide incentives and opportunities for affordable housing development in DUMBO.”

The Dumbo Neighborhood Association is holding a one-hour press conference with Councilman David Yassky at 10:30am today (Wed, Feb. 27) at the PowerHouse Arena (37 Main Street) on protecting the community against inappropriate development.

{DNA Press Conference info (pdf)}