Address: Block / Lot: Zoning: Bldg Dims: Building Area: Stories: Units: 1271 Decatur <strong>Street</strong> (between Knickerbocker & Wilson) 3430 / 45 R6 25’ x 63’ 4,725 sq.ft. 3 6 Unit # Baths Bedrms Total Area Suggest Price Suggest Price per Sq.Ft. 1R 1 1 714 Sq.Ft. 1st Fl (767 Sq.Ft. Celler) $375,000 $525 1L 1 1 730 Sq.Ft. 1st Fl (497 Sq.Ft. Celler) $375,000 $514 2R 1 1 725 Sq.Ft. $249,000 $343 2L 1 1 717 Sq.Ft. $249,000 $347 3R 1 1 725 Sq.Ft. $249,000 $343 3L 1 1 717 Sq.Ft. $249,000 $347 56 West 126th <strong>Street</strong> 1236 Ocean Parkway Edward T. McLaughlin, Director of Sales Tel: 718-307-6547 / Fax: 718-238-6091 Email: emclaughlin@masseyknakal.com Condo Sales 2007 - Continue 1271 Decatur <strong>Street</strong>
Thursday, April 19, 2007 Bushwick Buzzing, but Not Quite Ready for Prime Time Neighborhoods By JULIA VITULLO-MARTIN April 19, 2007 -- "I love the J train," Loriann Girvan said, gesturing out her <strong>Brooklyn</strong> apartment's window at the train thundering by overhead. "I love going over the bridge every day into Manhattan. It soothes me." Like the J train itself, which is thrilling but far from lovely, Ms. Girvan's neighborhood, Bushwick, is something of an acquired taste. Despite being repeatedly proclaimed as the city's newest hip neighborhood, it still looks disorderly and a little dejected. Many of Bushwick's older buildings have not yet been restored, and a number of its new buildings are squat, homely concrete or brick structures set back from the street to accommodate car pads — thus breaking the street front that could give blocks some sense of unity. The neighborhood also has more than its share of subsidized housing, both large, traditional public housing projects and more sensible, smaller projects. Restaurants are few and boutiques almost nonexistent. And while Knickerbocker Avenue's commercial strip is lively and crowded, packed with hair salons, check-cashing services, 99-cent stores, hardware stores, and lower-end clothing and shoe stores, Broadway, the main commercial street beneath the elevated train, looks forlorn, with enough empty storefronts to deter walkers. In other words, Bushwick still bears some scars from the blackout riots of July 1997, when looters burned whole sections to the ground. (One reason Knickerbocker may be stronger today than Broadway is that it lost fewer stores to arson decades ago.) But the neighborhood has one important advantage: It's relatively inexpensive. Ms. Girvan's 47-unit building, a former Buy-Rite whose owner converted it to residential in 2001 with financing from the nonprofit Community Preservation Corporation, offers oneand twobedroom 56 West market-rate 126th rental <strong>Street</strong> apartments for between $1,100 and $1,500 a month. "I looked at many different neighborhoods before I 1236 Ocean Parkway moved here twoand-a-half years ago," Ms. Girvan said. "I wanted value for my money and a comfortable commute." That commute is reasonably good. When its service isn't being disrupted by construction or police incidents, the J train takes about 25 minutes to reach Manhattan. Bushwick is also served by the M line and the L train. Still, while Ms. Girvan gets value, she doesn't receive all the services familiar to Manhattanites — no cable television, for example, although her building is one of the few in the neighborhood eligible for FreshDirect deliveries. But she's hopeful about the future. "People who don't know there's a J train or how to pronounce Kosciusko are moving in," she said with a sigh. "But that's okay, because they'll bring the amenities we need with them." The neighborhood is bounded by Williamsburg to the northwest, Ridgewood to the northeast, Bedford-Stuyvesant to the southwest, and various cemeteries to the southeast. But with the exception of the cemeteries, Bushwick's boundaries are unclear and in constant dispute. Some new loft dwellers in East Williamsburg, for example, like to claim they live in Bushwick, Ms. Girvan said, because Bushwick is now considered edgier. On the other hand, the developer of the Opera House lofts on Arion Place marketed his property as East Williamsburg. Corcoran broker Tom Le said he believes that Bushwick is a good alternative to Bed-Stuy or the more established neighborhoods to the west, where half a million dollars won't buy much. But a half-million will easily purchase a twobedroom condo in a renovated warehouse in Bushwick, he said, with about $100,000 in change left over. Sale prices hover between $400 and $500 a square foot, depending on amenities. Mr. Le noted that the neighborhood has two distinct markets: the East Williamsburg-Bushwick area, which is "desolate, treeless, and being converted to condo warehouses," and the "Knickerbocker side streets of tree-lined, beautiful row houses." (Bushwick's original name, Boswijck, means "a little town in the woods" in Dutch, and it was named for its trees.) More and more traditional homeowners are arriving in the latter area, attracted by reasonable prices for houses. "A typical twofamily, three-story townhouse, some with exquisite detail, will go from $600,000 up," Mr. Le said.
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