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Open House Agenda: Three Apartments to See This Weekend

By Donna M. Airoldi | June 27, 2014 6:52am | Updated on June 27, 2014 5:12pm
 See what you can get for $1.15 million at these open houses this weekend.
Apartments for $1.15 Million
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NEW YORK — While we like to focus on affordable housing and good deals at Open House Insider, we also recognize that million-dollar apartments are becoming more the norm than the exception in New York. That's especially true for the city’s hottest neighborhoods, where these prices can even be considered bargains.

Here’s a look at what you can get for $1.15 million.

128 Newton St., Apt. 5B, Greenpoint
2 Bedrooms/2 Baths
Condo
1,001 square feet
$1.149 million
Common Charges:$506.94 per month
Real Estate Taxes: $62.01 per month, abated until 2033
Open House: Saturday, June 28, 1-2 p.m.

Lowdown: The biggest selling point of this two-bedroom condo on the border of Greenpoint and Williamsburg is the view overlooking McCarren Park.

“In front, all you can see are trees. It’s almost as if you are living in the park,” said Jonathan Tager, of MNS Realty.

The unit is packed with luxe interior features, such as Caesarstone countertops, a Bosch refrigerator and Fisher & Paykel dishwasher, and it has an elevator that opens directly into the unit. But the building has “no amenities other than the shared roof space,” Tager noted. “That’s what keeps the common charges so low.”

The sellers purchased from the developer, and the price drop noted on Streeteasy is really just a separation of the private parking space, available for $50,000, that had been bundled with the apartment.

Location: In addition to McCarren Park — which is being expanded — across the street, several of the best restaurants, bars and shops in Greenpoint and Williamsburg are within walking distance. It’s about a half mile to the G train at Nassau Avenue or the L at Graham Avenue. Access to the BQE is around the corner.

Why put it on your open house calendar? There are limited options for buyers in the area, especially those who romanticize an elevator opening into their apartment, sunlight and park views. "All the new developments [in the area] are rentals, not condos," Tager said.

325 E. 77th St., Apt. 2C, Upper East Side
2 Bedrooms/1 Bath
Co-op
Approximately 1,100 square feet
$1.149 million
Maintenance: $1,648 per month
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 1:30-3:30 p.m.

Lowdown: This two-bedroom co-op faces the rear of the building, is quiet and even though it’s on the second floor, it gets great light, said Jeffrey Tanenbaum, of Halstead Realty.

The longtime owners renovated the space about five years ago, retaining many original pre-war details — such as the “plank floors that are in excellent condition” — while updating the bathroom and kitchen. The latter includes “a Sub-Zero refrigerator, Bosch dishwasher, stone countertops and a very attractive wood farm sink,” Tanenbaum said, adding that new owners could add a second bathroom.

A “substantial” front closet was converted into an office nook with a nifty top-swinging red door that when raised, opens up the space to the dining area that has a wall of built-in shelving, giving it a “library effect.”

The sellers made up for that loss of storage space by installing a mechanism in another closet that when pulled brings down an added bar of clothing from the top for easy access. “You push it back, and it kind of disappears. It’s a great idea that gives tremendously more space,” Tanenbaum noted.

An 8-foot storage unit comes with the apartment. There’s laundry in the building, a live-in super and a common roof deck.

Location: The apartment is “really well placed in the heart of the Upper East Side,” Tanenbaum said, with “several wonderful” restaurants and shops along Second Avenue. The Second Avenue subway will be on the corner when it opens in 2016. Until then, the closest train is the 6 at 77th Street and Lexington.

Why put it on your open house calendar? “There’s value in the unit’s pricing,” Tanenbaum said. “The building has everything one needs, the location is a plus, and the way it was configured offers a lot of opportunities for [any type of buyer].”

380 Lenox Ave., Apt. 4B, Central Harlem
2 Bedrooms/2 Baths
Condo
1,434 square feet
$1.15 million
Common Charges: $662 per month
Real Estate Taxes: $113 per month, abated until 2038
Parking Space: $102.20 per month
Open House: Sunday, June 29, 2:30-3:30 p.m.

Lowdown: This spacious, well laid out, two-bedroom condo is in “one of the few full-service buildings in Harlem,” said Kyler Brown, of Warburg Realty. The full-service feature sets it apart from other new buildings that use a virtual or video doormen.

The two bedrooms are nicely split “by a substantial amount of space,” with the master bedroom and bath around the corner from the kitchen, and the second bedroom and bath off the living room on the other side of the apartment, making them “very private.” The current owners use the foyer/dining area as a nursery.

This is the first resale of the space, which was completed in 2007.

The unit comes with a valet parking space that costs $102.20 per month, which is “very reasonable for New York,” Brown noted, but it “possibly can be negotiated out if the buyer truly doesn’t need it.”

The $216.79 assessment through July 2016 covers work done to the façade and other areas of the building. The board decided on the temporary charge as opposed to increasing the common charges permanently, Brown explained.

Location: The building is at 129th Street. Marcus Samuelsson’s red-hot Red Rooster is three blocks south; Lenox Coffee is on the corner. A Whole Foods is to open at Lenox and 125th Street next year, where the express 2 and 3 trains are located.

“Almost overnight, as soon as they started digging [the Whole Foods foundation], property values went up in a fairly drastic way,” said Brown, who moved into the neighborhood 10 years ago.

Why put it on your open house calendar? “It’s a gracious and generous layout with the unusual amenity of one’s own private valet parking space,” Brown said. “I don’t believe there is anything like it on the market at this moment.”