Who isn’t a little curious about their neighbors. Ever since childhood I’ve been rubber necking at my neighbors, Halloween was especially opportune for this activity. Not only that, but we have yet to have our window treatments installed, so they have us on their nightly channel so it seemed only fair to return the favor.
I heard positive things about Avalon Green so had high expectations. While I didn’t think the building was the prettiest, and their peculiar front lawn (sun bathing on Flatbush Extension, REALLY?) I was enticed by the Ikea furniture I was spying across the way and the glimmer of floor to ceiling windows. Was their view better, if so how much, what were people really paying in rent, and by extension how much would they pay for my unit?
Alas, my expectations exceeded reality. First, the sales people — not really the most friendly and worst of all not knowledgeable about the market. Ours didn’t even know where 80 Dekalb was or that they too were offering luxury rentals. Though their’s would probably make her cry. At the very least she could pretend she knew what was going on around her. But none of this would have mattered if the units themselves were awesome. But they weren’t. I read about the granite countertops, the porcelain tiles, the polished hardwood floors. The truth is the model unit, 2 bedrooms, all had mediocre (but new) finishes, the appliances were stainless steel but perhaps only a notch above GE, and the cabinets were flimsy. The units seemed a bit dark, the floors creaked, and the closets while plentiful had the 1970s accordion style opening. Yuck. Finally, my personal pet peeve — they didn’t throw in the club room or the gym you have to pay an extra $50.
The first 2BD / 2BA we looked at was on the 26th floor, 1,058 sqft — but felt smaller because it was a little dark. No Manhattan views, and railroad style bedrooms. It was going for $3,723 /mo with 2 months free rent it averaged out to $3,227 – available end of July.
The second 2BD / 2BA we was also on the 26th floor, 1,1111 sqft nice layout with separate bedrooms and WIC for the master — lighting was similar to the first, but had spectacular Williamsburg Bridge views. Monthly rent was $3,886 averaging down to $3,368
The last 2BD / 2BA we looked at was on the 27th floor, and for this we were warned to “brace ourselves”. At last a true floor to ceiling window set up, stunning Manhattan views and a nice Manhattan Bridge view. The living room also had a decorative pillar reminiscent of Be@schermerhorn a nice touch.This diamond in the rough was going for $3,977 averaging out to $3,447 /mo.
It’s not all bad news though — there are selling points: first, two months free rent, low security deposit (only $750 — compare to 1 month’s rent in Manhattan), application fee $100, the Avalon Network where you can pay your rent online (at last!), purchase renter’s insurance, and best of all maintenance so responsive that if they don’t get to you in 24 hours they’ll deduct a day’s worth of rent.
Personally, I didn’t think it was great value, for round about the same price I’d have run as fast as possible to 80 Dekalb, or stayed in Manhattan.
The Queen Bee. She rules over the Flatbush Riviera. All of Downtown Brooklyn and Fort Greene is her domain. 
