We looked at two, 2 bedroom apartments at 560 State street. The area was familiar as we had recently visited 556 State Street, a development just next door, which we thought was quite pleasing. So we were interested to see what kind of pads their neighbors had. First things first, the entry way; there isn’t a doorman — not the end of the world, it’ll mean lower common charges. But it does have a fairly lengthy stair case ascending towards the courtyard. Again, not the end of the world, but a dozen memories of me stumbling home having had one too many, me trying to impress my (then-date-now husband) with ridiculously high heels and face-planting down the W Hotel staircase, all flashed before my eyes. Imagine, if I had a stroller or some other contraption, it’s an accident (at least for me) waiting to happen.
Once you ascend the stairs you enter into a nice courtyard area, which when we were viewing it was still under construction, but looked promising. I’m not a big fan of having to go “outside” / through the court yard after having come inside via the entryway but OK. The units are arranged in small buildings around the courtyard, so we had to look for building “5″ to see 5B. I actually liked that since it gives it a sense of privacy similar to what you might find with a house. The unit we were looking for was the second unit up, meaning we had to walk another (though smaller) flight of stairs.
The first unit 5B was nice. It was newly renovated. Although the sales agent (Halstead) spent a lot of time telling us how the even newer renovated units were more impressive, they had “modern” kitchens and not the terra cotta we were looking at. He also mentioned that the main wall in the living room was brick underneath it, and if we wanted to we could open it up and the brick facade would be quite dramatic, in fact they had done so for some units, why they hadn’t for this one is mysterious. This unit also looks directly onto the busy Flatbush / Atlantic Center intersection. The traffic was already heavy, I expect it’ll only grow with the Nets moving in, but the windows are double sealed, so try as I did, I couldn’t hear very much if at all. Very nice. The best thing about the living room was the spaciousness of it, the kitchen will probably start looking dated in ~ 5 years. The bedrooms located upstairs were angled, but generous, and the great lighting made them look even bigger. Overall, the unit was nice even if the common space and lack of amenities of any kind were not. Still, at $699k for 1,440 sqft 2BD / 1.5BA it is quite a compelling value — even before negotiations — and there were some hints that the sponsor was flexible. Common charges of $575 and taxes of $785 however, are not so compelling. Especially since there seemed little that would justify an over $500 common charge.
The next unit we saw and was prefaced as “needing some work”, was so horrifying I shudder to think about it. I swear even the door on unit 2B sagged. Everything about it was dilapidated, and as my husband surmised it seemed like “renters had run it to the ground“. As we stood taking it in I realized that although I talk the big DIY-self made- renovation project dream, I don’t know if I’m actually game. I mean if a rat had scuttled across that grimy kitchen floor it would’ve been the least of my concerns. At $579k, ~1,100 sqft it wasn’t discounted THAT much more than 5B — so you had to wonder what 5B was hiding behind its walls. Common charges of $429 /mo and taxes of $680. You’ll have to look hard to see the potential.
