Thursday, August 28, 2008

Prudential Douglas Elliman redefines "waterfront"

From the NY Post:

$735,000

Bedrooms: 2 Bathrooms: 2 Square feet: 1,238 Common charges: $636 -- This brand-new waterfront condo on Purves Street features Brazilian-wood plank floors, a private balcony off the master bedroom and radiant-heated floors and a cast-iron soaking tub in the master bath. But those all take a backseat to the "spectacular" city views from almost every room. Plus, the building has a common roof deck, gym and parking.

Agent: Jermain Miller, Prudential Douglas Elliman


Waterfront? Click here to see where this is. Sales must be slumping...

72 comments:

Anonymous said...

Oh my God! For 735K, get yourself a house in a better location and neighborhood.
Who would spend that much $$$ on this crap?

Anonymous said...

And by "spectacular" city views, they must mean of the ramp leading from the upper level of the Queensborough Bridge to Thomson Avenue, which runs about five feet away from this building. "Lethal Weapon 4," anyone?

Anonymous said...

I've visited this building. The views are spectacular. As far as price goes this is on the low end. Closer to the waterfront this would go for about $1M.

Anonymous said...

italian girl - typical narrow-minded view unaware of anything beyond the confines of whatever little Queens neighborhood where she lives.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous:
If you think spending that much, if not more, on an APARTMENT in LIC then knock yourself out. Personally, I think money could be spent more wisely elsewhere in Queens.
Oh and please don't presume to know anything about me, my neighborhood or my mind.

Anonymous said...

"I've visited this building. The views are spectacular. As far as price goes this is on the low end. Closer to the waterfront this would go for about $1M."

A realtor posted this. No talk about what the views are of from this particular pad, just that they are "spectacular". We all know where this building is and what's around it. This is marketed to people who will never see what they bought, e.g. foreign investors.

Anonymous said...

You think they're talking about the view of the perpetual puddle that's in the train yard?

Anonymous said...

LIC is a great area, with lots of interesting, creative, intelligent people. More and more amenities and cultural venues are coming in, and you have easy access to Manhattan. It is also a great investment to buy there, as the demand for the area is growing fast.
italian girl - you are typical of plenty of the mid-Queens limited-thinking neighborhood types that I've known. My opinion of you is based on your comments, which originate in your mind.

Anonymous said...

"LIC is a great area, with lots of interesting, creative, intelligent people."

keep telling yourself that.

Anonymous said...

"italian girl - you are typical of plenty of the mid-Queens limited-thinking neighborhood types that I've known."

As if mid-Queens neighborhood types would want to hang out with you. Our thinking is practical, not stupid. We would never pay through the nose for a box on the wrong side of the river when we can have a house with our own yard where our kids can play. People who buy into the luxury condo craze are those with limited thinking.

Anonymous said...

LIC is a temporary community. No one buying there now will be there in 10 years.

Anonymous said...

"We would never pay through the nose for a box on the wrong side of the river when we can have a house with our own yard where our kids can play. People who buy into the luxury condo craze are those with limited thinking."

So, by this thinking, anyone who lives in a condo or an apartment is stupid. Wow. And you don't consider yourself narrow-minded?

Anonymous said...

No the previous poster said "luxury condo craze." Regular condos or apartments are quite affordable, especially for couples without children or singles. Paying for a luxury box with what you can get for a nice-sized house with backyard is kinda dumb.

Anonymous said...

Yes, the views are spectacular.

Of the Queensborough Bridge ramp.

Of the Sunnyside Rail Yards.

Of the 48-story Citibank Building across the street.

Of the UN Credit Building.

Of the 7 train between 45 Rd/Court House Square and Queensboro Plaza.

Of the new tower they're going to put up across 44th Drive from Citibank.

Spectacular.

Anonymous said...

How many guest workers does it take to pay off a mortage with speculative overseas hot money?

Anonymous said...

" Paying for a luxury box with what you can get for a nice-sized house with backyard is kinda dumb."

This comment obviously comes from a person without much interesting life experience. What a naive, unsophisticated statement.

Queens Crapper said...

What do you define as "interesting life experience?"

Anonymous said...

actually, those paying a lot of money for a little space are probably the ones without much financial, real estate or city living experience.

Anonymous said...

Home prices are based on market demand. If your mid-Queens neighborhoods houses "with yards" were so much more desirable than these condos, they would garner higher prices. Don't be upset because more people place higher values on LIC condos than on your houses.
Luxury condo living has its benefits that mid-Queens' modest homes do not. Stop being such haters.

Anonymous said...

whether you spend a little or a lot of money for your precious condo, lic is a still a dump. kinda like putting lipstick on a pig.

did you just plunk a fortune there? too bad for you.


sucka

Anonymous said...

"If your mid-Queens neighborhoods houses "with yards" were so much more desirable than these condos, they would garner higher prices."

First of all, where the hell is mid-Queens? Never heard that phrase. Second, at least in my neighborhood, houses sell for at LEAST 700K. And don't worry, soon enough you'll be looking at one of our houses when you finally realize you need more room for your 2 1/2 kids.
See you then!

Anonymous said...

Middle Queens is largely a vast dump. Every day you can log on here and see rants about people paving over those precious lawns that you speak of, flooding, illegal aliens packed into houses, backed up sewers, rapists on the loose, blackouts, etc. Things are different here. The city is investing a lot of money here. Developers are cleaning up polluted brown fields that industry left behind. New commercial and residential buildings are sprouting up on every block. New schools and libraries are being built. There is an active neighborhood community. Every week a new restaurant, bars or store opens up. You should come visit. You would be surprised at what’s going on here. It urban renewal at its best.

Anonymous said...

Whoever the latest "anonymous" is, s/he certainly has the spiel down. What schools, what libraries? 11 YEARS after City Lights opened its doors, the neighborhood just got its first supermarket and Duane Reade. No matter how much anyone who bought out here spins it, LIC is still not happening yet. Down the line--undoubtedly; with the rezoning, its proximity to Manhattan will eventually carry the day. Just not now.

But everything west of Vernon Boulevard is always going to feel like Battery Park City (itself decades in the making), which means dead, dead, dead at night. It's no wonder each building hawks itself as a self-contained "community," because the new city of Queens West won't feel like one on its own. And I doubt the canyons of Jackson Avenue, even with the vaunted street project scheduled, will feel any less isolated, either. Block after block of faceless condo towers has sucked all the street-level life, the humanity, out of many stretches of Manhattan's avenues (go up 6th Avenue at night above 22nd Street, you'll get the idea), and a "community" based on that will feel lifeless, as well.

Anonymous said...

Yes, King. The abandoned warehouses and factories and empty lots strewn with trash and rats presented had a much more interesting streetscape than faceless condos. It was much better back then.

Anonymous said...

Every day you can log on here and see rants about people paving over those precious lawns that you speak of, flooding, illegal aliens packed into houses, backed up sewers, rapists on the loose, blackouts, etc. Things are different here. The city is investing a lot of money here.

these things are happening in every neighborhood throughout the outer boroughs. And the neighborhoods the city decides to invest a lot of money in today will be neglected in 10 years time. Don't forget - building "new" is sexier than maintaining.

Oh, and houses in "mid-Queens" can go for $700,000 and make income to pay the mortgage. Makes you wonder who the real sucker is. As for "Mr. warehouses and factories" - those provided something called jobs. You weren't supposed to hang out there at night. Duh.

Anonymous said...

definition of yuppie "life experience":

1)working 12 hour days at some hedge fund company
2)goes bar-hopping all weekend
3)knock all the rest of us who have kids
4)obsessed with all things material
5)one day wakes up and realizes it all doesn't matter......and moves into a house in "middle queens"

Anonymous said...

Dear "anonymous" the latest: it was an industrial area, with residential concerns secondary. You know, the kinds of industries actually necessary for the vertical lifestyle to succeed: taxi garages, elevator repair shops, ironworks, etc. That it got isolated at night was of little concern to those of us who have lived here for more than five minutes, and we didn't have to hype ourselves into hysteria to enjoy it, or pep talk ourselves into thinking we hadn't lost our shirts in speculation. When the "new, improved" LIC is done, and proves as sterile and lifeless as a good deal of Manhattan has become, get back to me.

Oh, that's right, you'll be somewhere else, peddling realtor snake oil to the next neighborhood of "rubes."

(BTW, ate lunch at Gantry Park the other day--tons of rats hanging about--guess even more buildings are the solution, huh?)

Queens Crapper said...

Rats at Gantry Park? Weren't we told that the high rises built there cleaned that area all up? Hmmm....

Anonymous said...

Operating warehouses and factories provide jobs. Vacant and abandoned ones do not.

Anonymous said...

"There is an active neighborhood community. Every week a new restaurant, bars or store opens up."

and there you have it. the good life in NYC these days consists of bars, restaurants and stores opening up around the corner. how about events that strengthen community spirit? got any of those?

Anonymous said...

King, you seem to have lived in the areas for more than a second. I noticed you enjoy visiting the new Gantry Park that was built along with the new high rises along the waterfront. Would you care to tell us what was there before? Or will you refuse to admit that the waterfront area was home to overgrown grass, abandoned burn out cars, trash, etc. Were you able to eat your lunch in a park by the water 15 years ago? 15years ago that area wasn;t good for anything but dumping a body. Why all the hate for the changes that are improving an area?

Anonymous said...

The rats will outlast all developers' wet dreams. Back when Worldwide Plaza, from 50th and 51st and Eighth and Ninth Avenues, had a multiplex (it's now New World/Dodger Stages), I went to see Scorsese's "The Age of Innocence." Such a draw was a movie theater west of Eighth at the time, that I find myself the only one at a Tuesday night screening. Well, the only human--rats probably left over from the old MSG were out in force; I watched the flick with my feet up the whole time. Forced, premature development--rats galore--yup, sounds familiar.

Queens Crapper said...

Gantry Plaza is a state park, open to all, so why wouldn't he enjoy it? It was built there because the state owned the land.

Anonymous said...

How did this become a discussion of rats? Stay on topic! Why can't you admit that no matter how you feel about it the devlopment in the LIC area has brought some positive changes, such as new parks, new schools, new supermarkets, resturants, bars and drug stores, new jobs, new streets, new sewers, etc. etc. Are you afraid to admit that?

Anonymous said...

Boy how the mid-Queens residents can't stand to see formerly dumpy areas redeveloped into desirable areas with great luxury buildings with new residents that have lifestyles the mid-Queens residents can't afford. Stop being so bitter, negative and insulting and try to enjoy all the good things coming into LIC. Empty ugly buildings and lots are now stores, cafes, galleries, theaters, etc. The density and quality of the luxury high-rises allow for the types of neighborhood amenities that the modest homes of mid-Queens do not.

Anonymous said...

Crappy stay out of this. I'm talking to King. Of course he should enjoy Gantry park. That what it was built for and it is one of the fruits of the development of the area. Why down you come down one weekend and take in the view while getting some sun and see some of the positive effects of development.

Queens Crapper said...

I have to wonder why you care so much about what we "undesirables" think of where you live.

Go enjoy yourself. It doesn't change the fact that Prudential Douglas Elliman feels they have to lie to sell their building units, which is the actual topic of this post.

Oh and it's my blog and I will comment as I see fit, thanks.

Anonymous said...

Last response to an "anonymous" today: Who's hating? Just because I don't blindly accept every change to LIC as an improvement?

Only those whose entire existence has devolved to a mad scramble tying their financial future to endless real estate profiteering-- and who think laying waste to entire areas, without thought to coherence or function or need or humanity, makes sense--swallow this malarkey whole. When all of the taxi garages are forced out to the hinterlands, and taking a cab from your office job at 11:00 P.M. every night takes twice as long to get one and costs you twice as much, tell me what an "improvement" this will be for you.

Believe it or not, even in a fully condofied NYC, some services are actually essential to that lifestyle. LIC, along with other neighborhoods, served those purposes well, and the thoughtless evisceration of these goods and services is going to take its toll on city life down the line.

You can, of course, simply trudge to the people-less Movie Bank storefront on 50th Avenue, grab a DVD, return to your solitary media room cocoon, and continue to spin out fantasies online.

Anonymous said...

"Oh, and houses in "mid-Queens" can go for $700,000 and make income to pay the mortgage."

Oh, so that's the reason why every house is converted into investment property and you have 12 mexicans cramed into them?

Anonymous said...

Who said every house has been converted into investment property? Queens has the highest on-site landlord occupancy of any borough.

Anonymous said...

So Crappy, I won't see you in Gantry Park this Labor Day weekend? Please confirm. I was going to make a basket for us so let me know.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
"Oh, so that's the reason why every house is converted into investment property and you have 12 mexicans cramed into them?"

What a silly generalization! So all of Queens east of LIC is garbage? You don't know much about Queens. Typical narrow-minded view unaware of anything beyond the confines of whatever (LIC) little Queens neighborhood where he/she lives.

Anonymous said...

So tell me cabbyking, what would have been your plan for LIC? Please don't say you would have just left it as is, because that is ridiculous.

Anonymous said...

If a $10 cab ride from midtown to LIC goes up to $20 as a result of development, I view it as a small price to pay for progress. There are much worse things that could happen.

Anonymous said...

735K?? Overhyped and overpriced.

Anonymous said...

"So Crappy, I won't see you in Gantry Park this Labor Day weekend? Please confirm. I was going to make a basket for us so let me know."

Sounds like anonymous has a thing for crappy.

Anonymous said...

People in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. New LIC residents are going to claim that other Queens residents are simply jealous of their new homes? There's a larf. Forget trendy bars. The first new business that should open in LIC is a psychiatrist's office with a sign out front reading: "We specialize in the treatment of inferiority complex!". All of the new LIC'ers who can only gaze at Manhattan out of their overpriced aparments will finally have a place to heal.

Anonymous said...

definition of yuppie "life experience":

1)working 12 hour days at some hedge fund company
2)goes bar-hopping all weekend
3)knock all the rest of us who have kids
4)obsessed with all things material
5)one day wakes up and realizes it all doesn't matter......and moves into a house in "middle queens"

- I think that is really:
5) one day wakes up and realizes Citcorp has FIRED her sorry ass and goes crying back to mommy & daddy in Greenwich, CT!

Losers!

Anonymous said...

Why can't you admit that no matter how you feel about it the devlopment in the LIC area has brought some positive changes, such as new parks, new schools, new supermarkets, resturants, bars and drug stores, new jobs, new streets, new sewers, etc. etc. Are you afraid to admit that?
---------

Umm... just because its new, doesnt make it good, just that other horror show across the Hudson, Newport, the model for LIC.

The fact of the matter is a street life cannot be invented - the very fabric that makes a street interesting is being ripped out - like Vernon for example... or take a look at the gradual leveling of Monitor Sq (opps, someone called Vernon Mall to attract the suburban set I guess)

The buildings are big self contained monoliths, just like those towers recently built in the west midtown. They have no connection to the street, bear long stretches of blank wall, and are built as they were intended - to wall the residents into their little enclave.

The really neat thing is when the people in Queens, who never never never have enough school seats, sees the LIC folks jump ahead in line.

I am waiting for a new cultural community to be invented (around Queens Council Arts, PS1 etc,) that will look down on the rest of Queens.

And get funding that would make the rest of Queens envious.

georgetheatheist said...

Damn, I luvved playing Bingo at St. Mary's Church on Vernon.

Anonymous said...

It is amazing how delusional the bitter commenters here are. LIC had nothing going on ten years ago. Look at it now and it is being cleaned up and the new residents along with the older residents are making it a great community.

Also, do you think that $700,000 for a house is some impressive price? That gets you a small one-bedroom in Manhattan or a large one-bedroom or possibly a small two-bedroom in LIC. You seem content in your mid-Queens neighborhood with its narrow views of the world, so why don't you just keep talking about your own neighborhood and stop trying to insult others.

Anonymous said...

Please explain why PDE feels they have to lie about the location of this condo building since you are a maven of LIC real estate, the best real estate in the world.

Anonymous said...

You seem content in your mid-Queens neighborhood with its narrow views of the world, so why don't you just keep talking about your own neighborhood and stop trying to insult others.
--------------
Sure, if its Brooklyn Heights and they don't want development, well, those are people protecting the intregty of their neighborhood.

If you are from Queens, the newspapers and politicans have sent signals that you are passive and will accept anything.

So when you stand up for your community, the developers lips snarl and say to you 'who the hell are you - the politicians have given me your block and I know what is better for you. So just sit down and shut up if you know whats good for you.'

So I have one thing to say back to you"

Go f*ck youself.

Anonymous said...

Yea, kick those developer's ass!

Anonymous said...

development = good

overdevlopment = bad

ugly development = heinous

Anonymous said...

Do they pay extra for the condoms left behind by the hookers? Go take a walk through your neighbors place,Queensbridge.

Anonymous said...

long island city - the place where yuppies priced out of manhattan come to live and falsely believe it's the "it" place.

Anonymous said...

735K is too much to pay for a residence unless you have a six-figure income.

Anonymous said...

not worth 735K for the area. i work for a developer, i know how how these places get prices and how much it cost to build the entire building. i see payment requisitions from the contractor, building department approval costs, architectural services costs, surveyors....etc. NOT WORTH 735K IN THIS AREA.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for another clueless comment about the market value of apartments in LIC. Have you ever heard of comps?

Anonymous said...

These places will soon become dorms for guest workers and students.

They will shoehorn enough people to pay off the mortgage easily.

Anonymous said...

"Thanks for another clueless comment about the market value of apartments in LIC."

God, this yuppie can't accept that she's made a colossal mistake in buying into LIC.


Sucka.

Anonymous said...

The type of people who say it is a mistake to invest in LIC, without any supporting reason or data of course, are the type of people not worth listenting to.

Anonymous said...

The type of people who say it is a mistake to invest in LIC, without any supporting reason or data of course, are the type of people not worth listenting to.

Anonymous said...

I don't know that LIC will ever really take off, but many people were saying that Williamsmsburg wouyldn't take off ten years ago.

Anonymous said...

And it didn't "take off" until the government stepped in and rezoned it in 2005. Shame what happened there.

Anonymous said...

Yeah, they could have had Hoboken. Instead they opted for Jersey City.

Anonymous said...

The comps would not tell you anything... the housing market in Queens is grossly overpriced.

The comps won't tell you if the price is affordable. If the price is more than 4 times your annual income, it means that you'll struggle to afford it. (Another way to express this is that your monthly mortgage payment in a classical 30-year mortgage should be no more than a third of your monthly income.)

So if you're making 200K a year, go ahead live in LIC instead of renting in Manhattan.

Renting is more affordable than buying in NYC. Don't believe the hype the realtor scum tries to create around "investing" in LIC.

And by the way, I'm the same guy who said a while ago that asking $600K for a house in Middle Village is obscene. And NO, it's not the comps that matter, it's whether housing prices are affordable to families with five-figure incomes that matters.

Anonymous said...

Well that is a strange view of things. More people with higher incomes would rather live in LIC than in Middle Village. When looking at whether an apartment is worth the price, comps are the most important factor because they are a measure of the demand for the area. It doesn't matter one bit if a lower income person can afford it if there are higher income persons that make the demand. The market determines the value.

Anonymous said...

"So, by this thinking, anyone who lives in a condo or an apartment is stupid. Wow. And you don't consider yourself narrow-minded?"


--------

ANYBODY that spent 1M on a condo during the real estate bubble WAS TAKEN FOR A RIDE AT THE EXPENSE OF YOU AND ME.

STOP WATCHING FOX NEWS. IT'S ROTTED WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR BRAIN - YOU EX-REAL ESTATE AGENT LOSER!

Anonymous said...

With the recent DOWNSIZING of Wall Street scum that will continue for years to come, LIC condos will be a thing of the past. The culture of greed that has overtaken this city will hopefully be gone and the ivory towers along the water will be vacant. It will be the end result of the real estate bubble. A natural progression if you really think about it. Less and less jobs in this city will decimate the higher priced areas. Supply & demand. There's no way around that economic model. Totally unsustainable lifestyle and thinking. It's already happening. Williamsburg is nothing but empty idle cookie cutter buildings up and down the BQE that are still asking ridiculous rents. This wasn't the case 2 years ago. The trend is spreading along the East River, up and down from Williamsburg. All data points to this and Bloomberg is failing on ALL areas, not just in education. The lies he spread about having to run for a third term are indeed proving to be the downfall of NYC.

Anonymous said...

"So, by this thinking, anyone who lives in a condo or an apartment is stupid. Wow. And you don't consider yourself narrow-minded?"

ANYONE that lives in a "luxury" condo WILL LOSE THEIR JOB THIS YEAR.