Author Topic: Washington Plaza (Read 177241 times)

theplanesland · « **Reply #15 on:** March 30, 2016, 09:46:30 AM »

Quote from: Simka on March 30, 2016, 09:22:17 AM

Quote from: jh_coop_buyer on March 30, 2016, 04:07:11 AM
The apartment C53 is a junior 4, the second bedroom is has entrances to the kitchen and to the living room and is quite small. $567.000 is probably 30-50% overpriced, as compared with another Junior 4 apartment that was sold within a block of Washington Plaza.

I've been watching coop prices in Jackson Heights for a few years, and I think the apartments are overpriced for the location. Yes, it's very convenient to the train station. But it's also noisier and close to some seedier blocks. And while the apartments are being renovated, much of the original character is being torn out. I don't know--I suppose there are buyers who don't care about prewar details. But I do, so I'm sad that they're being obliterated.

Well yeah - that's what's boggling me. I'm Zillowing right now and seeing that comparable 2brs in our area are generally 400-500. This 600 seems like a real stretch. And I know 1brs on the surrounding blocks are generally sub 300, still.

Lilybell · « **Reply #16 on:** March 30, 2016, 10:49:58 AM »

They want $412K for my one-bedroom. That's the "insider" price. The outsider price is $456K, which is hilariously overpriced considering the state of the building and apartment (needs a lot of work). It faces 73rd and is extremely loud and we get tons of plane noise on the weekends the planes are routed over JH. The electricity sucks. The basement closing at 8pm is an annoyance. I like the idea of a fitness room! The garden is not private and there are no benches.

The gut renos they are doing for the vacant apartments are in the 50-75K range. People who already live there won't get renovated apartments, and when you look at the prices, we aren't really getting an insider discount at all - new buyers are basically getting the same price with the cost of the reno tacked on.

Simka - I never thought about the lack of wheelchair access after 8pm - that can't be ADA compliant. I'm surprised that it's allowed. And it's such a pain not to be able to get to the laundry room at night.

JH3525 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 30, 2016, 11:25:58 AM »

Lilybell, I read a few weeks ago here on JH's Life that the sponsor/owner has 62 empty apartments. Since none of these will sell at the outrageous asking price he can rent them at full market rent and sell sometime in the future. Considering your location being so close to the 74 street subway they'll rent quickly especially if they're renovated.

eddie · « **Reply #18 on:** March 30, 2016, 12:41:46 PM »

Quote from: JH3525 on March 30, 2016, 11:25:58 AM

Lilybell, I read a few weeks ago here on JH's Life that the sponsor/owner has 62 empty apartments. Since none of these will sell at the outrageous asking price he can rent them at full market rent and sell sometime in the future. Considering your location being so close to the 74 street subway they'll rent quickly especially if they're renovated.

I wouldn't be so quick to say they won't sell... I feel like I always say something is overpriced and not only does it sell but then it looks cheap 2 years later.

I imagine they will make a lot of improvements to the building and common areas. Alot of people will value the amenities, subway proximity, and already done renovations more than they would an old pre war apartment. Stratford Hall is a condo but it gets some outrageous prices for apartment's that look very average. I would be curious to see what the floorplans look like also. Are they are large open apartments?

The Continental conversion in Elmhurst was fetching about half a million for 2 bedrooms, and over 300k for 1 bed's last year and JH certainly has more appeal than Elmhurst.

starting so high gives them room to negotiate some also, but I could see them getting close to asking depending on the floorplans and how they renovated the apts and building.

NYC Peromyscus · « **Reply #19 on:** March 30, 2016, 04:21:12 PM »

This same realtor, Nu Place Realty, handled the sponsor units that were sold in the Birchwood House in 2008. Same MO of slick advertising and office set up on site. Couldn't tell if they did the Continental in Elmhurst, but the sponsor was the same as the Birchwood.

Nu-place sold dozens of apartments in the Birchwood in a month. The Continental also sold. These guys know what they're doing, so don't be surprised if they make a killing on this building also!

Simka · « **Reply #20 on:** March 30, 2016, 05:20:08 PM »

Quote from: Lilybell on March 30, 2016, 10:49:58 AM

Simka - I never thought about the lack of wheelchair access after 8pm - that can't be ADA compliant. I'm surprised that it's allowed. And it's such a pain not to be able to get to the laundry room at night.

Yes, I agree about the laundry room! I've been told by a few people that the early closing time had to do with safety concerns, but I don't think keeping the basement open till 9:00 (or even 10) would increase the risk significantly.

Simka · « **Reply #21 on:** March 30, 2016, 05:22:42 PM »

Quote from: eddie on March 30, 2016, 12:41:46 PM

The Continental conversion in Elmhurst was fetching about half a million for 2 bedrooms, and over 300k for 1 bed's last year and JH certainly has more appeal than Elmhurst.

That's interesting to know. I heard a lot of negative talk about the Continental, but I had no idea how well the sales had gone.

Simka · « **Reply #22 on:** March 30, 2016, 05:41:28 PM »

Oh, look at this!

"The conversion of this pre-war Art Deco gem in Jackson Heights will bring spacious one- to three-bedroom apartments asking from $375,000 to the market. The conversion's selling points are its proximity to Manhattan (a 12 minute subway ride from Midtown), the building's architect Sylvan Bien who also designed The Carlyle Hotel, and private landscaped gardens for residents."
http://ny.curbed.com/maps/new-nyc-developments-for-sale-rent/washington-plaza

I would not call Washington Plaza an Art Deco gem. It's got some nice period touches but isn't quintessential Deco style, like the great Deco buildings on the Grand Concourse. And unfortunately any Deco touches that ever existed inside the renovated apartments will be long gone by the time they're ready for sale.

jh_coop_buyer · « **Reply #23 on:** March 30, 2016, 07:10:42 PM »

I presumed that the conversion was to a coop. If the plan was to convert to a condo, the sponsor can definitely get more money as more buyers would be willing to pay a higher price for a condo. Why wasn't the landlord converting to a condo?

CaptainFlannel · « **Reply #24 on:** March 31, 2016, 07:54:05 AM »

Quote from: Lilybell on March 30, 2016, 10:49:58 AM

Simka - I never thought about the lack of wheelchair access after 8pm - that can't be ADA compliant. I'm surprised that it's allowed. And it's such a pain not to be able to get to the laundry room at night.

ADA compliance applies to multi-unit dwellings built after March 1991. So in a build after 1991 shouldn't have steps in to the lobby, or to the elevator, or a basement ramp with an incline that would be dangerous for wheelchair use and you should find doors that are wide enough to accommodate a wheelchair. But owners of older building can't be forced to bankrupt themselves retrofitting to be ADA compliant.

iqtsarah · « **Reply #25 on:** March 31, 2016, 11:41:07 AM »

Quote from: NYC Peromyscus on March 30, 2016, 04:21:12 PM

This same realtor, Nu Place Realty, handled the sponsor units that were sold in the Birchwood House in 2008. Same MO of slick advertising and office set up on site. Couldn't tell if they did the Continental in Elmhurst, but the sponsor was the same as the Birchwood.

Nu-place sold dozens of apartments in the Birchwood in a month. The Continental also sold. These guys know what they're doing, so don't be surprised if they make a killing on this building also!

Yes, Nu-place did sold out many of the Birchwood apartments in 2008. However Birchwood was a really nice building and sponsor owns most of these units. I think it's different story than Washington Plaza, where most of them still rent stabilized tenant. And buyers need to think about if they want to buy in a building that is mostly owner occupied or renters. It matters a lot when it's a co-op. Especially if the compelx has a hundred something units and they don't even own more then half of these units. However, if they are offering 10% downpayment and fully move in ready renovation. I think that's the catch people are willing to go for. It's not easy to save up 20% down payment with the recent sales prices plus a extra 50-60k cash side aside to renovate a unit.

The same thing happen to Birchwood house, a studio apartment range from 187,500+. And that was 8 years ago's price. It's actually pretty expensive for a studio apartment. However it was renovated and required only 10% down and no board approval.

Lilybell · « **Reply #26 on:** March 31, 2016, 12:42:45 PM »

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Lilybell, I read a few weeks ago here on JH's Life that the sponsor/owner has 62 empty apartments. Since none of these will sell at the outrageous asking price he can rent them at full market rent and sell sometime in the future. Considering your location being so close to the 74 street subway they'll rent quickly especially if they're renovated.

They purposely warehoused those apartments to keep them vacant - the reasoning is because they need 15% bona fide purchasers who will actually live full time in the building. They have more of a chance of selling vacant apartments than selling to existing tenants -which is why they haven't rented any apartments for over three years. Our attorney said he thinks they are going to sell blocks of apartments to foreign investors. My main concern is that if some unseen entity purchases a number of apartments, that they will be used as Air bnb short-term rentals. Regular leases will be rent-stabilized, not market rate.

I also think the prices were purposely inflated and that they plan to negotiate with current tenants who plan to purchase - so that if they lower the price by 50/100K we will think we are getting a great deal instead of being upset about how much the red herring prospectus price differs from the black book price.

Oh, and they increased the number of rooms in a lot of apartments without making any changes to the floor plan. The red herring book had my apartment at 3 rooms and now it's considered 3.5 but absolutely nothing has changed.

simka, I had to laugh at "art-deco gem". Washington Plaza is about as art-deco as my butt (except for the fountains).

Simka · « **Reply #27 on:** March 31, 2016, 09:13:31 PM »

Quote from: Lilybell on March 31, 2016, 12:42:45 PM

They purposely warehoused those apartments to keep them vacant - the reasoning is because they need 15% bona fide purchasers who will actually live full time in the building. They have more of a chance of selling vacant apartments than selling to existing tenants -which is why they haven't rented any apartments for over three years. Our attorney said he thinks they are going to sell blocks of apartments to foreign investors. My main concern is that if some unseen entity purchases a number of apartments, that they will be used as Air bnb short-term rentals. Regular leases will be rent-stabilized, not market rate.

I also think the prices were purposely inflated and that they plan to negotiate with current tenants who plan to purchase - so that if they lower the price by 50/100K we will think we are getting a great deal instead of being upset about how much the red herring prospectus price differs from the black book price.

I've wondered about that. It would be an interesting strategy, considering how inflated the red herring prices were. I suppose there are people who are starting to think the red herring prices weren't so bad now.

My suspicion is that the landlord and management are confident they can get outsiders to pay the black book prices or pretty close to them and couldn't care less about whether tenants can buy theirs. I think they want to attract higher-income buyers and consider most of the renters riff-raff.

Quote

simka, I had to laugh at "art-deco gem". Washington Plaza is about as art-deco as my butt (except for the fountains).

LOL! I don't know if I'd even call the fountains Art Deco. I love them, but all those stones (and the stones that are no longer there) seem a little more rustic.

Shelby2 · « **Reply #28 on:** April 03, 2016, 12:44:58 AM »

A listing at Washington Plaza is now on Streeteasy. http://streeteasy.com/building/73_12-35-avenue-queens/b35

hum@njukebox1 · « **Reply #29 on:** April 03, 2016, 09:22:18 AM »

Does the beautiful furniture come with the apartment? Anyone know the name of the company doing the renovations? Looks very nice to me.

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Author Topic: Washington Plaza (Read 177241 times)

theplanesland

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Lilybell

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JH3525

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eddie

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NYC Peromyscus

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Simka

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Simka

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Simka

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jh_coop_buyer

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CaptainFlannel

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iqtsarah

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Lilybell

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Simka

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Shelby2

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hum@njukebox1

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