239 West 135th Street

What were you quoted? Also, why do you need a half bath in a one bedroom???

I haven't looked at this building- so perhaps my posting is irrelevant- but to answer 1 of lookinguptown's questions... I own a 1 bedroom first floor duplex. The first floor has a full bathroom, and the cellar level was built with a half bath (which was easily convertible to a full bath- although not zoned as such). It's nice to have a bathroom on each floor so that if you are entertaining in the recreation room, you don't need to go up the stairs to use the bathroom or to have 2 bathrooms when hosting a party.

The half-bath is so your guests can't steal your psychotropic drugs (or at least they have to work a little harder to do so).

"The 239 West 135 Street Condominium is a brand new luxury development situated in one of the most sought after location (sic) in Harlem."

It can't be THAT sought after, if they haven't been able to sell a single unit.

"The building is conveniently located ... steps from the famous Saint Nicholas park"

Famous? Really? This is the first I'm hearing that there's a Saint Nicholas Park. Maybe it's only famous on 135th Street.

"Only $16,667 down payment and this Condo is Yours!!"

Really. For a condo listed at $695,000. That's only 2.39% down. Haven't we learned ANYTHING from the past year?

"This unique condominium is surrounded by excellent recreational facilities, and world renowned cultural institutions, as well as a wide array of restaurants, stores, and services."

LOL -- on 135th Street? Who writes this crap?

And the "big" unit is listed at 1308 square feet. It's actually only 924 square feet. Makes you wonder what else they're lying about. Aside from the nearby "excellent recreational facilities" and "world renowned cultural institutions".

We went to see this place a few weeks ago. The neighborhood is not fantastic - not dangerous, just not fantastic. However, if you walk up 10 blocks to 145th street, there's more amenities. The day that we went, a bunch of people had set up lawnchairs outside the building and were hanging out and yelling at other people across the street - that was a bit of a turnoff.

The apartments we saw were nice (the kitchens are actually pretty cool). However, there were no closets in the bedroom at all - the agent suggested that we could ask the developer to create one (thus eating into the floor space). Maybe they have since gone back and added closets.

It did seem odd that they would put an extra bathroom in a 1-bedroom apartment. If you felt so motivated, you could probably ask them to remove the toilet & sink, and use it as a closet.

There's a shared roofdeck, but they cheaped out on it a bit (astroturf rather than real decking material), and the glass railing is cut unevenly.

On the plus side, you're literally half a block from the subway. However, we just couldn't get excited about the neighborhood or all the people hanging out on the block.

Those "accessory spaces" in the cellar aren't bedrooms per NYC regulations. That's why no closet, only half a bath, etc. The developers know people will use them as bedrooms, though, so leave plenty of space to add a shower. Which lucky family member gets to live in a rat-hole underground?

"The day that we went, a bunch of people had set up lawnchairs outside the building and were hanging out and yelling at other people across the street"

It's a Latin thing. Part of the neighborhood "charm".

And don't be fooled by the "convenience" of being only half a block from the C-train. More often than not, the C-train doesn't run on the weekends, and you'll be hiking up to 145th Street to catch the A. In fact, you'll probably end up doing that all the time anyway, since it's a waste of time to wait and wait and wait for the damn C-train to show up at 135th while you see three express A-trains (that you could have been on) whizz by ... only to get off just ten blocks later at 125th to transfer to that A-train you wanted to get on in the first place to continue your journey downtown.

NYCMAtt - 135th also has the B train - so you get two chances to get downtown - plus when the A or D runs local you get them too (when the C isn't running then the A runs local). St Nich park is well known by those North of 125th. It's a huge park with lots of playgrounds and considering the neighborhood, it stays very well maintained.
The problem with 239 W 135th is that it's "down the hill" and too far north of Central Park. The area east of St Nich, north of 125th and west of Adam Clayton is not a place I'd be looking to buy. (and of course, with all condos in Harlem, for those with kids it's not in a good school district so you'll need to win the lottery or pay for private school)
If you're a buyer at 239 w 135th you'll want a car. No real place to eat, buy groceries etc. Condo and townhouse buyers up there are looking for space at affordable prices. They want an easy commute to Midtown and they have the freedom of a car to get out of the city on the weekends and run their errands. Buyers (if there ever are any) at 239 w 135th won't be shopping near their home anytime soon.

That area isn't very "Latin"

Well it ain't "WASPy", that's for darn sure.

WASPs don't sit in lawn chairs?

The broker quoted about $390k, I'm not in love with the apartment, and I'd rather be on FDB between 110 &125, but the prices of those condos are sooo outrageous right now. When we went to see it there was a crazy street fair going on...not very appealing, but it was a one time thing. Right now we live on convent in the mid 120s so we are used to the neighborhood. They have housing lotteries up for my ideal neighborhood but we don't qualify. I'm also concerned that the price of the condo is really high and that if we wanted to rent it out the rent would be too much for the neighborhood.

It's interesting because the open houses I've been to recently uptown have been fairly busy. Seems people are in a wait and see mode, I guess. Nothing wrong with that... Anything else interesting you've seen?

ah, no. they spend a great deal of time researching them. and then they tool around the countryside looking for them. they overpay for them. and then they don't use them, but they talk about them.

Like this? http://www.rogsons.com/images/uppermonclair500.jpg

priceless. exactly.

i'd take the over on a TON of conversation regarding natural vs. stained.

alanhart I do like upper montclair are there things for sale at affordable prices jerssey tax is ridiculous
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