North Williamsburg

When I was considering North Williamsburg for a little while last year, Aqua was one of the open houses I went to. It was still under heavy construction, but there were some model units for viewing. The Apartments and Lofts broker did not have the usual confidence (smarm?) I was used to from Manhattan brokers (though they don't have it these days, either). In fact, he had an air of semi-desperate hustle about him, and followed up with two or three emails, which made think they were selling a lot worse than expected. That they're not sold out all this time later tells me you should have quite a bit of room to negotiate.

One other thought about Aqua. There was no common roof space planned (I think the whole roof is being sold as penthouses?), and the common space he showed me was ridiculous. I'm sure it looks better finished, but it was basically asphalt in the center of the building, completely surrounded by the apartments. It looked like a small, interior parking lot.

I will say that the new Mc Carren park plans were not known at the time, and perhaps people were being scared off by the thought of loud concerts all summer long. That's, of course, no longer the case.