One day a while back, we were walking on Wyckoff and noticed the building at 358 Grove Street looming in the distance. I said, “oh let’s go see what those are like.” Nothing could have prepared me for turning that corner at Grove: before me stood a huge glob of crappy stucco about 12 stories high, with a lobby set down below the street, surrounded by huge patches of gleaming white concrete parking lots devoid of any possibility of greenery. I almost said “forget it,” but I figured I might as well see the units.

Entering feels like being admitted to the hospital — quite a sterile experience. The lobby was not finished then, and they were halfway through staining the plywood panels that orange-brown color that corporate types for some reason think people associate with modern design. We tried to figure out how to access the sales office, but the elevator didn’t work, there were no signs, and nobody was around — despite the open house having been advertised.

We left that day not thinking much of the scene set by the big brown-and-creme spaceship, but assuming the finishes inside were probably pretty decent and the views from the big windows might heal all bruised architectural sensibilities.

But no. My friend went to see them himself last weekend, and though he unfortunately didn’t take any pictures, this is his report:


I recently visited the Grove condominiums, and was very dissapointed with the overall finish of the building. The facade is pretty nice, so I was expecting much better than what I saw. As you walk in the building, the lobby walls are lined with plywood. There is a way to make this kind of treatment look fabulous, but this was not it. It was an extremely cheap solution that looks like shit.

The apartments themselves were laid out pretty well, but who are you kidding with these crappy finishes? If you are asking 430K for a 2 bedroom unit this deep into Bushwick (not Williamsburg or even East Williamsburg) with the train going past your window (which is not much of a problem because the developer did do a pretty good job of soundproofing the windows), you better have nicer finishes than this: the kitchens were straight out of Home Depot, and had no storage space at all. I mean, I don’t cook much, but I still need a place to store dry food. The bathroom had some vile blue tile and really cheap fixtures.

I will say that the salespeople were great and did know their stuff, but the product is really not worth the money. At this price the finishes should definitely be luxury.

It seems others feel the same way: Brownstoner commenters chimed in with comments like “the bathrooms and kitchens are cheap and tasteless,” “the counter is really an eyesore,” and “8 ft. ceilings = ‘luxury’ condo!??”

What the hell is this developer thinking? The agent told my friend that if he’s looking for higher end finishes and better architecture, they have something planned nearby — two four-story buildings that will start around $600/sqft. Yeah, you read that right. Bushwick.

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