I’m sick of seeing old Bushwick buildings being gutted of whatever historic charm remains so that ugly fake brick can be pasted onto a new facade. I’m so over hideous, disrespectful new “luxury” construction set back so far you could park a tractor trailer in front of it. So when I went to view a new condo conversion at 54 St. Nicholas Avenue, I was thrilled to see a building not just left intact, but made to be more intact than it has been for decades.

The condo is in the middle of a row of sweet brick 6-unit buildings that remind me of a sort of poor man’s Tudor style. The hallways all have the original hexagonal tiles with a red border. Where they could, the workers saved every detail, from the original parquet floors to the old iron tubs. The kitchens, however, are new, and while they’re not top of the line, they are of a perfectly decent quality — no cook would have a problem in here.

Nearby is a popular Bushwick “hipster cluster” — Northeast Kingdom, Wyckoff-Starr café, Tortillería los Hermanos, Green Village junk shop, various performance and art venues, and of course, the Jefferson L station.


kitchen

kitchen with passthru

bathroom

old tub

den

living/dining

ceiling detail

baseboard/floor detail

glass closet knobs

entrance hall tile

view from bedroom

view down the street

Kenan Gunduz is the project manager, and is involved in everything from design and renovation to pricing — he has even claimed one of the apartments as his own. What better endorsement of a product can there be?

I’ll let Kenan speak for himself about the developer’s philosophy:

“The goal is to maintain the detail and craftsmanship of existing buildings while giving people an affordable, easy, and nice place to live. It’s really about our perspective, which tends to be more long term and takes into account cultural and historic contexts, while seeking to preserve and sustain rather than just turn a quick profit. We believe that we are selling our product for $40-50 G less than we could get, but sometimes it’s more than money — our customers become our best salespeople. And by working to create a win-win situation with those who sell us the buildings, the tenants there at the time of the sale, and eventually the neighborhoods we work in and the people who buy our condos, we create a goodwill that carries over to the next project.”

The best part is that they have several projects of the same caliber planned throughout Bushwick. Hopefully their kind of business practices become dominant in our real estate market.

The remaining 570 and 540 sqft apartments sell for $300,000 each. It’s a high price per square foot, but the layouts are extremely efficient, and it’s doable for a young, single professional. There has only been a “soft marketing” campaign since June, and 4 of the 6 apartments are spoken for. If you’re interested in the two that are left, email Brad at Select Real Estate or call him at 917-502-6881.

#1a: $300,000, 570 sq ft, $90 maint (approx), $48 tax (approx)
#1b: $300,000, 540 sq ft, $80 maint (approx), $45 tax (approx)

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