Comments on: Troutman’s Castle Braid Nearing Completion

By: Janee

Janee — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 16:38:59 +0000

You don’t think that this is going to help other people renting out places? This has been going on for some time. At least now people are getting the proper space for the pricing. Bushwick got expensive when the recession hit.

If you look around, for a couple hundred dollars less, you get a crappy apartment with no amenities. Why would you want to keep unlivable spaces around. Terrible sealing on the windows, faulty foundations, dangerous radiators. Some of the building need to be torn down. They’re rat infested and haven’t been taken care of.

Of course I think they’re expensive, everywhere in New York is, come on, even Bed-Stuy is getting ridiculous. And you can get shot there lol

By: Sue Seiter

Sue Seiter — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:53:08 +0000

I think the interior garden is a beautiful compliment to the starkness of the building. What a peaceful respite place for residents to regnerate! I love the Castle Braid name, a tribute to the rich history of the site.

By: chillinoncentral

chillinoncentral — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 16:03:25 +0000

I think that the prices of buying a property went up so high and so fast that the demand for house purchases had to go down because a higher percentage could no longer afford a new home. So, the demand for apartments grew quickly and, as a result of this imbalance, developers gained more confidence in building new dwellings and home fixing up activities. The owners are able to raise rents without risk of having more vacancies because renters have nowhere else to turn. An owner would be overwhelmed with prospective renters and, in fact, foolish to offer a quality new/renovated/maintained 3 or 4 bedroom apartment at the rates they went for just two years ago.

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 15:31:32 +0000

I realize there are many reasons people rent rather than buy, especially those of us living in NYC. What I wonder about is this: a few years ago housing sell prices went up, up, up. At the same time, rents also increased rather quickly. But given housing prices have dropped 40% since 2006, rents have held steady or risen, right? All things being equal, shouldn’t rents fall?

I have a couple of theories as to why rents aren’t also falling but also realize that just because this is something that I wonder about it may be a snore for everyone else!

By: Mopar

Mopar — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:45:52 +0000

A few landlords around the Dekalb and Jefferson stops are pushing rents upward very quicky, but most are not. I know of one building in which the old timers are paying $1200, people there a year $1600 and new arrivals $1900 for a 2.5 bedroom. Meanwhile, housing prices have dropped 40 percent since late 2006.

By: Ingo Hart

Ingo Hart — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:20:04 +0000

Very nice. Looking forward to the cafe.

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 01:27:59 +0000

The same 2-bed in EAST Williamsburg would be at least $2800. So, maybe they DO know better.

Renters don’t automatically convert to buyers at a given price point — there are lifestyles to consider. 24-year-olds aren’t looking to buy an apartment in more circumstances, let alone deal with a house, but they’re the ones filling vacant Bushwick apartments.

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 22:32:19 +0000

$1550 for a large one bedroom isn’t such a stretch for what looks/sounds like something pretty special. But $2250 for a two bedroom? Sounds like they’re going after the multi-roommate type renters such as the Opera House and therefore maybe creating another dorm-room living environment? Or maybe they’re going after those priced out of Manhattan or Williamsburg that simply don’t know any better?

And does anyone understand the math on this: Bushwick selling prices have dropped dramatically over the past two to three years but rents have held pretty steady it seems. Is this true and if so why? Is this a NYC phenomenon?

By: Jeremy Sapienza

Jeremy Sapienza — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:49:34 +0000

The prices are not that high. Crappy one-beds go for $1150 by the Wilson stop. Decent but still ugly and small one-beds in “cool” Bushwick are $1350. $1550 for something large, perfect, and beautiful with tons of amenities is NOT far of a stretch at all.

By: ricmac01

ricmac01 — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 19:40:02 +0000

This idea of “neighborhood within a neighborhood” in Brooklyn was kind of pioneered by Mr. Schwartz’ Opera House Lofts, which are located only two blocks from a subway stop. Maybe for this project he should consider providing a subway shuttle ($75/mo extra?) so that people living here will never have to venture out into their real neighborhood!

And yes, I think that these nice apartments will draw a new group of people into the area, but not necessarily into the neighborhood, not that there’s anything wrong with that.