979 Willoughby: Some Problems, Still Pretty Cool
Earlier this week, agent Brad Eaton of Select Real Estate was kind enough to set aside some time to give me a private tour of newly-offered 979 Willoughby: Bushwick’s first Scarano!
My first question was: why this location? I almost can’t think of a worse corner in Bushwick to put a luxury condo. Diagonally across the street is a huge, gravely empty lot where truck parts are stored. Beyond that, only a few hundred feet away, is the elevated M. (While I have to admit that the sound of the train is kind of cool — more white noise than nuisance — it’s still not terribly glamorous.) Around the corner is a rehabilitation center. Amenities are nonexistent for the kind of person who would pay $668K for a home. Unfortunately, Brad doesn’t know why the developer chose that site.
Before having seen the units, I was skeptical about the sizes. I have seen other Scarano buildings in East Williamsburg, and the mezzanines — extremely low-ceilinged jobs of dubious utility (we’re talkin’ crab-scuttle your way across the space) — are included in the square footage. Here, refreshingly, the mezzanines are full-height and of a generous size, and there would be no problem setting one up as a bedroom. That said, the living rooms and boxed bedrooms feel extremely small — in the two-bedroom units, I would take a wall down and incorporate a bedroom into the living room.
The kitchens and bathrooms are of high quality — at least from the progress made, it seems they will be. The floors are an attractive blonde wide wood plank. I found the radiators to be particularly cool, with a very solid, almost gothic-industrial look. Glass abounds in these units, and there is no shortage of light and air.
 inside unit |
 toward kitchen |
 2nd level of penthouse |
 from mezzanine |
 bathroom |
 radiator |
 toward M tracks |
 view from the top |
I let Brad know that advertising the condo as 7 blocks from the DeKalb L was making the place seem farther out than it really is, and that the Morgan stop — two stations nearer to the City — was actually closer. The Myrtle JMZ, a block and a half.
There’s no denying that these are pretty fabulous apartments. My quarrel isn’t even with the location — any place will fly at the right price.
But the pricing is totally screwy: 2B and 3B are the same price, but 3B has a mezzanine and huge ceilings. The corner units with basements and extra half bath are $499K while the one-bedrooms plus bedroom-sized mezzanines — on a higher floor — are only $465K. These kinks need to be worked out. I’m only happy to be proven wrong, but an at least 25% price cut is what’s needed across the board. Unit 2A might go at $250K — forget $400K. Just get ‘em sold.
Email Brad or call him at 917-502-6881.
Price list:
| unit | sqft | beds/bath | price |
| 2A | 896 | 0/1.5 | $499,000 |
| 2B | 882 | 0/1 | $399,000 |
| 2C | 1322 | 0/1.5 | $499,000 |
| 3A | 1151 | 1/1/mezz/balc | $465,000 |
| 3B | 834 | 0/1/mezz | $399,000 |
| 3C | 1136 | 1/1/mezz/balc | $465,000 |
| 4A | 1729 | 2/3/balc | $668,000 |
| 4B | 1883 | 2/3/balc | $668,000 |
(I’m almost certain the square footage is not right on a couple of these, and the garages are included in the total.)
September 13th, 2007 at 10:43 am
They should have built this, or something similar on the two corners of Willoughby and Knickerbocker facing Maria Hernandez Park. What exists on those corners now are two one-story buildings: a church and a store. These seem to be the two spots where redevelopment could occur in a logical fashion. Actually, most of the buildings (definitely the wood frame buildings) on Knickerbocker lining the park are fug and out of context considering what lines the rest of the park.
As far as this Scarano, I have NEVER understood why it was put there and I still fail to understand why that area of Broadway hasn’t begun to turn around in a big way. Maybe this building is ahead of its time – by TEN years?
September 13th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Thanks for posting the stories on Bushwick realestate development, Jeremy. This stuff is fantastically interesting. Especially around now with the market rates plummetting, etc.
In terms of the curious location of the Scarano building: it may have to do with something alluded to in this article - it’s reasonably close proximity to not one but three subway stations (the Morgan L, the Dekalb M and the Myrtle JMZ). It does seem closest to the Myrtle stop which is actually much more convenenient commuting-wise since the J and Z, which do run frequently, are express trains during rush hour time and Myrtle is the SECOND stop on the line after exiting Manhattan. While the L seems sexier to the hipster population, the J appears to run more efficiently. Granted, those who work in the Midtown areas of Manhattan will have to switch to an uptown train at either the lower east side or Chinatown, but the commute time is really no different than say if you travelled from Park Slope on the F train.
The asking prices do seem a little steep for the area, though. I’m really curious to see how this works out. Might even ask the brokerage for a tour myself.
September 13th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Correction above: I meant the Dekalb L.
September 15th, 2007 at 9:55 pm
What Armstrong doing back on this blog? I thought he was gone forever.
The sf does look nice but that’s low if they included the garage space. All those windows lets hope the rocks stay away.
Looks so odd next to the frame house.
Any talk of maintenance and taxes?
In these places you gotta have the right/modern furniture or forget it. Ikea anyone?
The bathroom didn’t wow me and look high end. I’ve seen better with more stainless steel, and much nicer tiles.
The area is pretty good. I love the area near Brooklyn Natural and the Morgan stop so remote and cool.
January 17th, 2008 at 1:10 pm
I would encourage buyers to avoid this property. The broker working with the developer was entirely dishonest and I would strongly advise everyone to save themselves time and money by not entertaining an offer or walk through until the property is completed. I had a contract on one of the one bedrooms with mezzanine and I got out of that contract…I think a moderator deleted that line (there was a clause in the contract to allow for that in December because they reported they would be done in October) because they hadn’t completed a satisfactory amount of work over four months…the developer had the gall to call my lawyer and falsely report that he had been given a two month extension on the contract. The central ave. stop on the M is closer than any other train, but any potential buyer wil be jerked around and fed information to keep their money tied up with few if any results.
January 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
So, does anyone know if any of these have sold, and possibly for how much?
January 26th, 2008 at 8:15 am
from what i see from the picture, the building fits snugly into the corner of two converging streets. I like it visually in-and outside. Hopefully, it is build to last.
January 26th, 2008 at 9:25 am
Apparently this building is “delayed, delayed,
delayed” — the developer ran out of money for a bit, and there were “numerous” construction delays. So they haven’t really even been on the market. Now they will really have to slash those prices.
June 17th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
Thanks for this story. Extremely helpful.