126 First Place was a four story brownstone like all the others on First Place, between Court and Smith, before Steven Reich, a local dentist, decided to turn it into a five-story, five-unit, luxury condo.
Work began in March 2008 and moved along swiftly, but before construction could be completed, the project was halted by the NYC Department of Buildings when the City Council passed the Carroll Gardens Wide Street Zoning Text Amendment in July 2008, much like Bill Stein's 360 Smith Street project.
Since work on 126 First Place was partially completed, the Board Of Standards And Appeals gave Mr. Reich permission to finish and the Stop-Work-Order was lifted.
But there was one condition: that he move the roof railing back, so that it would be less visible from the street, which Mr. Reich readily agreed to. ( It is interesting to note that he never took care of that little detail. When asked about it by a local resident, he apparently said that he would leave that up to the new condo owners!!!!)
The work has now been completed and 126 First Place just hit the market. The five 'luxury" apartments are being marketed by Corcoran. The units are priced from $960,000 to $ 1,395,000. It looks as though apartment # 2 is already in contract. The sticker price was $960,000. So is the one for $1,250,000.
Though 126 First Place doesn't look awful, as new construction goes. However, having seen some of the work being done as I walk on that block regularly, I have my questions about the quality. (My guess is that the brownstone façade may have to be redone fairly soon.)
Related reading:
Decapitation Complete at 126 First Place
For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking
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10 comments:
those residents will sure have fun with a major construction headache right out their back windows!
enjoy the light while you can people!
it's really one of the better new buildings in the area. if all of the new buildings looked like this, i bet that no one would be bitching and moaning about height!
Visited this building. The bedrooms have the tiniest closets! One master has no closet at all. They say they'll put in closets wherever you want, but there's no room given the layout.
I wonder, five months later, about the status.
Katia, any updates? How are the apartments? How are they dealing with the huge trash bins and parking lot off to thier left?
Just wondering.
And, of course, how are they dealing with the MTA project behind them?
Hi Court Street Neighbor,
I think that they may have sold one apartment and one may be in contract. But I am not certain about that.
As a buyer, I would be concerned about the courtyard expansion proposal
of the private school next door.
A two story addition into that courtyard would block one entire side
of First Place, looking towards Smith Street for these poor unsuspecting home owners at 126 First Place.
Hi Katia,
Did I also read on the blog that the Private School cut a curb for a driveway on the Smith Street side of thier "Parking Lot"?
If so, didn't anyone notice there's already a cut curb and a NO Parking Sign on 1st Street, too?
I wonder how much money this PRIVATE school paid PUBLIC ADVOCATE Bill DiBlasio when all was said & done?
Also, is the guy who's trying to sell apartments in that building trying to "fight city hall" on all this?
This looks pathetically familiar. The buyers of a Steven Reich "Luxury Condo" might want to lay aside about a half million dollars to rebuild their investment when it starts to fall apart in 2 years time.
Beware of Steven Reich properties! Or, if you do buy one, set aside at least $50,000 to fix inevitable problems that will arise. This developer does not care about details like building codes, warranties or quality conversions.
Beware is right!. Steven Reich is just about the last person in NYC that you should buy a condo from. Be prepared to sink much more $ in the future to make up for his cutting corners.
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