Clinton Hill in the Post-wow we're all over this week

Subject: Clinton Hill in the Post-wow we're all over this week

its interesting to read other people's perception of your nabe..i always felt CH was sooo much chicer than FG.. :oops:


August 10, 2006 -- On the brownstone Brooklyn stakes, Park Slope is undoubtedly the odds-on favorite, with Fort Greene running a close second. But Clinton Hill, once considered a dark horse, has been gaining ground.
While it doesn't quite have the cachet of Fort Greene, up-and-coming Clinton Hill does offer bargains that its more gentrified neighbor hasn't seen in years.

For those willing to forgo period detail, there are the Clinton Hill Cooperative Apartments, 12 postwar buildings with about 1,200 units. They're more affordable than much of the rest of the brownstone neighborhood because of their modern, brick-box design.

The complex was built during World War II for workers in the Brooklyn Navy Yards and sailors shipping out to Europe. After the war ended, the Navy Yard was shut down and the apartments became federal low-income housing. Their condition worsened, and the area's safety deteriorated.

In the 1980s, the apartments went private. Tenants got the first opportunity to buy their apartments, and at that time, units traded for around $10,000 to $15,000. That's when things started looking up in the area.

Chris Thomas, executive vice president and managing director of sales in Brooklyn for Brown Harris Stevens, remembers that time - he's been living in Clinton Hill for 22 years.

"The Clinton Hill Apartments really changed the overall character of the neighborhood. Not that the population of the buildings changed dramatically, but the people who bought took more pride of ownership. Over the last 20 years, those apartments [have become] better managed - they even have their own on-site security services. It's changed the safety factor and the comfort level of the neighborhood."

BARGAIN HUNTING

Many units for sale in the complex are priced below market. A two-bedroom at 365 Clinton Ave. offers 1,000 square feet for its $385,000 price tag. Compare that with a 900-square-foot two-bedroom in the more historic part of Clinton Hill, at 320 Washington Ave., currently in contract for $749,000, according to Brown Harris Stevens. That works out to approximately $830 per square foot, a far cry from the Clinton Avenue unit's $385 per square foot.

Judith Lief of Warren Lewis Realty, who has the Clinton Avenue listing, notes that the buildings have not completely converted to co-ops and still have some renters, which might be one reason the units are more affordable.

Other Clinton Hill Apartments recently for sale include a one-bedroom apartment at 325 Clinton Ave. for $355,000. Another one-bedroom unit, at 345 Clinton Ave., is in contract for $339,000.

It's not just aesthetics that are keeping prices of these modern apartments low - there's also a supply-and-demand issue. Of the 27 co-ops currently listed for sale on the landmark blocks of Clinton Avenue (between Myrtle and Gates), 14 are in the Clinton Hill Apartments. Six more "non-historic" units are available in a postwar building across from the complex - they are of a similar character with comparable prices.

Negar and Christopher Hills, who are selling their one-bedroom in the complex at 165 Clinton Ave. for $336,000, have had a fair number of buyers express interest in their apartment since putting it on the market a month ago.

"The co-ops are great, with families of many generations and neighbors who look out for each other," says Negar, who is looking for a larger place because she and her husband want to have a child soon.

Antoinette Tisa and her husband, Andrew Sonpon, opted to stay in their 800-square-foot one-bedroom after the birth of their daughter, Isabella, now 20 months old. (There's a small extra room that is just right for a nursery.) They bought their unit in the Clinton Hill Apartments in 2000 for just $87,000. (Today, their apartment is valued at $350,000.)

Tisa has seen many changes in Clinton Hill over the past six years, but the most pleasant surprise is finding out that the area is kid-friendly.

"There's a playground next to our building, and Fort Greene Park and BAM up the street, which is great because they always have kids' events," says Tisa.

She also appreciates Clinton Hill's "mix of people," who make the area "fresh and diverse."

Emiliano Casarosa feels the same way. An eight-year Clinton Hill resident, Casarosa snagged a four-story brownstone on Washington Avenue between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue for $895,000 three years ago. He is now renovating the circa-1890 building, which was appraised for $1.2 million six months ago.

Casarosa, who enjoys the neighborhood's hip, artistic community - Pratt Institute, the art and design school, is in the area - is creating a rental apartment on the garden level, making a studio for his hairstyling business on the parlor floor and leaving the top two floors as living space to share with his wife, Jaehee Park, and their 3-year-old son, Gael.

He lucked out in finding a residential space that would allow him to run his business out of his home (most brownstones are zoned as purely residential). However, his block of Washington Avenue is just outside the area's historic district. And like all of Clinton Hill, there's no express subway service nearby - the area is served by the C and G lines.

FULL-ON FULTON

At the moment, the spread of gentrification has not yet made it to Casarosa's block, but he thinks it is inevitable.

"I'm betting on Fulton Avenue coming up," he says. "All those people who are buying $1 million brownstones will want nice restaurants, boutiques, a good butcher, cheese shop, all of that. It's bound to spread."

Although the stretch of retail shops that would cater to middle-class property owners stops a few blocks away at Greene Avenue, Brown Harris Stevens' Thomas thinks Casarosa made a good call.

"Five years ago it was five miles away from him, now it's more like one mile, so it's definitely moving in his direction," he says.

Thomas adds that the commercial area that starts around Vanderbilt and heads toward Casarosa's new home was once extremely run-down, but is looking up. A dilapidated bodega recently was replaced by a Subway sandwich shop.

"It's not a boutique, but a national franchise organization is there," Thomas says. "When they set up a new location, they carefully research the demographics. [Casarosa] is definitely right; that's the direction we're headed in."


http://www.nypost.com/realestate/king_of_the_hill_realestate_elizabeth_wine.htm[/i]