Tuesday, April 27, 2010

☞ DWELL: 809 Riverside Drive Priced Half Off

When the 39 foot wide, semi-detached Spanish style, prewar house at 809 Riverside Drive was up on the market last September, the asking price was almost at $2 million. Now, almost 7 months later, the price has been reduced multiple times until a couple of weeks ago, it reached it's lowest at $1.1 million. The landmark property is in the new Audubon Park Historic District at 157th Street which is just right outside the outer edge of Harlem's northern borders. There's not much going on in this part of town since the retail in the surrounding area is pretty limited, but the 1 train at 157th Street is only a block away. Transportation-wise, the train might be a moot point since there's a garage that is built into the side of the building. The house has all of its original details, six bedrooms, three baths and probably needs some work done on it to update the infrastructure. See our past post for a look at the interior and the garages: LINK. Photo by Ulysses

9 comments:

  1. The place is a Complete GUT! New Roof; repointing etc. Estimate 750k+ needed in renovations.

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  2. I agree. It's been neglected for decades.

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  3. It looks like people are living in it so can it really be that bad?

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  4. I looked at this place with my contractor. HUGE renovation, including structure issues, lead paint, asbestos, etc. Also, safety is an issue becuase landmarks would puke on protective bars on the many ground floor windows. Also, this picture is of two houses - the one for sale is the right side. We bid for 950, but someone else was higher, probably in the low-1mm area.

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  5. Can you add links to the broker's listing when you run these interesting pieces? It would really help.

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  6. anon 11:08 should look at all the old brownstones in the historic districts and see the beautiful options for cast iron window bars. Many have floral motifs or decorative grid layouts. Landmarks would have no problem with this type security enclosure.

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  7. Anon 10.27. Landmarks has all sorts of issues with all manner of things. Our Chelsea landmarked church needs to replace its tall black iron fencing that has been there since time immemorial but Landmarks wants us to replace it with a replica of the fence that was there when the building was built. That one was only 3.6 high.

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  8. Landmarks has all manner of issues with almost everything. Our landmark Church needs to replace its black iron fence and has submitted drawings of an almost exact replica. Landmarks wants us to go back to the fence that was the original, 170-year old model. Unfortunately it’s 3.6 feet tall. Not terribly practical.

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  9. While I am fascinated by this house, having come upon it almost 10 years ago in one of my strolls, but it was a wreck then, and has just gotten worse. I'm pretty sure no one has lived in it for years. I heard, and I'm not sure if this is 100% correct because it's just from asking around, that there was a family that lived there for years and years, they own it outright. They basically abandoned it when the children grew up, and just sort of left it. The one on the left is gorgeous, from the outside. The one for sale has (or had, the last time I stared longingly at it) broken windows - broken stained glass windows, cracked brick and a list of problems you can see just from the outside. Then you have the neighborhood, which is iffy at best.
    But if you ever get the chance to walk around there, it's so gorgeous.

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