Tuesday, April 5, 2011

☞ DWELL: What's Up with 254 West 121st Street?

Another one of those mystery townhouse shells that hasn't seen any action in years is located just east of the south FDB corridor at 254 West 121st Street.  The house is part of a handsome set from apparently the same architect and the just-restored neighbor at number 260 was sold this past year for $1.1 million : LINK.  So what is going on with this shell that has all the cinder blocks up in the windows?

Looking back at past records, it seems that a lot of nothing has been happening for about 23 years now.  Deeds show that the ownership of the property went to someone who lives downtown back in 1987 (which appears to be one of those "given" city-owned properties) .  Only a couple of permits were ever posted to convert the former SRO and they date as far back as 1991.  Seeing the current state of the building today, one might assume that those renovations never happened. It would be a shame to see a building like this get demolished because of neglect but what can really be done in this situation?
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5 comments:

  1. HHHApril 5, 2011 at 12:51 PM

    The owner (a taxi driver) has had people in to see the property multiple times - but has always backed away at the last minute when an offer comes in. He was showing it about 3-4 weeks ago (I live on the street). Common belief among 121st Street neighbors is that he's simply not serious about selling and is going through the motions. In the meantime, he visits once a month to do the bare minimum of upkeep - trying to keep the place from falling apart; last year part of the cornice fell into the community garden and he had multiple workmen in to fix before the city got involved.

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  2. BenApril 6, 2011 at 12:30 AM

    Probably one of the slightly delusional people with nowhere near enough funds for renovation but a conviction that one day he'll make it big and be able to fix it up. Until that day comes (and it never will), he'll just let it decline, unwilling to let it go.

    Look for this one in an estate sale twenty years from now.

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  3. Sanou's MumApril 6, 2011 at 8:47 AM

    Or the title is not clear and the thought of going through the process is too daunting.

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  4. AnonymousApril 7, 2011 at 8:37 PM

    HHH is absolutely right and I wish we had known earlier. We got strung along by this guy for months. We had an agreed upon price in June 2010, and he kept stalling, coming up with excuses. First, he had to find a lawyer, then a 1031 exchange. We finally gave up in September. Serious buyers, I would say stay away. It all worked out, though, as we found a great place for a much better deal. I look back and can't believe we were willing to pay so much and he still wouldn't sell.

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  5. KathleenApril 11, 2011 at 2:17 PM

    We wrangled with him too, but he is delusional! I hope we are as lucky as Daodora and can find a great place for a much better deal!

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