The former home of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar at 30 West 120th Street sold for $2.5 million last year and now is apparently back on the market for $2.895 million. This single-family brownstone has one of the most high end, contextual renovations to be seen in Harlem and faces Marcus Garvey Park which garnered one of last year's record sales. At 18-foot-wide, the townhouse is not quite the golden 20-footer but is in a notable location adjacent to the Mount Morris Park Historic District. More details can be found at the broker site:
LINK
It's a gorgeous block but traffic, including charter and MTA buses whip around that corner of of the Park and onto 120th at an alarming rate.
ReplyDeleteSM - I agree about the traffic in the morning. But overlooking the park is nice.
ReplyDeleteThis will be a good test of the "Whole Foods Effect" ... otherwise what has changed to the merit the increase in price?
PS - I toured this house years ago. Never understood why somebody didn't make the front room into a dining room (next to the bookshelves) with a small sitting area in the front, and the square back room into a family room. You could create quite a nice dining ambience with clever use of the bookshelves.
Wonder why it is being flipped so soon. After transaction costs there will be no profit on this.
ReplyDeleteCould be the aforementioned traffic. Could be the murder if not next door then close enough as dammit. Could be that Harlem is not for everybody and will not change just because you moved here.
ReplyDeleteHarlem will not change? I moved here two and a half years ago and it changes every week. Even 119th street has changed in that time ;) And when I say change, I don't mean 'gentrification', but I think the mood is changing in Harlem and I couldn't be happier to be here (and excited that my kids will grow up here) during what I think is going to be an amazing period of prosperity. I doubt this homeowner (or investor) is selling in such a short time because of disappointment with the neighborhood -- unless they were remarkably negligent in their due dilligence
ReplyDeleteGuest. I, too, live on 119. But the thrust of my comment was that the core of Harlem will not change overnight just because some folks dropEd a whole bunch of money and believed their broker.
ReplyDeleteI really wish newcomers would take off their headphones, put down their iPhones/Blackerries watch where they are going and say hello to their neighbours. Because I am coming right at you with my pit and I really don't want clothesline you.
Try to adapt. Not change.
Sometimes people need to sell - I'm curious about the price this will fetch. Feels like values have gone up quite a bit over the last year...
ReplyDeleteHarlem has changed enormously in every way, yes there are still pockets of entrenched generational welfare but outside of that there is ever increasing diversity, restaurants etc which is reflected in the real estate values. It is good to see Harlem homes commanding multi million dollar price tags and deservedly so. In Manhattan I would say Harlem is the most rapidly changing of all neighborhoods and it continues to change for the better.
ReplyDeleteWhat's this about a murder nearby? Is the area safe enough for teenage children to go about with some degree of freedom?
ReplyDeleteA nearby Bed & Breakfast had an incident that involved some out of town guests which ended badly. Apparently all involved knew one another and were visiting from Virginia. Is this reflective of the block or how folks from Virginia behave while visiting the city? The news would like to blame it on Harlem.
ReplyDeleteAs for safety concerns, the area has one of the strongest block associations in the city. Contact the Mount Morris Park Community Improvement Association to find out more about the neighborhood.
I live a block away. Very safe.
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