Another year on the market has 1990 Madison Avenue, close to the corner of East 127th Street, sitting on the market for the asking price of $875K. The SRO building was listed on the market back in 2008 for $1.3 million and has been on the decline in price since. What's to love about the building? It's a 20 foot wide, 5 story, 4,400 square foot property on one of the prettier tree lined blocks of East Harlem (as per listing) and has a Certificate of Non Harassment in place. There's also some original details to be found for those who are interested in authenticity. The main issue here is that the brownstone will need an extreme amount of work to convert over eight SRO rooms into a configuration that makes sense. Because of the SRO house status, annual taxes are also currently at $22.5k. The last major issue that may concern some is that the corner building to the right of the townhouse is currently abandoned, windows sealed off with cinder blocks and no apparent sales activity to be found (could be one of those that stay that way forever). The immediate block is strictly residential and the 2,3 or 4,5,6 express subway stops are two avenues over in either direction on 125th Street. Has anyone seen this one? Current facade photo by Ulysses
We went through it twice - the place is ENORMOUS. But the lack of a certificate of no harassment, and the fact that the building next door was being used as a drug flop house were the main reasons why we didn't put in an offer.
ReplyDeleteSaying the certificate of no harassment is "complete but not filed" means nothing. You don't have the certificate until you have the certificate and even after you file it takes up to 9 months to get the certificate.
When there's a certificate of no harassment it'll be a great buy for anyone who wants a lot of space - provided the drug activity at 1992 Madison is under control (and if the windows are blocked up then it sounds like that problem has been solved).
the corner building, unless I'm mistaken, was developed into condos a couple of years ago, but they went on sale right as the market crashed. So the building sat empty, save for squatters who managed to start a fire this winter, seriously damaging the buildling. Thus the cinder blocks. This is a great stretch of Madison with lovely houses and nice neighbors.
ReplyDeleteSome major rehab work was being done on the adjacent building when it was consumed by a fire; I don't know if any of the units were ever put up for sale. I never heard anything about drug activity nor squatters in that building.
ReplyDeleteIt's clear that someone or some entity owns the adjacent brownstone...would be interesting to find out what their plans are for the structure.
the condos were on the market for quite some time.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were looking early last fall I looked into what the deal was with 1992 Madison. It was purchased by investors (based on where they live I'd guess them to be orthodox Jews). They bounced it around between a few people and holding corps and finally took out an absurdly large mortgage to rehab the place. The renovations were done and apparently they were done fairly well. But then they couldn't sell or rent it when they were done.
ReplyDelete[BTW, it's a single owner 4 family, not a condo.]
At that point they stopped caring for the place, the building was broken into, and EVERYTHING from the renovation was stolen. The air conditioners on the roof, the windows, etc. They stole the copper piping and managed to cause a flood in the process and that building and 2 or 3 others (including 1990) were flooded.
When we were looking 1992 was unsecured and drug dealers and drug addicts were walking in and out of it. You could stand and watch and see 5 or 10 people go in or out in a 10 minute period. There was human feces in the backyard from the people who were staying there (since the plumbing had been destroyed). It was a bit depressing to see how far the building had gone down after what appeared to be a good renovation. And a bit scary to think about living next to all that.
Now one commenter says there was a fire in the place. That was actually one of my big fears with 1990 - that a fire from 1992 would spread to 1990 since DEP had shut the water off after the flood and disabled the sprinklers in the process.
At least it sounds like it's bricked up now. That's a huge step forward.
The City really needs to make it easier for individual owners to buy and renovate these buildings. 1992 Madison could have had a very different outcome if someone just cared a little more about the building.
Beating Upwind, thanks for the extensive insights. I agree that the city should make it easier, not harder for individuals to invest in buildings -- that is something that benefits the community as a whole.
ReplyDeleteIf I recall correctly, in the last year or so the tax policy that specifically made it cheaper to hold vacant buildings (or empty lots) north of 110th Street was eliminated. Presumably this will push things more in the right direction, but there is much more that could be done to encourage investment, and specifically to encourage homeowners to build a stronger stake in the community.
Beating upwind, very interesting story, it is amazing how fast a building can decline if left abandoned, I have seen this happen to other buildings. The city should be very proactive in sealing these abandoned buildings ASAP to prevent the drug users from occupying and causing so much destruction to the building and it’s neighbors. Although the owner should secure his building, sometimes something happens and the owner is no longer around, leaving the building vulnerable, as was the case here.
ReplyDeleteBeatingUpwind. . .
ReplyDeletethanks for the informative narrative but I don’t think it was necessary to state you thought the owners were Orthodox Jews. Really not pertinent.
jez, when did we all get SOOOOO sensitive???
ReplyDeleteWe saw the bldg too. Unfortunately without the certificate of non harassment we can't get financing for the purchase and renovation. I don't know why the owner didn't make it a priority to get the certificate of non harrassment. If they did, they would have more available buyers.
ReplyDeleteJust a bit more info on 1992. We moved in across the street on 127th several years ago, at that time the 1992 building was secure... but the prices were at the very top of the market, if not outside of it completely. Within weeks of the market crash the building was abandoned, and the drugs moved in quickly. Our own building was being cleaned up, but the kids just picked up and moved to 1992.
ReplyDeleteThe sewage thing explains a lot, one day I came out and smelled what I could only compare to a dead body, but stronger - you could smell it almost all the way across 5th Ave.
Drug fires are common where people are cooking and firing their dope, thank God it didn't spread to the adjacent properties, but honestly it's the best thing that could've happened. The city and police were totally unresponsive to complaints about the vacant building and the owners certainly weren't coming back.
The block is very quiet now that the building has been bricked up.
i need to contact the agent that is in charge TO SELL THE BROWNSTONES . please send the pnone number. my contact is 718-415-3597
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