There's a pair of twin limestone townhouses at Convent Avenue (just north of 141st Street) and one of them is up for sale. Number 290 Convent Avenue is at the right of the top photo and has been on the market since the end of May for the asking of $1.21 million. The 6 bedroom, 5 bath, 4,751 square foot, 20 foot wide town house is a large legal two-family but is really in bad shape. Although technically not a shell, the interior looks to have some really bad electrical work and the rooms are partially chopped up. There's some original detail (lower photo shows some shabby-but-chic herringbone wood floors) but will the Hamilton Heights Historic District be enough to get the asking price? Has anyone seen the space? It's a good 4 block walk to the express A,B,C,D trains at 145th Street and there's not much as far as amenities in the area. Apparently this one is an estate sale. Facade photos by Ulysses
There's a pair of twin limestone townhouses at Convent Avenue (just north of 141st Street) and one of them is up for sale. Number 290 Convent Avenue is at the right of the top photo and has been on the market since the end of May for the asking of $1.21 million. The 6 bedroom, 5 bath, 4,751 square foot, 20 foot wide town house is a large legal two-family but is really in bad shape. Although technically not a shell, the interior looks to have some really bad electrical work and the rooms are partially chopped up. There's some original detail (lower photo shows some shabby-but-chic herringbone wood floors) but will the Hamilton Heights Historic District be enough to get the asking price? Has anyone seen the space? It's a good 4 block walk to the express A,B,C,D trains at 145th Street and there's not much as far as amenities in the area. Apparently this one is an estate sale. Facade photos by Ulysses
I rented an apartment in 290 almost 20 years ago and it sounds like it is pretty much in the same poor condition as it was then. The owner at that time had not only removed the historic front blockade that all the other homes there have (he wanted space for his car); he also had gutted the entire parlor level and neglected to renovate it (I only lived there a year so I don't know what happened after) and the two floors that were livable were in pretty poor shape also. The bones looked good but I would imagine that it will take almost a full gut to get it in livable condition.
ReplyDeleteIt's true that there might not be much in the immediate neighborhood, but Convent that area is remarkably pretty.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how much it would to replace the original stairs. Probably a bloody fortune.
ReplyDeleteI would doubt it will sell for this price.
But apropos of estate sales, I think it's a basic problem in Harlem. I was on the M116 today and a guy was rabbiting away on his mobile about trying to sell a building. Evidently the grandmother had died and willed the building to sons and daughters and grandchildren and neices, etc. 10% here, 25% there. It needed renovation to even come up to code but one relative was squatting and wouldn't move. . . You get the picture. In the end it's just too much trouble and people just walk away. Or used to. I've two vacant brownstones right by me. Not abandoned but they might as well be.
went through and we had to sign a form that said injury or death was possible as a consequence of touring the building. It was a grand space, but the asking price seems high considering the state of disrepair. if they took up the carpet to expose the floors that might help.
ReplyDeleteNot responsible for injury or death. Now there’s a selling point!
ReplyDeleteReminds me of the time I was looking and the co-broker didn’t have the key to one building. He called his office and was told not to worry—we should just hop the fence. Building had no back.
I wanted to go in during an open house, but was with my toddler son and was told by broker that the building is full of lead.
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