Monday, November 24, 2008

Listing of the Day: Hunts Point Building

855 Bryant Avenue, 36 unit 6-story apartment building -$4,000,000
This is an entire building in Hunts Point for what amounts to less than $112,000 per unit. Now we know not many BoogieDowner readers have this kind of dough to through around, but we just wanted to show how cheap one could get an entire building (if $4 mil can ever be described as cheap) if one was in the market for whole buildings.
This building is right down the block from the Bank Note Building, which is set to be a new commercial l loft space that provides shopping and some nice market rate residential lofts in the near future. Not sure at the speed with which this will happen now with the credit crisis, but I guess it will eventually get done.

This building is also close by the brand new Hunts Point Riverside Park as well (so new the parks department hasn't put up pics on its website yet!).

The transportation is not bad, with the 6 train Hunts Point Avenue station close by.

So if the credit morass hasn't crippled your ability to borrow serious amounts of money and you want to roll the dice on Hunts Point, here's a $4,000,000 bet for you.

And if you are really excited about "green" initiatives and new parks, read this NY Magazine article about Hunts Point in 2016, by Alexandra Lange.


~ErLu

3 comments:

Gregory Lobo Jost said...

Just FYI on the "bargain price" being asked for this building: The average sales price for Bronx apartment buildings over the last few years has been around $70,000 - $85,000 per unit. Many (including us at UNHP) would argue this has been based on speculative investors who have driven up prices dramatically over the past decade. Many of these properties don't make much money, since operating expenses continue to rise faster than rents do. Even the private equity investors who usually pay more per unit (based on their assumption about increasing turnover rates that are faily dramatically) don't ususally go into $112,000/unit territory. This one is likely drastically overpriced (and very far from a bargain!) but the best way to figure that out is to see the building's actual income and expenses, and do the math on how much debt service you can actually afford to pay.

Boogiedowner said...

Thanks for reading and commenting Greg. BD is certainly not an expert in the prices of apartment buildings (let alone affordable houses).

To be honest, I get this these listings of the day up at 5am before I go to work. I don't have access to the income vs. expense sheet of this building.

My thinking was that $112K is not that much for an apartment. If you were to sell each of the 36 units for $150K at a later date, you'd make $5,400,000, which would be a $1.4 million dollar profit.

I just throw stuff out there to show the real estate stock in the Bronx. If the market can support this building at $4,000,000 or individual units for $150K, then that's how it goes. Not sure if the market can support such numbers, but that's what they're asking.

So to re-cap: Not an expert by any stretch, showing interesting real estate listings, think there is potential in Hunts Point and the Bronx in general, really think $112K is cheap for an individual unit. Could be wrong, could be crazy...

Gregory Lobo Jost said...

No worries... I just couldn't resist commenting on overpriced buidlings. :) These buildings rarely sell for what the owner is asking. I would be very surprised if they got close to this asking price.

It is true that smaller buildings sell for more per unit than larger buildings. But it is also true smaller buildings are more likely to go into foreclosure. :(

of course $112K is cheap per unit if it's your own apartment that you are earning an income (or more likley two) to pay the bills. Now imagine if your income was only between $700 and $1200 per month (what you'll be getting on the rent stabilized apartments in most bronx buildings). Would that apartment still be cheap? You'd have to pay to heat it, supply the water & sewer costs, and hot water, not to mention pay for a piece of a super, make repairs when necessary, and pay insurance on the apartment. Did I mention all of these costs have skyrocketed in the past 8 years? And you'll need to pay your mortgage with what's leftover.

just my two cents.