Longwood Resident Profiled in Times

First, we want to thank all of you for the well wishes and the kind words. Baby, big sis, and mom are doing well. It's going to take a while to get back to full blogging capacity, but we figured we pass on some hearsay and conjecture into the blogosphere.

Here's a little article from this weekend's real estate section in the NY Times profiling Longwood resident Roberto Garcia, who works as a director of community relations Montefiore Medical Center. Now you know we're suckers for Bronx-related real estate stories, but what makes this even more interesting is that Mr. Garcia is rumored to be on the short list to replace the recently retired Dart Westphal as head of Mosholu Preservation Corporation. MPC is an affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center and is the publisher of the Norwood News, the Bronx News Network blog, and a growing number of local Bronx neighborhood papers.

Anybody have any substantive info on this? Who else is on the short list? Are these rumors wildy speculative?

~ErLu

Listing of the Day: Bronx Beauty

1107 Hoe Avenue, 3 family, 10 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms - $499,000

A really great looking building from the outside. It does make one nervous when there are no interior pictures, and for less than $50K a bedroom methinks there might be some work to be done.

Nevertheless, this house comes with a two bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen on the first floor; a four bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen on the second floor; and a four bedroom, a living room, a bathroom, and a kitchen on the third floor.

I guess you would call this hood Morrisania, although I am sure some call it Longwood. There is decent shopping on Westchester Avenue and transportation two blocks away at 2/5 station at Simpson Street and Westchester Avenue.

I just hope the avenue this property is located on doesn't get its name from any type of prevalent freelance vendors who populate the nabe's streets.

FULL LISTING

~ErLu

Listing of the Day: Mott Haven(?) Condo

947 Ave St. John, 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, $227,000

The listing agent is saying that this condo is in Mott Haven, but I have my doubts about that. It's located on Ave St. John near 152nd Street. So might this be Longwood? Yet another neighborhood boundary that is eluding the BoogieDowner...

As you can see from the pics, this newly renovated condo looks super cute... Granite countertops, cherry wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, all that good stuff. One nice bonus is that the building itself is not massive, so it has that quaint townhouse feel, but with big building amenities, such as a common laundry room, storage area in the basement (we'd kill for that), and access to an outdoor patio. All in all, it seems as if whomever renovated this baby certainly put some thought into it.

For a nice change of pace, the listing agent appears to be upfront and honest about the square footage on this unit... He lists it as 727 sq. ft., making this a small two bedroom. But hey, it's newly renovated with nice amenities and near transportation and only listing for $227,000. Not too shabby.

You can catch the 6 train into midtown a few blocks away at E. 149th Street and Southern Blvd.

View full listing here.

~ErLu

New Metro- North Stop(s)?

Ground has been broken for the new Metro-North Station at Yankee Stadium, with an expected completion date of second quarter 2009. In addition, the MTA is reviewing plans for 3 new Metro-North Stations for Co-op City, Parkchester, and Hunts Point.

All 3 communities are currently seeing monumental growth and a resurgence. Hunts Point is particularly ripe for a station as the population is growing, as is subway and bus ridership in the area, including Longwood.

In addition to making the Eastern Bronx more easily accessible (and therefore more attractive), these new stops on the Metro-North would open up job opportunities in Westchester and other counties to the north to residents of the South Bronx. There is also vacant land, including industrial sites, available for development that could be used to cater to the newcomers and riders of these future stops.

NY State's Press Release About New Yankee Stadium Stop

NY Daily News Article

~Jay O.

Listing of the Day: Longwood 3 Family

755 Beck St - 3 family House - $510,000

It is a beautiful Landmarked Brownstone built in the Longwood Historical District for only $510,000! It was built in 1901, 3 families, a driveway (ahh, sweet. sweet, parking!), a fenced in back yard, and is on a tree-lined block filled with similar brownstones. It is conveniently located about 7 blocks from the Bruckner Expressway, as well as 3 block from the 2/5 train and 4 blocks to the 6 train. What a steal!

You already know that your neighbors' houses would look the Cosby family lives in the hood, because Boogiedowner showcased Longwood's beautiful Brownstones yesterday, but here's another example on the right of how contstruction and development sit side-by-side century old houses in this rapidly changing nabe. (Photo courtesy of Wikipedia)

While hanging in your vastly over sized house, you can take a walk to the misnamed (it's actually in Mott Haven) Longwood Arts Gallery @ Hostos College on 149th Street and the Grand Concourse and check out contemporary art like this: "Prayer Booth" by Dylan Mortimer (photo courtesy of Bronx Arts Council via NY Times) NY Times Article

For restaurants and beer-drinking, unless you like bodega beer, you would probably have to scoot over to more gentrified Mott Haven, but the creep is on. It won't be long until Mott Havenites are exploring your new hood. Somebody buy this house and open a bar-restaurant so we can move this thing along.

Full Listing

~Erlu + Jay O.

Longwood Lovelies: More Beautiful Bronx Brownstones

Longwood is in the South Bronx, North of Hunt's Point, East of Melrose.
Take a look at these beauties:

~Jay O.

Another Luxury Condo Hits South Bronx, Longwood to be Exact

947 Avenue of St. John: SoBro Condo

This lovely brownstone conversion is a welcome addition to the community, with prices starting from about $200,000 for 1 bedrooms, to about $279,000 for 2 bedrooms. Amenities include granite countertops, hardwood floors, fully tiled bathroom and kitchen, open layout, storage in the basement, rooftop access with NYC views, and access to the adjoining garden. A few have been sold already!

Link to Full Details and Floor Plans

artist's rendering already includes happy upper-middle class family !

~Jay O.