Despite some signs of more demand from buyers for high-end housing, a new owner opts for the safer route of leasing units.
Despite signs that the market for residential condominiums in Brooklyn may be regaining its feet, one owner is having none of it.
The new owner of 75 Clinton St. in Brooklyn Heights, a property that was originally planned as a 74-unit condo conversion, will instead bring it to market early next month as a rental, according to Angela Ferrara, vice president of sales for The Marketing Directors, which was retained as the project’s exclusive marketing firm.
The news comes just a week after Invesco, a Dallas-based investment firm, closed on the purchase of the building for an undisclosed price and named Milestone Management the property’s manager. It was that firm that then tapped Marketing Directors.
Just last month Invesco paid a reported $57.5 million for a 95-unit residential building called Arias Park Slope in that eponymous Brooklyn neighborhood. That property too had been conceived as a condo, but had recently been successfully re-positioned as a rental with Marketing Directors as the agent there, as well.
“75 Clinton was built as a condo so the level of finishes is amazing,” said Ms. Ferrara, adding her firm’s experience with the Arias, which it leased up in under five months, would seem to bode well for the property in Brooklyn Heights. “Renters will be getting multi-million dollar homes for far less than they would have paid if they bought it.”
Rents will range from $2,800 a month to $7,000 a month, depending on the size of the apartment. The nine-story building, which features a view of the Brooklyn Bridge above the fifth floor, has studios to three bedroom apartments.
The penthouses with 957 square feet outdoor space will go for around $8,000 a month. According to Streeteasy.com, studios were being sold for a minimum of $435,000 and two bedrooms were being sold for as much as $1.3 million. The original developer of the conversion was Marshall Weisman, according to published reports.
While apartments were being marketed by The Corcoran Group a few years ago while the project was underway, the condo plan was never declared effective, according to Ms. Ferrara.
“The rental market is booming,” she said, adding that while rentals in Brooklyn especially prime areas like Brooklyn Heights are attractive because it is still cheaper than Manhattan, where rents of $70 to $80 per square foot. For instance, rents at 75 Clinton St. range from $50 to $60 per square foot.
