The only project selling in Williamsburg?
April 10, 2009 06:20PM By Candace Taylor
72 Berry StreetIn the frenetic years of the recent housing boom, developers crammed Williamsburg with shiny new ground-up construction condominiums. But they often overlooked the allure of the post-industrial lofts that began beckoning artists to the neighborhood in the 1970s and 1980s.
That may be one reason for the success of Williamsburg condo conversion Mason Fisk, where apartments are selling briskly while nearby developments languish on the market.
Seventeen of the building's 26 units have gone into contract since the converted industrial loft, located at 72 Berry Street between North 9th and 10th streets, went on the market March 1, said Deborah Rieders, a senior vice president at the Corcoran Group and director of sales at the project.
Such speedy sales are a rare feat in north Brooklyn, where the number of home sales tumbled 42 percent to 142 in the fourth quarter of 2008, down from 245 in the same quarter a year earlier, according to a fourth-quarter market report released by Prudential Douglas Elliman.
Moreover, the project has an advantage because of its small size. The 17 units in contract put the boutique project at 65 percent sold, pushing it beyond the 50 percent threshold now required for mortgage financing by nearly all lenders, and within range of the 70 percent mark that recently became the requirement for mortgages backed by Fannie Mae.
Mason Fisk "is the only thing moving in Williamsburg," said Melanie Metzler, a salesperson at Elliman, who represented buyers of two apartments in the building.
The reason? For starters, asking prices at Mason Fisk average $651 per square foot, according to Streeteasy.com. By contrast, the average sales price of a unit at Williamsburg development One Northside Piers is currently $748 per square foot, according to the data site, and that's only after a deep across-the-board price cut.
"We're not being greedy on the price -- that's helping us sell," said Mason Fisk architect Adam Meshberg.
Mason Fisk is the brainchild of Meshberg, who lives in nearby Vinegar Hill, and his brother Justin, who is one of the developers of the project along with partner David Martin and a private equity fund, which is providing the financial backing. The developers, known as 72 Berry Street LLC, purchased the century-old, six-story brick building in 2006 for $5.43 million, according to city records.
Prices in the building were originally "10 to 15 percent higher," Corcoran's Rieders said, but they were changed before the units came to market in response to the financial meltdown in the fall.
"Buyers do not respond to sellers who have not acknowledged that the world has changed," she said.
Meshberg the architect said of the revamped prices: "We're fortunate that our lenders are realistic. Nobody's ecstatic about what they're getting, but they'd rather get something than nothing at all."
But brokers say it's not just the price that makes the building popular.
In the recent construction boom, many Williamsburg developers "threw up glass boxes," Metzler said, failing to understand the post-industrial aesthetic neighborhood denizens were looking for.
"Williamsburg attracts a certain type of people," she said. "It's a myth that it's only people who are priced out of Manhattan. They like the character of the neighborhood. I met a lot of people who were looking to buy in Williamsburg and they were all really frustrated because the units were all the same and really ugly."
Along with Mill Building, where sales started in 2007, and now-delayed Steelworks Lofts, Mason Fisk is one of only a few historic conversions in the area, Meshberg said, in part because "the layout of old warehouse buildings is not conducive to conversions," he said. "They create long, skinny, dark apartments which don't sell."
He added: "doing the sort of surgery demolition that we did is a lot more work than starting from scratch."
But Meshberg, who designed sailboats before becoming an architect, fell in love with 72 Berry's "gorgeous shell" of two-foot brick walls and exposed wood beams. He loved the beams so much that he couldn't stand to discard the extra ones, instead hiring Red Hook's Uhuru Design to turn them into custom furniture for the lobby.
That's exactly the type of thing that appeals to buyers like longtime Williamsburg resident Patrick Nolan, a publishing executive who currently rents an apartment in an 1840s townhouse near the Williamsburg Bridge. He signed a contract for a one-bedroom unit with a home office at Mason Fisk in mid-March.
"I really wanted to stay in Williamsburg, but in terms of new development, nothing was interesting to me until this one," said Nolan. "I liked the conversion of the old factory building."
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Comments
Anonymous
the magic of corcoran giving units away at $550 psf on the northside works wonders huh? thank u for my gift rieders
Comment #1 Posted By: Anonymous 04/10/09
Anonymous
of all the meshberg group projects I have followed, this one is a labor of love and it shows!
Comment #2 Posted By: Anonymous 04/10/09
Anonymous
Hello? It's the price, period. Good for them, but why pay exhorbitant broker fees? Get an onsite person, and eliminate broker participation.
Comment #3 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
Reply to #3 some people are just never happy. On site salary is not cheep and they too get a commission. the developer has already gone as low as he can go. You sound like a bottom feeder.
Comment #4 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
$650/SF is the price to sell at people. It's that simple. If you wait, you will get $600/SF by January 2010. This is a fact. Argue with me all you like, but the reality is clear. I don't know why developers are still living in their dreamworlds. Poor developers planned for $750+/sf 2 years ago and are scrambling to figure out how to make a profit in today's market (i.e. the worst market for real estate in decades). The ones that realize now that profit should not be their goal are the ones who just might survive and live to build another day. Also, I'm not sure where the author gets her facts, but 1 Northside Piers is selling at $650/SF (maybe lower).
Comment #5 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
It takes a broker a lot of knowledge and work to sell at this price in this market. Great work Corcoran, and kudos to the developer for his style. Together they have made a bad real estate market work for both themselves and the buyers.
Comment #6 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
What about 125 North 10th Street? Right around the corner. This, in my humble opinion, is the best project in Williamsburg!
Comment #7 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
There is no better network of Manhattan buyers to Brooklyn than Corcoran's network. No one can argue that. The local firms that are focused on Brooklyn are just out of the loop when it comes to today's buyers.
Comment #8 Posted By: Anonymous 04/11/09
Anonymous
It's comical how brokers pat themselves on the back here on this site. However, a caveman could show well-priced, innovatively-designed apartments such as these and they would sell.
Comment #9 Posted By: Anonymous 04/12/09
Anonymous
Whether you are patting yourself on the back or not, it says a lot that units are selling in Williamsburg.
Comment #10 Posted By: Anonymous 04/12/09
Anonymous
Brokers are morons and the apts sell themselves. All brokers are, are doormen letting buyers in to look at the place. Get a real job and make your mommy proud.
Comment #11 Posted By: Anonymous 04/12/09
Anonymous
If this is the only project selling in WIlliamsburg does that meqan that perhaps people are OVERPAYING for it? I would question how comparables can be achieved if there are no other like kind apartments selling in the area. Is this Rieders person a complete thief? I would demand that comps from units outside of this project are presented the first 17 assholes should demand their deposits back before the next 10 do the same?
Comment #12 Posted By: Anonymous 04/12/09
Joey Nutz
ALL Williamsburg brokers are worthless and are slowly but surely realizing this (I work for one of them). Aptsandlofts, Corcoran, Developers Group, Elliman, you name it. They are ALL losing value in a real estate environment that no longer wants to pay for 2nd rate services. Why do you think they are all downsizing? Don't think for a second that they closed offices bec they were planning it all along. Every single one of the above-named brokers closed offices bec they had to, not bec they wanted to. Bottom line: the same way the unions are dragging down the Detroit automakers because they are overpaid, is the same way real estate brokers are keeping activity down in NY's real estate markets. For sales, brokers deserve no more than 2% and for rentals, no more than half a month's rent. Otherwise, sellers should be handling things themselves.
Comment #13 Posted By: Joey Nutz 04/13/09
Anonymous
Joey go eat your nutz.
Comment #14 Posted By: Anonymous 04/13/09
Anonymous
See .. it was not only the right thing to do, to save the Old Dutch Mustard Building - but it made ecomomic Sense! rep what you sow
Comment #15 Posted By: Anonymous 04/13/09
Anonymous
the sellers have a really nice provision in the contract too: they get to control prices for sale or for rent as long as they own the bldg!
Comment #16 Posted By: Anonymous 04/13/09
Anonymous
$495/sq ft by June! You heard it here first.
Comment #17 Posted By: Anonymous 04/13/09
Anonymous
wait until the lul of summer has hit full swing and they will definitely be trading at 450-500/sf (Aug/Sept). Also, 15-20% of those who have "signed contracts" will struggle to actually get their $ when it comes time to close.
Comment #18 Posted By: Anonymous 04/15/09
Anonymous
we saw this place - looked cheap and bland actually. did some digging and whoever that meshberger is - not a licensed architect. so i guess it really was done by some flushing outfit. totally not worth it. i see prices fall, real soon. this whole blurb is a shill for the developer anyhow.
Comment #19 Posted By: Anonymous 04/15/09
Anonymous
Nobody mentioned that most of the units don't have working windows!
Comment #20 Posted By: Anonymous 04/16/09
Anonymous
Williamsburg is so over
Comment #21 Posted By: Anonymous 04/29/09
Anonymous
#7...Good luck closing 125 North 10th!!! With current market prices closing and selling well below what your units are in contract for. A world of hurt is looming for your project. Clearly you are one of the selling agent/brokers. Asfor the building , it may be that some units inside are decent but whats with the exterior? Talk about a hideous blight on 10th street !
Comment #22 Posted By: Anonymous 05/03/09
Anonymous
Corc is losing customers everywhere. The bleeding continues, with no end in sight. May be just the time to jump the sinking ship?
Comment #23 Posted By: Anonymous 05/03/09
Anonymous
#19, you are so right. These guys are thugs, actually. We should know; we lived at 72 Berry Street for 17 years, until we were forced out, with very little notice by these very developers, shortly after they bought the building. "Attention to the history of the neighborhood?" Ha! Their mafia-like, threatening eviction tactics and messy renovation garbage on the street showed no respect for residents or the neighborhood. But Karma will prevail.
Comment #24 Posted By: Anonymous 07/27/09