Greatest Real Estate Finds

[samhexum]

maybe not such a great find...

Living in a condominium situated in Brooklyn Bridge Park, you might expect to hear birds chirping, children playing, the wind rustling through the trees — and the sounds of toilets flushing and hands drying.

The city is now looking into “acoustic renovations” to help make a public bathroom quieter following a years-long legal battle in which the owners of a condo in the park claim the toilets on the first floor of their building are a noisy nightmare.

The cacophony has caused Salim Samaha, his wife Kimberly Su, and their family — including a young child and Su’s elderly mother — to endure nonstop sleepless nights since they bought the nearly $5 million unit in June of 2019, according to a September 2020 lawsuit they filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court. Their complaints began soon after they moved in. 

The family “did not have notice of the excessive and frequent noise” from the park-operated bathroom, gate, and storage room beneath their five-bedroom apartment, they allege in the suit. 

Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. has conducted repeated renovations on the allegedly boisterous bathrooms — which opened in 2017 — but it hasn’t done enough to dim the noise, the family alleges. 

Now the park’s management is searching for experts to further fix the “bathroom acoustics” of the public restrooms, which are open from around 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. inside the Pierhouse Condominium on Furman Street.

The nonprofit organization that runs the public park last week posted in The City Record that it is “seeking an experienced contractor to perform acoustic renovations to the men’s and women’s public restrooms.”

Eric Landau, the president of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., told THE CITY that the organization issued the request to see how much it would cost to do further noise mitigation on the bathrooms — even though the two sides are still in litigation. 

“We are trying to find what our options are for rectifying this situation, though do not believe we are violating the New York City noise code or the law,” he said. 

“We feel very, very strongly that this is a public bathroom, in a public park, and it remaining open and operational is paramount.” 

Meanwhile, the couple shared their tale of water-closet woe in multiple court documents, writing that they can hear every flush from the bathroom below despite extensive renovation work after they first complained.

The flushing creates a “banging” and “water hammer” effect as well as vibrations across their five-bedroom, four-bathroom duplex, they allege. Sounds from the opening and closing of bathroom stalls also comes through their apartment, they said, as well as noise from a clanging gate and workers in a storage room. 

The couple hired a sound engineering company, whose testing found that flushing toilets beneath the home violated the city’s noise code, the court papers state. 

The firm, SoundSense, found the bathroom noise changed the ambient noise level in the master bedroom by more than what is legally allowed — 7 dB above ambient at night and 10 dB more during the day. 

The city’s Department of Environmental Protection, however, countered through its own testing that the noise was not that bad. 

“There was no excessive or unreasonable noise (water hammering/flushing from the men and womens restroom facilities) noted or detected at the time of inspection,” inspectors found during a December 2020 visit. 

The couple also complained about noise from a nearby MTA ventilation plant and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway — “particularly when trucks go over a bump on the highway directly outside the residence,” experts from SoundSense wrote. 

Samaha told the court in a deposition that it isn’t “unreasonable for the bathroom and storage room to be shut down until the excessive noise conditions are abated,” noting there are four bathrooms within a seven-minute walk from the ones below his apartment.

The couple’s lawyer did not respond to a phone call and email seeking comment.

The first section of the approximately 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park opened in 2010 on a once-industrial stretch of former Port Authority property along the East River. It is operated by the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., which maintains the park through an agreement with the city. 

Private development, including the 108-unit Pierhouse condo, was allowed on the grounds as a way to pay for the park’s maintenance, and the first tenants moved in by 2016. 

As part of the development deal, the condo and the nearby 1 Hotel had to have public amenities, like bathrooms, for the park’s many visitors. This year, around 5 million people came to the park between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Landau said. 

The buildings have been controversial from the start, with neighbors outside the park filing an unsuccessful lawsuit, saying they ruined the view from the Brooklyn Heights Promenade. Two Brooklyn Bridge Park board members were among the first to buy condos inside the Pierhouse, a potential conflict of interest which had to be approved by the city’s law department. 

The current lawsuit is still moving through court, with Samaha’s lawyer alleging the bathroom noise has lowered the value of the family’s apartment. Property records show it was purchased for more than $4.95 million four years ago. According to StreetEasy, the value has gone down 13% since then.

Their toilet fight comes as the City Council released a bill last month that would require the city to create a “long-term citywide bathroom strategy” to ultimately have one public toilet per every 2,000 residents by 2035. 

The bill’s sponsor, Councilmember Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn), has said that the issue of public restrooms is about equity.

“Because NYC’s lack of public bathrooms disproportionately affects some people more than others!” she posted on social media last month.

 

[samhexum]

[samhexum]

The weirdest workplace in the world: it cost $250 million

The stunning offices beat any work-from-home setup.

[samhexum]

On 12/23/2022 at 10:03 PM, Marc in Calif said:

This San Francisco tower has long been tilting and... sinking! 

https://www.sfgate.com/local/article/new-problem-at-SF-sinking-tower-17179301.php

 

On 12/23/2022 at 10:10 PM, azdr0710 said:

Both the NYC and SF leaning buildings above are built on fill land that was once offshore......much of the "new" waterfront land in SF was created from pushing the debris from the 1906 quake and fires into the bay

 

On 6/11/2023 at 4:41 AM, samhexum said:

 

Tilt of Tower deepens: engineers work to reverse lean

 

'Leaning Tower' residents forced to pay $6.8M for failed fix

Residents of Millennium Tower, better known as the Leaning Tower of San Francisco, have been left to foot a $6.8 million bill after a much-needed renovation project failed to fix the troubled luxury building’s 29-inch tilt caused nasty sewage spills….

[samhexum]

AUSTRALIA GETS A WOODY!

 

• World’s tallest wooden skyscraper is set to rise in Western Australia

• 

• The structure on South Perth’s Charles Street will be the tallest wooden building in the world. 

  On Thursday, Perth’s Metro Inner-South Joint Development Assessment Panel gave Grange Development the green light for the behemoth, called C6 and slated to be composed of a hybrid of materials, 42% of which will be timber and the core of which will be reinforced concrete, CNN reported.

  The current title-holder for the tallest wooden tower — Wisconsin’s 284-foot, 25-story Ascent building — is less than half of C6’s proposed 627-foot height and 50 stories.

  C6 also trumps Sydney’s in-the-works Atlassian Headquarters, which is slated to stand at 599 feet once complete in 2026, meaning it may get a few years with the tallest wooden tower crown before C6 takes it.  

  Both C6 and the Atlassian building will combine a steel exoskeleton with laminated timber beams in what is being hailed as a more eco-friendly construction style. 

  “We can’t grow concrete,” developer Grange’s director, James Dibble, wrote in a building proposal given to authorities, which referred to C6’s plan as “a new open sourced blueprint that utilizes hybrid construction methodology to offset the carbon within our built environment, which is the single biggest contributor to climate change,” CNN reported.  

  “This is our opportunity to state that we genuinely care about both the housing crisis before us and the climate crisis we are doing very little about as an industry,” Dibble added.

  Other Earth-conscious features of the record-breaker will include a rooftop garden and an urban farm. 

  Also, residents of its over 200 apartments will have access to 80 entirely-electric Tesla Model 3s.

[samhexum]

Shuttered British boarding school for sale as palatial country place

 

Following the fresh closure of Abberley Hall School, its grounds and buildings are now available for purchase, the price available upon application, Mansion Global first reported.

Located in Worcester, the approximately 93-acre estate includes an array of amenities worthy of what was, until its closure at the end of the 2022/2023 academic year, a “leading independent preparatory school” and one of the highest-ranked private educations to be gotten in the English countryside, according to press materials provided to The Post by Savills, which holds the listing. 

Outside, the grounds include two tennis courts, a heated swimming pool with changing facilities, a climbing wall, a fishing lake and mountain bike trails. There’s also an indoor shooting range and sports hall with a gymnasium, riding stables, multiple flat grass pitches, a stable block, a coach house and a theater.

What’s more, there are 16 residential properties, a yellow sandstone principal hall and a 161-foot-high historically protected clock tower which, during World War II, was used as an observation post to report enemy aircraft targeting Birmingham. 

[samhexum]

WHOOPSIE!!!

A homeowner is mulling the next step after a company mistakenly demolished a home she owned in south-west Atlanta.

Susan Hodgson said in an interview Saturday with the Associated Press that she found a pile of rubble in place of what used to be her longtime family property when she returned from vacation last month.

“I am furious,” Hodgson said. “I keep waking up thinking, ‘Is this all a joke or something?’ I’m just in shock.”

She said a neighbor called her while she was away and asked if someone had been hired to tear down the vacant house.

“I said ‘no’ and she said, ‘Well, there’s someone over here who just demolished the whole house and tore it all down,’” Hodgson recalled.

When the neighbor confronted them, Hodgson said, the workers got nasty.

“He told her to shut up and mind her own business,” Hodgson said.

She sent a family member over to see what was going on and who asked to see a permit. When a person in charge at the site checked his permit, Hodgson said he admitted he was at the wrong address.

“It’s been boarded up about 15 years, and we keep it boarded, covered, grass cut, and the yard is clean,” she said. “The taxes are paid and everything is up on it.”

Hodgson said she’s filed a report with police and has talked with lawyers but that they remain in limbo so far.

“We’re still in this process of figuring out what to do,” she said. “We keep pressing in different directions to see if something is going to happen.”

Edited October 22, 2023 by samhexum
because he's bored as hell

[samhexum]

City announces historic deal to convert JFK Hilton Hotel into 318-unit affordable housing complex

 

[samhexum]

Lottery opens for ‘affordable apartments’ in Kew Gardens, 1-bedrooms to rent for $3,140 

if it wasn't so awful it would be hilarious

[BSR]

17 hours ago, samhexum said:

Lottery opens for ‘affordable apartments’ in Kew Gardens, 1-bedrooms to rent for $3,140 

if it wasn't so awful it would be hilarious

Even crazier is a New Yorker can make almost $200K yet still qualify for "affordable" housing.

[+ azdr0710]

Mid-Century Modern in Palm Springs On Market For First Time Since Construction 65 Years Ago

A Midcentury Modern Home in Palm Springs Lists for the First Time in 65 Years (msn.com)

 

 

Google Maps

WWW.GOOGLE.COM

---

Building

 

Edited January 11 by azdr0710

[samhexum]

7 minutes ago, azdr0710 said:

Mid-Century Modern in Palm Springs On Market For First Time Since Construction 65 Years Ago

A Midcentury Modern Home in Palm Springs Lists for the First Time in 65 Years (msn.com)

 

Has it been that ugly for 65 years?  Egad!

[samhexum]

 

Jet set Massive 46-foot 'garden gnome' warplane comes for free with purchase of $5M home

A rare, 46-foot warplane acting as a “garden gnome” outside a $5 million English estate comes for free with the purchase of the sprawling property.

[samhexum]

MEET GEORGE JETSON…

You’ve heard of foldable phones, even foldable TVs, but a self-folding tiny house?

This small home on wheels folds and unfolds like a transformer.

With the push of a button, it can change its dimensions. It’s a marvel of engineering and design that also respects the environment.

Are you curious to see how it works? Let’s take you on a tour to see what it offers.

The Grande S1 is a revolutionary product by PODX Go, a company that specializes in innovative and sustainable housing solutions. It is a foldable tiny home on wheels that can be easily transported and set up anywhere. It is the first home model that PODX Go brings to North America, and it has many features that make it stand out from other tiny homes.

How does the tiny house work?

The Grande S1 has a unique folding mechanism that allows it to expand and contract with the push of a button. In just 15 minutes, it can go from a road-ready 8½ feet wide to a spacious 22½ feet wide, providing 364 square feet of living space.

The house is built with a durable A36 steel structure and insulating polyurethane panels, which provide strength, stability and comfort in all seasons. It is also NOAH-certified, which means it meets the standards of safety, quality and craftsmanship for tiny homes.

5 benefits of the tiny house

Easy to move: The house can be towed with a heavy-duty pickup, such as the F-250, and can be set up anywhere that complies with zoning regulations. You can enjoy the freedom and flexibility of living wherever you want, whether it’s in the city, the countryside or somewhere in between.
Maximizes space: The house has a clever design that maximizes the use of space. It has two-sided expandable walls that create a flat and open floor plan. It also has folding furniture that can be stored away when not in use, such as a bed, a table and a sofa.

The house can accommodate up to four people comfortably and has plenty of storage space for your belongings.

Ready to move-in: The house comes fully furnished and air-conditioned, so you don’t have to worry about buying or installing anything. It has a kitchen that comes with modern appliances and fixtures.

It also has a bathroom that comes with a shower, sink and toilet.

Smart security: The house has a security system that protects your home and perimeter.

It has cameras, sensors, alarms and locks that can be controlled remotely via a smartphone app. You can monitor and manage your home from anywhere and get alerts if anything unusual happens.

Reliable quality: The house is built with high-quality materials and technology that ensure its durability and performance. It has a Renogy solar power system that provides renewable energy for your home. It also has a 50-amp duplex plug (didn't Rob Cryston sit on one of those in a fetish video once?), a 120V RV connection and a standard RV city water inlet for your utilities. The house is designed to withstand winds up to category 3 and has a warranty of 10 years.

How much does the tiny house cost

The Grande S1 has a retail price of $85,000. This is a competitive price compared to other tiny homes on the market, considering the features and benefits that the Grande S1 offers. You can also take advantage of financing options and discounts that PODX Go provides for its customers.

https://nypost.com/2024/01/15/lifestyle/this-tiny-house-folds-into-a-transportable-box-at-the-press-of-a-button/

Edited January 16 by samhexum
for shits and giggles

[samhexum]

Privates property: NYC pre-war building endowed with a roof that resembles a penis

A well-endowed co-op building on the Upper West Side boasts a roof deck with a resemblance to a certain male appendage when viewed from above.

[+ azdr0710]

MSN

WWW.MSN.COM

safe link goes to an interesting article on a small Palm Springs home......

no, I'm not going to cut-and-paste the entire article as some here are wont to do

Edited March 9 by azdr0710

[samhexum]

Real estate agent accidentally burns down multimillion-dollar property ahead of open house

A real estate agent accidentally burned a multimillion-dollar property to the ground while preparing for an open house, with her employer ordered to pay more than $555,161 in damages.

Australian real estate agent Julie Bundock was preparing for an open house at a four-bedroom home on Sydney’s northern beaches when she noticed the current renters of the house had left some bedding on the deck to dry.

She removed the sheets and threw them in a downstairs room onto a shelf below a light, which she then switched on.

About 20 minutes later a major fire broke out in the house on Riverview Road in Avalon Beach, believed to be caused by the shelf and bedding heating up and catching fire due to the wall-mounted light.

The house — estimated to be worth around $2 million — along with all of its contents, was destroyed.

The owner of the property, Peter Alan Bush, who was preparing to sell the property, took the matter to court; as did the four renters of the property who had their belongings destroyed in the fire.

Bush told the court that after the fire, Bundock said words to the effect of: “Oh my God Pete, I think I have burnt down your house,” he claimed she said in the presence of others, including his de facto partner Lynne Emanuel.

Chief Judge in Equity Justice David Hammerschlag handed down his Judgment on Tuesday in the Supreme Court, ruling that Bundock “actively created the risk of fire and the consequent harm.”

Judge Hammerschlag ordered Bundock’s employer, Domain Residential Northern Beaches, to pay Bush $483,736 for the loss of his house and a combined $79,339 to the four renters.

[samhexum]

Crown Heights’ historic Studebaker building, now a residential property slapped with over 250 city violations, is set for auction in April with a $2.95 million starting bid.

The property, which sits on the corner of Bedford Avenue and Sterling Place, will go to the highest bidder between April 9-11, according to multiple auction websites. 

The building dons a historic circular “Studebaker” sign on white terra cotta façade and is 29,171 square feet. It has 27 residential units and one commercial unit. 

It was landmarked and remodeled in 2000 and now includes rent-stabilized units that bring in $28,773 per month, with two existing residential vacancies. But 1469 Bedford Ave. has also seen issues with city authorities in recent years.

The building’s landlord, Alfred Thompson, landed on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ 2023 worst landlord watchlist, at which point the building had an average 243 violations open with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. 

Heading into the auction, the property had 251 open violations with the department for issues ranging from mold to defective doors, city records show. The property also has a number of open Department of Buildings violations, one related to improper boiler room construction. 

But the Studebaker building’s new buyer will come out free and clear of any monetary liens associated with the property, according to the listing. 

A $250,000, four-story build

Built in 1920 – the “height of the corporation’s prominence” – the Studebaker building is one of few showrooms remaining on what was once considered Brooklyn’s “automobile row,” according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission. 

The borough was, at the time, a hub for car ownership. Now, less than 40 percent of Crown Heights residents own cars, according to 2022 census data compiled by Spatial Equity NYC. 

Still containing in its original terra cotta, arches and a parapet, the building boasts neo-Gothic details designed by New York architects E. Post Tooker and Reginald Marsh, known for designing schools in upstate New York, Long Island and New Jersey. The massive building cost just $250,000 to construct at the time, according to a 1920 article in the Brooklyn Eagle. 

“It remains a notable example of automotive showroom/garage architecture and an excellent example of a commercial terra-cotta clad structure which served as a company icon,” the commission said in 2000. 

 

Historic Brooklyn building to be sold at auction with $3M starting bid

PIX11.COM

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CROWN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (PIX11) – Crown Heights’ historic Studebaker building, now a residential property...

 

[+ nycman]

2 hours ago, samhexum said:

It was landmarked and remodeled in 2000 and now includes rent-stabilized units

And there in lies the rub. They’ve made the property more of a liability than it’s worth.

It’s a shame. It’s a beautiful building, but letting it rot is now the only "viable" solution. 

[+ augustus]

On 6/14/2023 at 9:51 AM, pubic_assistance said:

Same problem in NYC at the South Street Seaport.

NO tower should really be built on landfill. But this is continuously done and everyone just keeps crossing their fingers and then acting surprised when things go bad.

 

The World Financial Center and many of the apartment buildings there are built on landfill.  Anything west of West Street is originally the Hudson River, filled in during colonial times and excavation for the Twin Towers.  Totally agree about not building on landfill.  NYC can have earthquakes and it doesn't have to be a major one to send those buildings toppling. 

[samhexum]

On 3/9/2021 at 5:16 PM, MysticMenace said:

Greatest Real Estate Finds

Literally...

 

640-year-old castle with moat found under hotel in France

The castle, which has been identified as the Château de l’Hermine, was built by John IV the Conqueror in the 1380s. It is located under the courtyard of Hotel Lagorce.

[samhexum]

Most expensive rental in Queens leased at $11,200 a month

[+ nycman]

On 4/1/2024 at 12:55 PM, samhexum said:

Literally...

 

640-year-old castle with moat found under hotel in France

The castle, which has been identified as the Château de l’Hermine, was built by John IV the Conqueror in the 1380s. It is located under the courtyard of Hotel Lagorce.

Two things you never want to find when doing construction…. artifacts or ruins.

[samhexum]

51 minutes ago, nycman said:

Two things you never want to find when doing construction…. artifacts or ruins.

or skeletons

[samhexum]

RKTB Architects cantilevers new Brooklyn building over neighbouring building

New York firm RKTB Architects has completed One Sullivan Place, a mixed-income apartment building that rises 12 storeys and cantilevers in two directions over the rooftop of an adjacent structure.

The building is located in the Crown Heights neighbourhood, near Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden.

Totalling 60,000 square feet (5,574 square metres), One Sullivan Place contains 52 rental apartments, 16 of which are classified as affordable housing.

Of those 16, three are designated for senior residents. The remaining units are market-rate.

With a ground level that is roughly rectangular in plan, the 12-storey building rises from a corner parcel that was vacant. The parcel faces Sullivan Place and Washington Avenue.

The developer of One Sullivan Place owns that corner parcel, along with an adjacent building that wraps around it.

The neighbouring building has six levels and holds apartments. Appearing as two distinct buildings, the structure has a front facade along Sullivan Place and a front facade along Washington Avenue.

For the empty parcel, the team sought to "maximise the buildable floor area for the small corner site by capitalizing on the air rights of the neighbouring building".

This meant designing a building that extended into the empty spaces above the adjacent building.

"Our team aimed to reconcile the small site size with the considerable amount of developable floor area available to capitalize on," said RKTB Architects managing principal Peter Bafitis.

"The team ultimately arrived at the cantilever strategy that would theoretically allow them to build literally over and above the neighbouring building, but the narrow building frontage posed a significant challenge."

The architects worked closely with engineers to devise a building with "dramatically cantilevered upper stories that spread out beyond the narrow site and over the rooftops of the neighbouring building".

Found on both the north and east sides of One Sullivan Place, the cantilevering volumes are supported by two-storey steel trusses that are 30 feet (nine metre) in length.

"Occupying the ninth and tenth floors, the truss functions as a tabletop to support the eleventh and twelfth floors above," said Nelson Vega, an associate principal with RKTB.

The building's facades are clad in red brick and metal panels. The upper four levels are wrapped in exterior insulation finishing systems (EIFS), often referred to as synthetic stucco.

Large stretches of glass animate the facade and provide occupants with extensive city views.

The views were important to "help fetch competitive market rental rates – an essential component for making it possible to include affordable and senior rental units", the team said.

The team added that One Sullivan Place was one of only a handful projects that were developed under a now-defunct city programme called Privately Financed Affordable Senior Housing (PFASH).

The programme – discontinued in 2021 – facilitated the inclusion of affordable residences for seniors in housing projects by increasing zoning allowances.

https://www.dezeen.com/2024/04/04/rktb-cantilevers-brooklyn-housing-block/