The Gentrification Of Harlem

**pacunurse30** · 09-04-2006, 07:38 AM

i saw some building on 145th that was a burned out shell was going for $1 mill.... a burned out shell!!!!

i guess the thing to do would be try to get some kind of city assistance because you'd still have to get an architect and start from scratch... crazy.

bed stuy will be next area i hear. wonder how much the marcy is going to go for :lol:
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Girl Bed Stuy already started. This was about 8 or 9 years ago too. My husband and I were looking for a new apartment (we were tired of Flatbush), and we were trying to get into the Park Slope/Fort Greene area. Bed Stuy is like the next section over if you go down a few blocks on Fulton St. So we went to an agent trying to see if there was something decent in Bed Stuy, but not too deep into Bed Stuy were the bullets were flying. He was like "Oh Bed Stuy is an up and coming area. You aren't going to find a 2BR for under $1000 a month." I was surprised. He also went into how the area of Bed Stuy Heights was becoming an upscale area with prime real estate. We ended up settling on renting a 2BR in a 3 family house in Canarsie (which I liked). But now Canarsie isn't even that cheap. We were renting for $900 a month, which is not going to happen now.

**sunschild57** · 09-04-2006, 10:45 AM

one of my brothers bought a brownstone in fort greene brooklyn about 15 yrs ago. he paid almost nothing for it. it sits directly across the street from fort greene park. over the years, we have sat on his stoop and watched the area change. at first, it was rough but gradually the area was "gentrified" and all of the surrounding buildings are fixed up. there are little cafes on the corner, flea markets in the park, brownstone tour buses. it is amazing what "they" will do when they want an area back. my brothers little investment has blossomed and is worth "quite" a lot.

if you can get into harlem, don't sleep on it.
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Back in the early 80s, the city was selling Brownstones in Ft Greene for $1.00. My Godbrother and a couple of his friends bought Brownstones. I think they spent on average $50,000 to fix them up. I know my Godbrothers home is paid for and is worth big bucks. I kick myself everytime I think about it. I could have bought a Brownstone for $1.00

i saw some building on 145th that was a burned out shell was going for $1 mill.... a burned out shell!!!!

i guess the thing to do would be try to get some kind of city assistance because you'd still have to get an architect and start from scratch... crazy.

bed stuy will be next area i hear. wonder how much the marcy is going to go for :lol:
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Don't laugh, i'm waiting for the city to sell Marcy, Tompkins, Sumner and Bushwick to a developer who will turn them into Co-ops. The area is just a short train ride to Manhattan, less than 10 min drive to the Williamsburg Bridge. Shoot, i'd buy an apartment in the Tompkins in a heartbeat.

**GalaxyGirl2012** · 09-04-2006, 11:05 AM

Don't laugh, i'm waiting for the city to sell Marcy, Tompkins, Sumner and Bushwick to a developer who will turn them into Co-ops. The area is just a short train ride to Manhattan, less than 10 min drive to the Williamsburg Bridge. Shoot, i'd buy an apartment in the Tompkins in a heartbeat.
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no laughing here. i'm expecting that to happen as well because i get the feeling that's what's happened to those condos that are behind the atlantic center/terminal in fortgreene. they look projecty to me. i mean come on i'm not from ny but all projects are all over the world have that same box look with grid lock design.. anyway i was surprised to see those were condo's but i guess some developper bought them and turned them into condos.
actually i think it's the same guy who's behind the entire redevelopment of that area niw

**newmoe1** · 09-04-2006, 11:21 AM

damn, I live in nyc and I see the changes everyday. My bf and I was talking about getting a brownstone after we get married, but the prices are crazy. His parents purchased a brownstone in Harlem about 10 years ago and fixed it up from scratch through the years. They could easily get a 8oo grand for it now. By the way tey live in the 120's in manhattan.
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man they could get 1mil + in the 120 those blocks are considered better than the 140s

**hello kitty** · 09-04-2006, 12:20 PM

yes the real estate market is out of control!
i found that out after trying to move out of my tiny (and i mean TINY) mid-town apt. i just wanted another spot (hopefully bigger) to rent.

i soon found out that what i would shell out for rent was the same as a mortgage payment...so i started looking to buy...and i saved, and saved, and saved some more. i got a spot in harlem, and i love it.

by the way, all those folks sitting on the bus and train complaining about gentrification, are the same people that drop hundreds of dollars on lottery tickets every week. they should stop complaining and stop wasting money on lottery tickets!

people, start saving your money now! you can have a piece of the pie if you really prepare for it!

i got my slice w/whipped cream & cherries! i wish that i had the money to buy a brownstone, but that would mean a lot of saving! so, i'll just have to settle for my little slice!

**GalaxyGirl2012** · 09-04-2006, 12:30 PM

kitty you are my nyc rent market shero!

i'm saving up for a down payment on a 1 BR in brooklyn. i've been going over the lottery site so i'm getting prepared for finding something that i want to apply for...

oh yes... an apartment in fort greene... it will be mine... it will be mine.

**hello kitty** · 09-04-2006, 12:39 PM

good for you galaxy!

i tell people about those lotteries all the time, i'm glad that someone is actually listening to me!

and yes....i KNOW that you will get your bklyn dream spot!
there IS a slice for everyone!
good luck!

**lalapixie** · 09-04-2006, 03:00 PM

i live in williamsburg which is the same thing but the polish are getting the short stick but i have to agree you gotta do something not just complain the world is survival of the fittest even if that seems unfair i wish i woulda known about all this before but now all i can do is try to save and get something in the next three years cause i have debts to pay and then i can focus on ownership i may not get what is prime property now but hey if it ends up being at the edge of brooklyn or the bronx ok at least i'm in new york which has always been my dream, i can get a car and by then i'll be almost ready to start a family so my priority for being near the heart of manhattan will change

**Ebonique** · 09-04-2006, 11:01 PM

those of you who know Clover22 from the boards, her husband just published a book on this issue:

There Goes the Hood

Some very interesting points were brought up at the author's booksigning. This whole gentrification phenomenon we're seeing now is all a result of public policy measures by the city that the groundwork was laid out for some 20-30 years ago. The writing is on the wall. Harlem in 10-20 years will look just like the rest of Manhattan. The whole black renaissance mystique that draws toursits will be mostly a thing of the past. They already working on Brooklyn now, the South Bronx is next.

I bought my apartment 2 years ago and already several people have sold and made profits. There's a new condo building going up across the street from me that has penthouses going for $1.2 million. I went to one of their open houses, wasn't too impressed with the apts. The developer for that building is the same one that built the one I'm living in now. With the exception of a few upgrades, the apts are basically the same, except they're charging hundreds of thousand of dollars more. Prices are high simply due to demand. Everybody wants to live in NYC. Interestingly I got a call from one of the agents on the same building, they're dropping prices on some of the apts. Apparently folks ain't ready to spend $1 million for a penthouse in Harlem yet. :lol:

**lalapixie** · 09-04-2006, 11:23 PM

see thats the other thing, i think alot of the developers are getting way ahead of themselves with these million $$$ mortgages, i know there is alot of rich white people but i feel a bust coming in the real estate market in new york soon, like in williamsburg they just keep building these million dollar ONE bedroom apartments and realistically aint that many yuppies willing to pay that **** people want to have families and they are banking on bachelor pads gimme a break, i've already seen apartments built a year ago dropping in price from like a million to $750,000, people buy and sell but eventually its gonna get sooo ridiculous people will just start moving to the suburbs again, so i'm being patient, this happened in san francisco and just before i left it started getting more reasonable, still not cheap but better, i mean that much to not even live in the city, thats why i have my eyes on coney island or east new york haha, by the time they get to that the other areas will be the hood again, happened in my neighborhood in texas, my daddy made a point to live in the suburbs over the hood and now the suburbs he bought in are the hood and everyone is moving further into the country and this is all in a span of less than 10 years