Supported by
The Hunt
Aloft in Downtown Brooklyn
For a buyer looking to upgrade a tiny Greenwich Village one-bedroom, crossing the East River beat heading uptown.
In 2012, after living in a few rentals in the East Village and SoHo, Kris Chen bought a starter one-bedroom in Greenwich Village. His little co-op unit, in a 1955 building, had originally been an alcove studio.
“It was a stable, solid co-op near N.Y.U.,” he said, “and I knew it would increase in value over the years.”
But after five years there, he hankered for a change. The apartment’s negligible sunlight and low ceilings were confining. Mr. Chen could jump up with his hand extended and touch the ceiling.
“I felt like having outdoor space would let me enjoy my apartment more and would give me that something extra that I’d never had in a New York living space,” said Mr. Chen, 46, who grew up in Texas and is now senior vice president at Nonesuch Records. “Having lived in a cookie-cutter apartment helped me realize I don’t want to do this again.”
Initially he gravitated to the Upper West Side, where he had stayed with friends just after moving to New York. “That neighborhood was my first impression of New York that wasn’t rooted in television, film or music,” he said.
For help, he contacted a friend, Carol Wang, a licensed saleswoman at Corcoran. He emphasized his desire for private outdoor space and ample sunlight, and his budget of $1 million or less.
In the winter, “his north-facing, inner courtyard-facing apartment was not getting much light, and all his succulents would die,” said Ms. Wang, who lined up several sunny Upper West Side places to see.
A penthouse apartment on West 81st Street, across from the American Museum of Natural History, had a skylight in the living room, three exposures and a wraparound terrace, part of it enclosed in glass. “A previous owner had built out the solarium or sunroom or whatever is the right term,” Mr. Chen said. The price was $1.1 million, with maintenance of more than $2,500 a month.
“It was a glorious apartment,” Ms. Wang said. “The light was incredible. We were at the open house for about an hour because he didn’t want to leave.”
But even if Mr. Chen could negotiate the price, he realized the maintenance would rise over time. “If I am in love with this apartment, would I stretch myself to have it?” he said. “I don’t really know what the answer is, or maybe the answer ultimately is no.”
Nearby, he saw a similarly sunny co-op, this one a duplex. He was fine with its location on the top two floors of a walk-up building. The back terrace was surrounded by low-rise buildings in a historic district. The listing price was $845,000, with maintenance of $1,140.
“‘Potential’ is a word people use to describe these kind of places,” Mr. Chen said.
Here, potential was abundant. The apartment had mirrored walls, ancient carpet and garish chandeliers. The lofted bedroom wasn’t a real room, although there was the possibility that it could be enclosed.
“You could throw things down into the living room,” Mr. Chen said. “When I thought about how much I would be spending to renovate that place, I could see the dollar signs adding up.”
The duplex remains on the market, now priced at $695,000.
On Riverside Drive, a large one-bedroom offered an eat-in kitchen, a small office and a wraparound terrace with three exposures. The asking price was $695,000, with maintenance of nearly $4,000. “The maintenance was way too high, and I think that’s what probably worried every potential buyer,” Mr. Chen said.
The Upper West Side was yielding no viable options, so he turned his attention to Brooklyn, where he thought he would also be glad to live, as long as he had a reasonable commute to his Midtown office.
On the edge of Downtown Brooklyn, near Brooklyn Heights, he found a one-bedroom in a 13-story co-op building that had been constructed in 1928 by St. John’s College as its main downtown campus building. There was no outdoor space, but there was a common roof deck.
The listing photos were beautiful, showing an L-shaped space with huge windows, a corner bedroom and stairs leading to a lofted sleeping space above the kitchen. The ceilings were 14 feet high. The listing price was $970,000, with maintenance of a little over $1,300.
Mr. Chen’s first question was about the ceiling height in the loft. It was six and a half feet. “That is a bonus, because you can stand up in that loft,” he said.
At the mobbed open house — he didn’t want to leave this one, either — he instantly knew this was the place.
“He was blown away, and his lists fell away,” Ms. Wang said. “His whole attitude about the apartment was so markedly different. With previous apartments, there were pros and cons, and he always wanted to offer less. With this one, he was willing to go over ask.”
He didn’t need to; his offer at the asking price was accepted. “I felt elated,” he said.
Ms. Wang prepared to sell the Greenwich Village apartment, which Mr. Chen had bought for $550,000. He received multiple offers.
Not surprisingly, the potential buyers were “grad students, young professionals or undergrads with their parents,” Ms. Wang said. The apartment was listed at $775,000, with maintenance of a little less than $1,100.
“We knew his current place was going to sell for around $800,000,” she said. “And it sold for $801,000.”
After Mr. Chen moved into the new place during the summer, he turned the loft into a guest room. His succulents — new ones that sit on the windowsill, to replace those that died — now thrive in the sun.
“I am so pleased and happy with the apartment that having outdoor space doesn’t feel like that big of a deal,” he said. “As much as I thought outdoor space was a priority, space indoors is a bigger priority. And having greater light makes the biggest difference of all.”
Email: thehunt@nytimes.com
For weekly email updates on residential real estate news, sign up here. Follow us on Twitter: @nytrealestate.
In Search of the Perfect Home
Whether you are looking to rent or buy, navigating the housing market is not an easy task. Explore how some people found what they were looking for.
A Young Family in Denver: Life in Cambridge, Mass., wasn’t working out, so two parents introduced their daughter, who has cerebral palsy, to a new city and a new way of life.
Putting Down Roots: With the proceeds from an apartment sale and a dream of making wine in California’s Napa Valley, a buyer looked for an investment property to make her money grow.
New City, New House: After the pandemic derailed her plans for a life in New Mexico, a retired schoolteacher “was ready to go back home” to Colorado. But Denver and Boulder were too expensive.
A Home-Buying Odyssey in Phoenix: For her first home purchase, an associate professor at Arizona State hoped to find a place for less than $400,000, with a little history to it.
A Place in Chicago for These Grandparents: A couple of longtime Floridians with a grandchild on the way searched the Windy City for a good location, ample bedrooms and minimal stairs.
Advertisement