Ready to hop on the downtown bandwagon?
I noticed a couple of Park Row properties for sale the other day. They’re great old buildings with lots of windows overlooking Fountain Square, and they can be yours for the right price.
Imagine having some friends over on a pleasant Friday night, a glass of Merlot in hand, and having the sounds of Concerts In the Park drift in your open windows. Or watching the wedding of some trendy young couple tying the knot in the park, before you discreetly shoot some bottle rockets from your window and blast your Farting Sounds CD from your speakers that are propping the window open. Good times.
423 and 427 Park Row are adjoining properties in the center of the block, and they’re both for sale.
According to the PVA website, 423 Park Row has a Fair Cash Value (FCV) of $512,900 and last sold for $475,000 in 2005. It’s for sale for $740,000.
427 Park Row has a $525,000 FCV, last sold for $485,000 in 2005. It’s for sale for $860,000.
It would be fun to own those two buildings. There’d be income from the businesses leasing the ground floor, room for a really nice home in the upper floors, and enough square footage left over to rent loft apartments to your friends.
But should you buy now? Real estate prices aren’t expected to shoot up any time soon, and many property owners are just hoping for the downward slide to end. New residential space is in the plans for downtown, too. If you really want to live there, do you want the hassles that come with owning “historic” homes? Worrying about wiring, plumbing, leaky roof, warped floor, and drafty window may not be your thing. But you would own the whole building.
You could wait and buy one of the new places, perhaps overlooking the Hot Rods’ stadium. But then you would only own your apartment unit, and not the whole building.
So what should you do? I don’t know. Even if I had the money to gamble with, I can’t see spending anywhere close to $1.6 million for the two buildings. I’d maybe offer a million for the pair because of our current climate of uncertainty, but I’d hate to insult the owners.
Go downtown and walk around sometime. There’s lots to see.
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