Big Deal | Reading, Writing and Real Estate - City Room

It was unusual in the post-housing-crash world that Michael L. Breaux fell for an apartment at PS90, a once-decrepit public school in central Harlem converted to a mixed-income condominium in 2009, before seeing a finished unit.

Buyers who a few years ago might have snapped up apartments in new developments after merely viewing floor plans have been reluctant to do so, and new projects, including many in Harlem, have suffered mightily along with the economy.

Mr. Breaux, a bassoonist and former high school band director, and his partner, Reggie Grayson, had seen only online renderings of the 75 units at the condo and its restored collegiate Gothic-style architecture before arriving on a snowy February morning last year in search of someone to show them an apartment.

On that wintry day, the two couldn?t find a broker in the building ? an advertised open house might have been canceled because of the weather, they thought ? but they made their way past scaffolding and into an apartment. Workers were restoring the limestone, terra cotta and brick facade of the six-story building, dating to 1906 and designed by Charles B. J. Snyder. In the apartment they found the concrete floors unfinished. The 12-foot-high ceilings immediately made an impression, but there were no lights or appliances.

They were convinced, though, that this was the home they wanted to buy, in part because Mr. Breaux, 53, whose mother was a school librarian and whose father was an industrial-arts teacher, loved the way the building evoked family history and his occupation: he is pursuing a doctorate in music education. Seeing the herringbone oak floors in the renderings, he remembered that his grammar school in Lafayette, La., had oiled wood floors, and now he meticulously polishes his wood floors at PS90 with tung oil.

?It felt very meaningful to be in a school,? he said.

Since they moved into their finished one-bedroom last October, sales have picked up at PS90, at 220 West 148th Street between Frederick Douglass andAdam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevards, and at other new developments in the area. The project was developed by L+M Development Partners and is being marketed by Sidney S. Whelan, an agent at Halstead Property.

All but 9 of the 74 condos at PS90 have sold (one is for the super), and a number of musicians, artists and photographers have moved in, according to brokers. Also, the National Dance Institute is soon opening a new headquarters in the building. All this is making for what Mr. Breaux described as a tightly knit creative community.

He declined to say how much he had paid. Twenty units were classified as moderate-income, with much lower asking prices than the market-rate units, which have been listed for a range of $450,000 to $899,000. They include studios, one- and two-bedrooms, and a single three-bedroom, for $849,000.

Most of the units sold so far have gone for slightly below asking price.

The sales at PS90 and nearby developments are good news for the central Harlem housing market. Since March, this submarket ? Harlem and Hamilton Heights ? has been performing below the overall Manhattan market, according to Noah Rosenblatt, the founder of the real estate data site Urban Digs. His numbers showed the pace of sales in that market was down 28.6 percent, compared with a decline of 16.7 percent in Manhattan over all.

But, in a more positive sign, housing inventory also fell. The supply was down 26.4 percent, versus 7.2 percent in the overall Manhattan market, so buyers faced less choice and the potential for higher prices.

Source: http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/23/big-deal-reading-writing-and-real-estate/

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