Quote:
Originally Posted by lio45
Still very curious about this. Surely you can't do works of that scope without only building the house afterwards? I can conceive it being realistic if the land is vacant and you dig a massive and deep hole, sure.
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I have no background in construction, but these Midwood properties tend to be total gut jobs. The neighborhood, 20-30 years ago, was mostly modest homes occupied by traditional South Brooklyn white ethnics (Italian, Irish, secular Jewish), and then the growing Sephardic Orthodox community started building these more lavish homes.
I believe they keep a small portion of the original foundation for zoning purposes (so technically a renovation, not a new building), but for practical purposes, these are totally new properties, starting with a deep hole in the ground for subbasement levels. They can have two-three basement levels, one with pool. I've been in one of these homes. They go down rather than up bc the neighborhood has strict height limits on the side streets. It's insanely expensive but these are very expensive properties. Vacant SFH lots have gone for $10 million+. And these are small, urban lots.
The neighborhood valuations are going by a totally different calculus. I believe proximity to synagogue drives property values, and proximity to the most prestigious synagogue drives the highest values.