High-Rises Cede Rental Ground to Brownstones

IT is not a sentiment commonly associated with New York City landlords, but for Malcolm Smart, some things are more important than money.

 

“I don’t want someone I resent in my space,” said Mr. Smart, the live-in owner of a Brooklyn brownstone with a one-bedroom rental apartment. “If it means getting a few hundred dollars less in rent every month to have the right person living here, it is well worth it.”

 

Prospective renters’ credit ratings, recommendations and salary are all still important, of course, but so are intangibles like personality — which matters when you and your landlord are sharing a backyard, a hallway or a front stoop.

 

While large developers have long dominated the rental market in Manhattan and much of the rest of the city, brownstone Brooklyn is still the preserve of the small landlord. And with more landlords comes more variety and even the possibility of a New York City rarity devoutly to be wished — the good deal, if not the outright steal.

 

And brownstones — traditionally more stable in price than other properties even in rough economic times, in part because of limited supply — are once again ascendant in the borough. In recent years, as thousands of new luxury rentals flooded the Brooklyn market and large landlords offered incentives like several months’ free rent, the safe old brownstone often had a hard time competing.

 

While there have always been renters who insist on brownstone or bust, and details like wood floors, elaborate molding and intimate rooms, in the months after the collapse of Lehman Brothers two years ago apartments in small Brooklyn buildings sat on the market for an average of 65 days before being rented, according to internal data from the Corcoran Group.

 

That was a sharp jump from an average of 10 days during the boom years. “If you offer a buyer so many incentives, of course some are going to be swayed away from brownstones,” said Vicki Negron, a senior vice president of Corcoran who specializes in Brooklyn.

 

But recently many of the new projects have filled up and the incentives have disappeared. The average time that an apartment in a small Brooklyn building remains empty is now 35 days, a bit less time than units in large developments. While prices are slightly lower than they were at their peak, brokers say, the real benefit for potential renters is that they have the opportunity to survey a variety of places before pulling the trigger.

 

And in Brooklyn, time can be almost as important as money, because of the sheer volume and variety of brownstone apartments. In the borough’s brownstone belt — a string of neighborhoods from Brooklyn Heights, on the west, to Bedford-Stuyvesant, on the east — there are nearly as many landlords as there are apartments for rent. This means that prospective renters can look forward to sore feet and games of telephone tag.

 

There is no comprehensive listing service for Brooklyn brownstones. Owners often avoid the Internet altogether, developing long-term exclusive relationships with brokers. And even where listings are widely available, there is no indication of what the renters actually pay, which might be less than the asking prices.

 

All of these factors can make evaluating a brownstone rental a daunting process. The hunt is further complicated by the fact that prices can swing widely by neighborhood. For instance, apartments on the eastern edge of Prospect Heights often rent for 20 to 25 percent more than similar apartments in Crown Heights, just a few blocks away, brokers in the area said.

 

“It is a market where it’s hard to pinpoint pricing because many brownstones are owner-occupied,” said Andrew Barrocas, the chief executive of the Real Estate Group New York. “Some of these landlords are not always looking for the highest prices, but the right tenant.”

 

The financial situations of landlords differ widely.

 

For instance, someone who bought a brownstone in the 1980s for a few hundred thousand dollars — the going rate in many neighborhoods at the time — is in a much different position than someone who paid upward of $2 million a few years ago and is relying on the monthly rental income to pay the mortgage.

 

Scott Klein, a broker with Prudential Douglas Elliman, has lived in Brooklyn since 1983 and, like many others who specialize in the borough, deals with both sales and rentals. In part, that is driven by the fact that new owners often rent out a part of their houses. That is the case at 411 Sterling Place in Prospect Heights, where a couple recently paid $1.7 million for a renovated brownstone. Mr. Klein did not sell them the house, but he showed them another property while they were searching, and they later asked him to help with the rental.

 

The owners plan on living in the garden apartment and renting the rest of the building. The parlor floor — the most expensive in brownstone rentals — and the second floor have been combined to make a two-bedroom duplex, available for $4,350 a month.

 

The apartment has many of the details treasured by those seeking a home in a brownstone, including tin ceilings, a pier mirror, herringbone floors and elaborate carved moldings in good condition. The kitchens and bathrooms have been updated, and there is a small deck off the kitchen, overlooking a large garden reserved for the owners’ use.

 

“The owners said that if they have a good relationship with the tenants and if once in a while they wanted to have a party and use the whole backyard, they would be open to the idea,” Mr. Klein said. The rent, too, is negotiable.

 

The top floor of the brownstone, a one-bedroom floor-through apartment, is also available, for $2,000 a month.

 

But just a few blocks away, at 414 Park Place, Mr. Smart, the landlord who said chemistry with his tenant was important to him, rents a one-bedroom floor-through at the top of his brownstone for $300 less.

 

“There are people who try and get top dollar for their apartment, and they end up with nothing but trouble,” Mr. Smart said.

 

Like many brownstone landlords, he came to the neighborhood decades ago. In 1984 he moved into his first apartment, on the very same block where he now lives — paying no rent for years because the owner was a friend.

 

After he bought his current home in 1998, he first turned to a broker to rent the top-floor apartment.

 

“The broker brought in like nine people,” none of whom were right, he said. Through word of mouth, a young woman found out he had an apartment for rent. The two clicked and she moved in, staying for six years at the bargain rate of $1,200 a month.

 

After she moved out, Mr. Smart rented the place to Laurence Richardson, raising the rent to $1,700 a month, still a few hundred dollars less than similar properties in the neighborhood.

 

“It is very much a family kind of a thing,” Mr. Smart said. “I don’t even have keys for these doors,” he said, pointing to the doors that lead from his apartment to the common hallway.

 

But he now has the building on the market, for $1.414 million. He hopes the buyer will keep his tenant, but he knows that might not happen.

 

One of the downsides of living in a brownstone is that renters have little recourse if the owner decides to make a move. Many brownstones have fewer than six units, and as such are usually not subject to rent stabilization laws.

 

So Mr. Richardson may find himself back in the rental market. He said he had “learned a huge lesson” from his brownstone experience: “Before you move into a place, always get a lease and make sure that the landlord isn’t going to sell the place.”

 

Ms. Negron says that the owner’s decision to sell the property is one of the few things that dislodge a brownstone tenant.

 

“I simply don’t find people moving out because they decide they do not like brownstone living,” she said.

 

Brokers say that success in finding a brownstone apartment is directly proportional to the effort put into the search.

 

“You have got to hunt,” Ms. Negron said. “You have to look in the tall grass.”

 

The odds of finding something that would be considered a steal are slim, agents say, but unlike many large properties, brownstones often offer room for negotiation. And because they can be found in a diversity of neighborhoods, something is out there for nearly every budget.

 

On the high end, at 11 Cranberry Street, steps from the promenade in Brooklyn Heights, Ms. Negron is showing the Mott Bedell House, a brick town house built in 1840 that is renting for $22,000 a month.

 

For that price, a twice-weekly cleaning service is included to help the tenants maintain nearly 8,000 square feet spread out over five floors. There are two kitchens and two washer-dryers, and each room is elegantly furnished, including a living room with a baby grand piano. There are four and a half baths, four fireplaces, a 500-year-old tree in the backyard and a top-floor terrace with views of the Manhattan skyline.

 

A few blocks away, at 107 Willow Street, a studio is for rent for $1,450 a month. The place has high ceilings, a deep closet, wide windows and a claw-foot tub. But the kitchen is just a hotplate and a small oven; one sink does double duty for bathroom and kitchen use.

 

Then there are the quirky apartments at 29 Willow Street, all reflections of the personalities of the owners, Arturo Rosales and Polley Sheeran, who bought the building for $1.6 million eight years ago and keep space for themselves on one floor. The rental apartments in their brownstone are furnished, each with a theme, and decorated with items collected on their travels as well as paintings done by Mr. Rosales.

 

The apartments can be had for as short a time as a weekend, or for as long as a year. The nightly rate for the two-bedroom is $350; monthly it runs $4,200. It also comes with a perk for pet owners.

 

“When Arturo likes you,” Ms. Negron said, “he will paint a picture of your dog.”

 

 
The town house at 11 Cranberry Street in Brooklyn Heights costs $22,000 a month.

 

A studio at 107 Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights rents for $1,450 a month.

 

Furnished apartments at 29 Willow Street in Brooklyn Heights include a two-bedroom for $4,200.

 

Another furnished apartment at 29 Willow Street: a one-bedroom for $3,800.

 

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Copyright © 2010 The New York Times Company. Reprinted with Permission.  Photos should be credited as follows:  Piotr Redlinski/The New York Times.