Crown Heights Real Estate Market

Crown Heights, a neighborhood brokers and residents say had a questionable reputation a mere decade ago, is increasingly a hot spot for homebuyers and developers.

Don and Cecilia Doe, paid $840,000 for a four-story limestone on Park Place in 2012, more than double what they paid another comparable neighborhood property purchased in 2002. And the former was still a relative steal, as similar brownstones in the area have recently gone for as much as $1.85 million.

If you want a really classic Brooklyn brownstone, Crown Heights is one of the last affordable neighborhoods where you can get it. Noting that comparable properties in nearby Fort Greene tend to run over $3 million.

The neighborhood is heating up on the new development front as well, with one seven-unit condominium to open at 875 St. Marks Avenue in the next two months and a 62-unit rental slated for 341 Eastern Parkway, due to launch in June. Land prices are rising correspondingly, roughly doubling over the last 2 1/2 years from around $100 per buildable square foot to over $200 per square foot.

In these markets where we are still seeing rapid rent growth, if you can build rentals — which is what most people are doing right now — and you can rent the apartments for significantly more money than you could three years ago, then you can afford to pay more for these sites.