The condo / townhouse development called Parker Flats at Gage School is currently being marketed.
Here, the top of the webpage it still says "Urban Condos from the $300s" (as of 4/6/06).
But found this line in an email advertising for the condo development today [4/5/06]: "Homes are priced from the low $200,000's for a studio flat to the $500,000's for a 2 bedroom in the historic school.."
Thus originally studios were priced from the 300's and now the studio's are going in the low 200's. Hmm... who is going to pay over 300 for a studio?
- "and we anticipate delivery to take place in early 2007*."
- "Parker Flats is an exciting community of 92 condominium residences providing uncompromising quality and value."
- "Located just a few blocks from Howard University, Parker Flats blends all the historic features of the Gage School Building a DC landmark - with exciting modern conveniences. "
- "Parker Flats means living between U and V streets, and Flagler and 2nd streets in Northwest, near Metro, Howard U, and much more."
- Here is an aerial image from Local Live. [Notice: the large hole in the roof of the building, this local live imagery is from 2003.]
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"Homes are priced from the low $200,000's for a studio flat to the $500,000's for a 2 bedroom in the historic school.."
ReplyDeleteSo what historical event happened in the school house with the big skylight?
Good work Mr. Bubblemeter ..... whole lot of people are going to have fun with this one.
The hole in the roof is huge. That block must be prone to meteor showers. Maybe they should change their marketing materials to include something like: 'Astronomers - stop studying the cosmos and start living it!'
ReplyDelete"So what historical event happened in the school house with the big skylight?"
ReplyDeletePerhaps a fire?
david
ReplyDeletePerhaps a fire?
It must be a historical fire.
I think that part of town is infamous, not historical.
ReplyDeleteBeing "near Howard University" is a bad thing....to many undesirable types go to that "school".
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't say that is a great location. IMO, it's good that it is close to Howard, but that's about it. It seems to be on the other side of Howard from the U Street stuff (which is not guaranteed to succeed) and Adams Morgan.
ReplyDeleteI would never pay more than 200K for a condo anyway, and that would have to be a beautiful two bedroom in a good part of town, but I wouldn't pay more than 100K for a two bedroom in this one. And I'd need to be talked into that.
A Redskins fan
Being "near Howard University" is a bad thing
ReplyDeleteI disagree. U street is becoming a cool neighborhood and Howard U has only helped. But...I wouldn't buy at today's prices ;)
Yeah, what's with the Howard U bashing? It really is a school with a distinctive tradition, and its neighborhood looks a little better every time I go through it (about once a month or so).
ReplyDelete-- sglover
This is definitely an up and coming neighborhood. Not surprising that the developer would have a hard time moving these units.
ReplyDeletewww.dcbubble.blogspot.com
I've lived in SoCal most of my life (San Diego now) and was recently on a business trip to DC. I couldn't believe all the high rise condos going up (I was centered near the convention center) at unbelievable prices. There wasn't a grocery store in site and I wondered where all the parking was. The buildings don't look homey and are kind of bleak with no archetectual imagination. Not only that, but what a mixture of socioeconomic status...many homeless people living right underneath theses highrises.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that in the homepage for the condos that most of the people used in the pictures were white. A white woman living by herself would have to be insane to live in this neighborhood. Who they think is going to buy these places?
ReplyDeleteactually i know quite a few single white women that live in bloomingdale. its quite a nice area.
ReplyDeleteand to the poster that didnt see a grocery store near the convention center, there is one about 3 blocks north.
First, this is arguably LeDroit Park, not so much Bloomingdale. And I too know several, apparently insane, women who live in the area.
ReplyDeleteagruably perhaps. but it is not Ledroit Park, in terms of historical society designation. Ledroit predates the developement of Bloomingdale by 20 years.
ReplyDeleteAccording to land deads it is the bloomingdale subdivision of Ledroit park. According to the community civic associations it is in Bloomindale.
historically it was part of the bloomingdale estate that the neighborhood gets its name from.
here's a map
http://www.bloomingdaledc.org/images/blooomap.gif
I live in bloomingdale right around the corner from the new parker flats, and have only wonderful things to say about this neighborhood. Close to Dupont, U Street, Howard University, Georgia Ave., North Captiol, Union Station, Rhode Island Metro & shopping center, and much more. I am a new resident, a white woman, and not insane thank you very much! I think a lot of the previous comments posted illustrate stereotypes about the neighborhood and are not grounded in reality. Hey - nobody's asking you to come and live out here. Your loss is our gain. :)
ReplyDeleteinteresting - but I guess these boundaries don't really mean much anyway. They have a listing for a one bedoom on Zip Realty at $339,900:
ReplyDelete2035 Second St., NW
And I agree, if you don't like it, stay away. But don't knock the people who do live there.
OK, so, there is a huge real estate bubble in DC. You don't live here, so why do you care? Just don't buy property in DC, take down your website, and get on with your life rather than investing so much energy in waiting for a disaster to occur.
ReplyDeleteBut you aren't going to do that, are you? I didn't think so. Since your are going to stay focused on the bubble, let's review some basics:
Pricing is largely a function of supply and demand. Everyone needs a place to live. The human population is growing. It is not shrinking. The job market in DC is very strong. DC's population is growing. All these people need a place to live.... and so there is "Demand" for housing.
Land is a finite resource. It doesn't grow on trees, and you cannot manufacture more space. In DC, the "Supply" of land (and thus housing upon which it is built) is a very limited resource.
Growing Demand + Limited Supply = High prices. This is true in *any* type of market.
When will the "bubble" truly burst? When there is an abrupt drop in demand. That would be when tens of thousand or more people suddenly stop living at the same time. If that happens, prices will indeed tumble. If it doesn't happen, you'll continue to regret not moving into the 'hood when you had the chance. Eat your heart out.
"Being "near Howard University" is a bad thing....to many undesirable types go to that 'school'."
ReplyDeleteWhoever posted that comment obviously doesn't know anything about Howard University or the area around the university. There are a LOT of undesireables who live AROUND the school, but they don't go TO the school. More of the undesirables come from the Petworth Neighborhood to the North, but there are still some in Bloomingdale. Just because the faces of the undesirables may be black, you shouldn't lump them together with the group of respectable blacks who go to HU.
I don't see the need to call it a "school" in quotes- it is the wealthiest and most well-respected of all the HBCUs. The students are far from being undersirables- most are rich kids from suburbs in other states who drop hundreds of dollars on each outfit, and most are extremely intelligent. The campus itself (like many other colleges) is an oasis in the middle of a slum. A slum whose creation is due to the surrounding residents, NOT the wealthy, educated students who bring money to the area.
At any rate, I would add that I would NEVER buy a house in the area. Nomatter how luxurious the house itself may be, or how close it is to a presitgious university, I will NOT pay $500,000 for a house and have a crackwhore in my back "yard", or raise my children next to a drug market, thank you very much. As soon as I get my degree and I'm looking to buy a house, I'm leaving DC and never looking back.
I also think it is an asset to live close to Howard University. Finally, as for the talk about Parker Flats bringing their prices down - I think that the Parker developers got you on that one. It's common practice for developers to "overprice" the initial listing of their buildings so that when sales-time rolls around, they can lower it to the actual (planned) price. That way, they sell at the price they wanted and buyers can also feel like they got a good deal.
ReplyDelete"I think that the Parker developers got you on that one. It's common practice for developers to "overprice" the initial listing of their buildings so that when sales-time rolls around, they can lower it to the actual (planned) price. That way, they sell at the price they wanted and buyers can also feel like they got a good deal."
ReplyDeleteI know about this trick. Believe me they would LOVE to sell studios in the low 300's in that neighborhood if they could. And they tried. It didn't work. I still consider it a price reduction even if the developer didn't expect to sell studios in the low 300's.
There is not a "hole" in the roof--as though the project is finished. They are preserving the facade of an historic school, putting on a new roof, and then building the condo units inside, plus adding a new building in the old school playground. They are in the midst of construction and, at this stage, are building a new roof. It should look quite nice when done as the old school has huge vaulted windows.
ReplyDeletewow, plenty of ignorance to go around on this one. the school has always been advertised as starting in the $200s (I live across the street and have been to the meetings). The mix of units in the building has shifted towards larger condos from most studios, so I imagine the marketing line "from the 300s" refers to the fact that most of the units will be in the 300s and higher.
ReplyDeleteand if you doubt whether they'll sell these condos, you obviously haven't seen the prices being REALIZED for other properties in the surrounding area, which is a historic gem in the midst of a multimillion dollar streetscaping project including new brick side-and-cross-walks, georgetown-style streetlights, etc.
Wow, when are some of you folks going to get into white robes and start burning crosses on the front yard. There are a lot of haters on this board.
ReplyDeleteHere is some input on the Parker Flat. I live not too far away in Ledroit Park. The developer originally started with 200K and increased the price to 300K once the actual construction began. I am not sure about the logic behind that. But they are clearly going back and forth probably based on new realities of DC real estate market.
Some comments on the neighborhood. It is in transition and one should not expect G-town, Dupont or even Logan Cr. The crime is NOT coming from HU students and as a matter of fact HU students are victims. If you are up for that type of place come join the neighborhood. We, the residents, see the turn around and believe in it. Otherwise stop making racially charged comments.
Wow, when are some of you folks going to get into white robes and start burning crosses on the front yard. There are a lot of haters on this board.
ReplyDeleteHere is some input on the Parker Flat. I live not too far away in Ledroit Park. The developer originally started with 200K and increased the price to 300K once the actual construction began. I am not sure about the logic behind that. But they are clearly going back and forth probably based on new realities of DC real estate market.
Some comments on the neighborhood. It is in transition and one should not expect G-town, Dupont or even Logan Cr. The crime is NOT coming from HU students and as a matter of fact HU students are victims. If you are up for that type of place come join the neighborhood. We, the residents, see the turn around and believe in it. Otherwise stop making racially charged comments.
I apologize for the insensitivity of some white people on this list. I am one of those "insane" white women that lives near HU, and I resent your comments.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the people that have negative comments of the area, either don't live here or are upset because they can't afford to. To the students, no offense but you couldn't afford to live here even if you wanted to so please go back to studying.
The area is transitional like much of DC but I'm not wasting a boatload of money on gas communiting to the city from the 'burbs and I don't sit in traffic for 2 hours anymore.
Bottom line is, DC is a major inner city, albeit there are many more white faces, but it is still a city that requires one to be alert and cautious.
Bottom line..Stop stereotyping and get exposed to the real world. Actually get out of your sheltered existence and join the fun because I LOVE where I live and don't feel bad that your type is not able to afford to live here.
PolishKnight -
ReplyDeleteSo, you are talking about "subdividing" land lots to meet increasted demand. There is something in DC called the "Board of Zoning Adjustment". If I want to tear down my brownstone and build a condo building.... It won't happen. It won't happen for anyone in my neighborhood.
My home has been standing for 111 years, 1 mile from the Capitol campus. The same is true for *thousands* of homes like mine. This land is developed and will never be subdivided.
Now, the Hecht company warehouse on NY Ave NE - yes. That will be subdivided. But huge swaths of Victorian-era homes? No - not for the foreseeable future.
And if you think that every human being who is alive or will live in the US alone during the next 100 years can be sheltered with lumber from trees... think again. The population is growing. The forests are shrinking (to make way for suburban misfits like yourself).
I bet you drive an SUV, right?