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The amazing Bailey House (as in Barnum & Bailey Circus) has sold for a mere $1.4 million after being listed earlier this year for $6.5 million. That’s only 21.5% of the asking price.The house is incredible. The level of detail is just stunning and, built in 1926, the house really speaks to the wealth of Harlem in the years before the Great Depression. It’s located at the corner of 150th and St. Nicholas (where St Nicholas Place splits from St. Nicholas Avenue) – a short block from Edgecombe Avenue where many of Harlem’s “sugar daddies” used to live giving Sugar Hill it’s name. Today it’s a couple short blocks from the subway entrance for the A,B,C and D lines between 147th and 148th on St. Nicholas Ave. One of the best subway stops in Manhattan as it’s only 2 stops from 59th Street on the A and D trains.Granted, the house needs some work and restoring it back to it’s full glory won’t be cheap, but $1.4 million for a house like this is an absolute steal. It’s a mere $170 per sq. ft. You can see from the pictures that there are a number of Tiffany windows in the building – they alone must be worth a fortune.
The only two negatives to the house are its relatively high taxes (down to $25K/year from $28K/year when a typical townhouse in that neighborhood with half as much square footage pays about $4K/year), and the ugly gas station across the street. The sale price of the Bailey House really speaks to the troubles townhouses have been having in Harlem lately. They’re down 60% or more off their peak in 2007 while other neighborhoods are down closer to 15% – and it doesn’t look like they’ve hit bottom yet. This is definitely the time for buyers to be tough with sellers, and sellers to hold onto their properties, if they can weather the storm and wait for prices to go back up. |
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