OuterB on Queens Real Estate

This week many things queens-related have crossed my RSS reader, way too many for me to write about.  Here are a few links I’d like to share:

I Want You to Want to Be in America - a particularly thought-provoking essay on race in Forest Hills.  [Forest Hills 72]

Woodhaven redevelops eyesore

- local residents welcome a new condo development to take the place of a current eyesore. Reminds me a bit of the RKO Keith’s theater I wrote about on Tuesday. Will Flushing residents come to feel the same way about their own eyesore? [The Real Deal]

Housing as a Human Right - does everyone have the right to housing? Gotham Gazette explores the concept. [Gotham Gazette]

Shulman expects battle in court for Willets Point

- former Queens Borough President Claire Shulman “believes the city has firm legal standing and should not take eminent domain off the table, but does not think the controversial practice will be used when all is said and done.” My guess is that eminent domain will be used eventually, though I hope I’m wrong. The WPIRA members - comprised of people that own 50% of the land out there - are not giving up without a fight. [Times Ledger]

Fighting Graffiti at 110th Precinct - graffiti can be artistic or it can make the neighborhood look run down and crappy. “Police Officer Christopher Skinner, graffiti coordinator for the 110th precinct mobilizes area residents, including young people, to clean up graffiti in Corona and Elmhurst, preserving the neighborhood through community action.” [Junction Blvd]

Photo credit: Vidiot on flickr via a Creative Commons license

Bellerose
House: 3 bedroom
$529,000
250-19 88th Road
Sunday July 15, 1-3pm
NY Times Listing [laffey.com]

Forest Hills
Co-op: 1 bedroom/1 bath
$309,000
Holland House, 73-37 Austin St., #3J
Sunday July 15, 2-4pm
NY Times Listing [FSBO]

Little Neck/Douglaston
House: 4 bedroom/4 bath
$950,000
243 Street
Sunday July 15, 1-3pm
NY Times Listing [NY Times Web Listing]

Long Island City
Condo: 2 bedroom/2 bath
$650,000
Queens Plaza, 41-26 27th Street, #5H
Sunday July 15, 1-3pm
NY Times Listing [The Developers Group]

Richmond Hill/Woodhaven
House: 4 bedroom/1 bath
$599,000
84-08 104 Street
Saturday July 14, 1-4pm and Sunday 1-4pm
NY Times Listing [NY Times Web Listing]

I’ve only heard good things about the Forest Park Co-op building, but haven’t been inside. Any one got the building lowdown? It’s a good location, but not great. Having Forest Park next door, however, is excellent. The Craigslist ad is a bit ingenuous saying 30 minutes to Manhattan on the J train.

• Two bedroom co-op in Woodhaven, $234,000, Forest Park Co-op, $522 maintenance includes utilities
• Woodhaven Blvd at Park Lane South, Woodhaven NY
• Open House - 9/30/06 and 10/1/06, 2-4 pm
• Craigslist details

Woodhaven is a neighborhood just south of Forest Park, west of Richmond Hill, and bordering Brooklyn. I’m interested in it because house prices are pretty cheap for being so close to a good park and on a subway. Of course, the area doesn’t share the prosperity of Kew Gardens or Forest Hills, and the subway is elevated and slow through Brooklyn.

A couple months back a friend who moved to Woodhaven had this to report on Woodhaven and nearby Richmond Hill:

I really like it here. Granted it’s close to East New York but a world apart. I would suggest north of Jamaica Avenue and south of Forest Park. North Richmond Hill is beautiful. Anywhere from 85th Street over to 120th Street or so. I have not had any problems here.

Any one else got thoughts on Woodhaven? Please share your comments.

• Woodhaven (GMaps)

Woodhaven in southwest Queens is undervalued compared to other  Queens
neighborhoods that border Forest Park. Definitely, north of Jamaica
Avenue is the less sketch part of the neighborhood (realtors call it Woodhaven North).  Parts are
gorgeous, and a bargain. And Forest Park is a gem.

Two-family detached house in Woodhaven, $760,000, Forest Pky & 85th Ave, Queens, NY 11421,
Open House: noon to 2pm, 10/29/05.  Oh, this could be a great one. The photo on Craigslist looks good, and the location is one of the best in Woodhaven.  Forest Park golf course would be your front yard if the address is at all accurate (i dislike Craigslist ads without specific addresses).  For so many people buying a two-family and becoming a landlord is the only way to own real estate.   See the Craiglist post.

Compare it to another two-family in northern Woodhaven:

Two-family detached house in Woodhaven, $669,000, 85-34 91st St (also a good location), Open House: 11 am to 1 pm, 10/29/05 - see Craigslist. This house is just so cramped against its neighbors.

WOODHAVEN, $410,700

89-38 Woodhaven Blvd, Woodhaven, NY

Three-bedroom, one bath, 85-year-old wood-frame house, fireplace, full basement, 20×190 lot,  $2,000 taxes, listed at $399,000, 15 weeks on market (Broker: Weichert Realtors, FH Realty) Source: NY Times

FLUSHING, $710,000

158-10 28th Ave, Flushing, NY

Three bedroom, one bath, 70 year-old Colonial house, rennovated, 40×100 lot, finished basement, taxes $3,200, listed at $710,000, on market one day (Broker: ReMax Millenium) Source: NY Times

FLORAL PARK $570,000

27010 Grand Central Parkway, Floral Park, NY 

One-bedroom (convertible to two-), one-bath co-op, 1,200 square feet, with eat-in kitchen with dinette area and two balconies with view of golf course and pool. Maintenance $1,365, 55 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $599,000, on market 24 days. (Broker: Linda Rappaport, Greenthal Property Sales at North Shore Towers) Source: NY Post

FOREST HILLS GARDENS $1,445,000

26 Beechknoll Road, Forest Hills, NY 

Attached prewar two-family brick townhouse, 2,250 square feet. Lower-level three-bedroom, two-bath duplex has dining room, new kitchen, new bath, interior staircase, den, laundry area and entrance to garage; upper four-bedroom, two-bath duplex has dining room and new kitchen. Property is on a 2,728-square-foot lot with a two-car garage. Asking price $1,500,000, on market five weeks. (Broker: Terrace Realty) Source: NY Post

WHITESTONE $262,500

21-31 Utopia Parkway, Whitestone, NY 

Two-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 950 square feet, with eat-in kitchen and hardwood floors; Clearview Gardens building features courtyard. Maintenance $550. Asking price $269,000, on market eight weeks. (Broker: Anthony Carollo, Carollo Real Estate) Source: NY Post