Crown Heights has become one of neighborhoods at the center of conversation regarding Brooklyn’s gentrification, as over the last few years in the neighborhood record sale prices have been set and the price per square foot steadily climbs. And perhaps no where is the anxiety and fear of displacement in the neighborhood more succinctly expressed than in the ongoing debate over the rezoning of the Bedford-Union Armory, where the community is calling for 100-percent affordable housing.
The proof is in the pudding, so to speak. According to StreetEasy, the neighborhood’s average price per square foot has already far exceeded that of surrounding neighborhoods. At $537 per square foot on average, Crown Heights trounces Bed-Stuy ($131), Brownsville ($300), Weeksville ($443), and Bushwick ($519).
“In New York City, gentrifying neighborhoods usually follow a predictable cycle,” said Constantine Valhouli, the director of research for NeighborhoodX. “After rents from existing stock rise, new development of amenity-rich development follows. The building amenities often make up for gaps in services in the neighborhood, at the outset. And that—and often, a rezoning—sets the stage for an accelerated phase of gentrification through ground-up, luxurious developments —which we're starting to see in Crown Heights.”
So what does affordability, in terms of its housing stock, look like right now in Crown Heights? According to data collected by research and analytics firm NeighborhoodX, the most affordable properties for sale in the neighborhood right now—barring foreclosures, short sales, and income-restricted properties—range from $215 to $890 per square foot. But the lower end of that range seemed to be skewed by outside factors.
“At the upper end of the range, the price for new development condos is in the $800s,” says Constantine Valhouli, the director of research for NeighborhoodX. “The Victorian house priced at $215 per square foot seems like an outlier, given that the next step up in our chart is just under $400 per square foot. This suggests that the property has issues, or is intentionally priced low to generate a bidding war."
Take a look at the graph below, and click on the addresses to see the listings.
- Crown Heights most affordable October 2017 [NeigborhoodX]