This “bomb” penthouse in Brooklyn with graffiti on the bare walls is listed—and for millions of dollars.
Triplex condo above 160 Imlay St. in Red Hook, $2.99 million priceAvailable in its raw state — showing the spray-painted tag left over from its days of abandonment and disrepair.
While other units in the project, dubbed Red Hook Lofts, received a fresh coat of Sheetrock before hitting the market, Living New York’s sales team opted to show this unit, PH-C3, as-is – Tagged walls and all. With a clear affection for the spray-painted names and letters, he hopes a buyer will leave some of it on display.
“Wouldn’t it be wonderful, when you’re renovating it, to leave some of that behind to celebrate the history of the city?” said Camille Murphy, director of marketing at Living New York.
That said, the buyer has to be respected as well. “Why not leave it in a position where they can make that choice for themselves?”
Apart from two small letters on the first floor, most of the artwork is on the third level. The most eye-catching display shows a large purple R and an obscure word, possibly “RACER”, splashed in blue.
The latter pictured above is the area an architect would likely build a staircase, said Living New York agent Kelly Rogers, who represented the property with Devin Somek. They believe that a buyer can expose them to aesthetics.
“It seems like the kind of place it could be built into in-house design,” Rogers said.
The waterfront building was built in 1910 as the nation’s first reinforced steel and concrete building. Once owned by the New York Dock Company, along with its neighbor 162 Imlay, it experienced a series of ownerships in the ’80s, ’90s, and early 2000s.
Christie’s eventually took possession of No. 162 to house his fine art and other priceless treasures, but remained unoccupied until No. 160 was developed for residential use in 2014. It was during those empty years that graffiti writers and such spent time inside.
The six-story, 70-unit condo now features upscale amenities including a 24-hour lobby, a gym with private showers and saunas, and a top-floor residents’ lounge with 20-foot floor-to-ceiling windows.
Its pièce de résistance, however, is this graffiti-tagged penthouse, which sits waiting for a farsighted buyer – if not one with a keen taste for design. A mansion among the Red Hook rooftops, the 4,127-square-foot home features a private elevator and ceiling heights of 12 to 16 feet. It has two outdoor spaces, an 1,800-square-foot terrace on the first floor, and a 1,270-square-foot private roof deck.
Agents aren’t sure what the triplex will be worth once it’s renovated—”It’s hard to compose because there’s nothing else like it,” Rogers said—but other units in the building that lack the same potential are are also listed for over $2 million.
A finished duplex penthouse at 360 Furman St., another former New York Dock Company warehouse in Brooklyn Heights, currently listed for $14.99 million. It is spread over 8,500 sq ft but has only a 750 sq ft terrace.
As is typical of the offbeat waterfront neighborhood, so far many artists, designers, film directors and other creators of cool have visited this penthouse. Interestingly, there has also been a lot of interest among real estate agents themselves.
“They recognize such a unique place when they see it,” Murphy said.
But graffiti is polarizing, and not everyone thinks the apartment’s complimentary aerosol art is worth keeping.
Bond New York’s Mariana Beckmann after seeing this posted a video With a poll on his Instagram asking followers what they thought. One commenter loved it and another said it “sucks”.
While 160 Imlay before the graffiti was converted to residential in the mid-1980s, New York City graffiti veteran John Matos, 61, co-owner of the streetwear store wallworks to In the Bronx, said hand-style and paint quality indicate that the pieces in this penthouse were done in the last 10 to 15 years.
While they are quite nice art, Matos said they don’t add monetary value, and admitted he would cover them if he had a buyer. He added that they were clearly not there for public acclaim or they would be painted outside.
“They’re just tags,” Matos said, referring to the difference between casual spray painting and vibrant works of street art. “I don’t think they were intended to be seen.”