Hot Prospect
Located on the eastern edge of Prospect Park, one can still find an apartment for $200,000, and stand-alone houses start in the $600,000s.
Originally farmland established in 1660 by the Dutch, Prospect Lefferts is known for its beautiful sprawling townhouses in almost every architectural style, with the sort of details one would pay millions for on the other side of the park.
You'll find two- to four-story buildings built between the 1890s and 1920s in the Neo-Renaissance, Romanesque Revival, Neo-Georgian, Federal and Tudor styles. There are also some detached homes that were built in the 1930s and 1940s.
Filled with homes that have backyard gardens, Prospect Lefferts is bordered by Empire Boulevard to the north, Clarkson Avenue to the south, Ocean Avenue and the park to the west and Nostrand Avenue to the east. And it's all a half-hour subway ride to downtown Manhattan on the Q train.
PLEASANT MANOR
Prospect Lefferts also includes a landmarked historic district called Lefferts Manor.
In 1893, James Lefferts divided his estate into 600 residential lots, establishing a covenant, which still exists today, that only single-family dwellings would be allowed on the grounds. So the Manor area, lying between Lincoln Road and Fenimore Street, from Flatbush Avenue to Rogers Avenue, has never turned into a place for apartments.
"The area still has that neighborhoody feel where people know each other, sit on their stoops and stop to say hello," says photographer Tim Sutherland, who with his banker wife, Debbie Perkins, purchased their four-story brick townhouse in the Manor for under $1 million less than a month ago.
"The homes in Prospect Lefferts and the Manor are different from traditional 'brownstone Brooklyn,'" says Corcoran Group broker Keith Mack. "Here the homes are modest examples of the homes being built in affluent areas of Manhattan at the time."
Details in these Brooklyn townhouses, depending on the architectural style of the home, can include crown moldings, coffered ceilings, ornate mantelpieces and banisters, fireplaces, pocket doors and wainscoting. Most have backyards, gardens and front stoops, and some have garages and working outdoor gas lanterns.
"About 80 percent of the homes have been well-maintained and only need a bit of work," Mack says.
The homes in the neighborhood are, in fact, so well-maintained and pristine, that the neighborhood developed a tradition of showing off their best and brightest homes at the annual Prospect Lefferts Gardens House & Garden Tour.
The event has been going strong for 36 years (this year's tour was two weeks ago - see sidebar) and is enough of a borough-wide happening to attract literally hundreds of Brooklyn-lovers.
PROSPECT PRICE
The townhouses in the greater Prospect Lefferts area range from $625,000 to $875,000; prices in the Manor are between $1 million and $1.6 million, according to Brown Harris Stevens broker Bette Cunningham, who negotiated the first million-dollar sale in the Manor in 2005.
"The prices have continued to go up," says Mark Dicus, a neighborhood resident and associate broker with Aguayo & Huebener. "You still see a lot of creative types move here because it is affordable, but more and more they're buying apartments as opposed to homes."
Prospect Lefferts offers a number of co-op choices. Many are well-maintained, mid-rise elevator buildings. Studios from 350 square feet to 500 square feet range in price from $125,000 to $150,000. One-bedrooms start at $200,000 for 600 square feet and can go as high as $375,000 for 800 square feet. Two-bedrooms are between $400,000 to $570,000 for 800 square feet to 1,000 square feet. Expect to pay a premium for properties overlooking the park.
The Prospect Lefferts rental scene also remains pretty affordable.
"It blows my mind that it has taken so long for people to discover this neighborhood," says arts administrator Rohana Elias-Reyes, who along with her actor husband, Sean, and their two young children have rented a $1,100 one-bedroom co-op for a year and a half.
Many two-family homes have garden rentals ranging from $1,100 to $1,500 a month. There are a few rental buildings with one-bedrooms around $1,200 to $1,500 per month. There is also one high-rise rental development, Patio Gardens. The two 16-story towers on Flatbush Avenue feature 24-hour security, laundry on every floor and parking. Studios rent for $900 to $950, one-bedrooms cost $1,100 to $1,175, and two-bedrooms run $1,600.
NOWHERE TO BUILD
There are currently no condos in Prospect Lefferts, although some are slated for development. One, called the Hawthorne, will be located in a pre-existing brownstone. The small, seven-unit luxury building is scheduled for completion next year.
"There is no real available land for development within the neighborhood," says Kevin Holmes, director of sales for Massey Knakal Realty Services.
That might be part of why the area has been slow to develop commercially. Flatbush Avenue, the neighborhood's main drag, is saturated with beauty salons and bodegas, but is yet to have its share of Whole Foods and Duane Reades.
Some changes, however, are coming. Gabrielle Lowe, who's been living in the Manor for a year with her husband and two children, recently opened the K-Dog & Dunebuggy café on Lincoln Road by the Q train subway stop.
"There was no place to get a coffee and read the paper," says Lowe, whose café offers wireless Internet access.
"We want it to be community-based and accessible to all residents."