Despite a slow holiday week, the top two contracts in Brooklyn went to a record-seeking townhouse in Williamsburg and a Cobble Hill townhouse sold by one half of a rap duo.
The Williamsburg home, which has addresses at 101 South Second Street and 276 Berry Street, scored the top contract in Brooklyn with an asking price of $10 million, according to Compass’ weekly luxury contract report.
If it sells at that price, or even close to it, it would shatter the neighborhood’s price record which is currently held by a condo at 2 Northside Piers that sold for $8.3 million.
The 5,550-square-foot home was developed and sold by Compass brokers Christine Blackburn and Lior Barak.
Blackburn said that she and Barak had their eyes on the site for years.
“The older gentleman who had been there, kind of hanging out — and [he] was like a neighborhood fixture for years and years — had passed away,” she said. “It had been land for the 25 years that I’ve lived in Williamsburg.”
Blackburn and Barak bought the land, which consists of two plots, for $2.1 million in 2022.
The pair have previously developed boutique condo projects in Greenpoint at 112 India Street and 139 Huron Street.
Townhouse sales in Brooklyn have been booming the past several years. In the second quarter of this year, townhouse sales volume was up over 21 percent in the borough compared to last year, according to a market report from Compass. The average price per square foot sold was up over 11 percent.
But most of that activity has come in the area known as Brownstone Brooklyn, which encompasses neighborhoods like Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope.
Blackburn said they opted for a single-family home because they “knew that the neighborhood could support it.”
“There’s just not a lot of really beautiful high-end homes, and we’d sold enough condos for three and four and 5 million to know that there were people who wanted a really fabulous private home,” which she said “had all the parameters to be able to do it.”
The site sits on the corner of South 2nd Street and Berry which provides triple exposures, and an existing garage meant a three-car garage was “ready to go,” Blackburn said. The 25-foot width allowed for a private elevator.
The home features six bedrooms and four bathrooms, with a primary bath that comes with 2 rain showers and a soaking tub. There is a rooftop terrace and a living room terrace with an outdoor kitchen.
Construction is expected to be finished in 2026, according to the listing.
The contract was one of 17 — five condos and 12 townhouses — signed last week for homes asking at least $2 million. The homes had a total contract volume of $62 million.
During the same week last year, there were 21 contracts signed for $70 million.
The second priciest contract last week went to a Cobble Hill townhouse asking $5.9 million.
The 28-foot-wide carriage house at 16 Verandah Place features four bedrooms and two full bathrooms.
The seller is musician Jamie Meline, according to public records. Meline, who goes by the stage name El-P, is part of the rap duo Run the Jewels along with Killer Mike.
The house, which is filled with exposed brick and wood and metal beams, has an open, split-level staircase that runs down to the garden level and a spiral staircase winding around a two-story timber beam.
The living room provides access to the backyard, which features a brick patio and koi pond.
Corcoran’s Kyle Talbott, Karen Talbott and Scott Sternberg had the listing.
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