Several years ago, Robin Clayton was renting a studio in a TriBeCa condominium when a friend in Brooklyn invited her to housesit in Fort Greene for a few weeks. Before long, Ms. Clayton had fallen for the neighborhood, with its tree-lined brownstone streets and neighborly vibe.
She checked out different spots for her morning coffee and greeted dogs walking through Fort Greene Park, which she found to be “a central fixture that the neighborhood circles around.” When her lease expired in Manhattan, Ms. Clayton knew she wanted to relocate close to the park, and landed a few blocks away in a high-rise rental building in Downtown Brooklyn.
“Within a month, I really assimilated and got three new pairs of Birkenstocks and a dog,” she said. She and Jackson, her mini Australian shepherd, walked to the park every day.
But she didn’t love the apartment, which had an awkward trapezoidal shape. Meanwhile, she watched Brooklyn Tower — with both rental and condo units — rising nearby on Flatbush Avenue. With 92 stories, it’s the tallest building in Brooklyn, connected to the historic Dime Savings Bank. So she rented a one-bedroom there, paying $5,510 a month.
Ms. Clayton, who’s from the Boston suburbs, had moved often for her job in tech consulting, with stints in Dallas, Washington, D.C., Boston and finally New York. She traveled often, too — once with a hotel stay so lengthy that the concierge commented on her new haircut.
Now 40, she was intent on buying a condo unit in a neighborhood near Fort Greene Park. “I can’t go to the park without seeing someone I know, stopping by your blanket to chat,” she said. She wanted plenty of subway options, mostly for her commute to an office near Bryant Park.
“Moving every few years can be taxing,” she said. “I wish I could have taken my rent and thrown it toward a mortgage. I didn’t want to be transient anymore. I think timing is really important, and the timing was right.”
She aimed for as much space as was realistic, her own washer-dryer and plenty of natural light, in part for her many potted plants.
“Sunlight is something you can’t really manufacture,” she said. “You can build in a lot of new things but you can’t build in new sunlight.” She aimed to keep her budget to about $1 million, and thought $1.25 million was reasonable for a one-bedroom, though she was prepared to go higher for the right place. She cared little about amenities, except for a dog run.
Katherine Marks for The New York Times
This one-bedroom apartment, facing southeast on a high floor with sweeping views, had about 685 square feet, with three closets, picture windows, a washer-dryer in the foyer, a big bathroom with heated floors, an open living space and kitchen, and assorted smart-home features, including speakers. The 57-story building, which opened in 2020 with a lovely scalloped facade, was just south of busy Fulton Street, with its outdoor mall and proximity to a dozen subway lines. It came with multiple amenities, including an outdoor dog run. Fort Greene Park was about a seven-minute walk. The price was $1.195 million, with monthly charges in the $1,700s.
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