The Hunt
They Wanted a Waterfront House in New York City for $450,000 (but Not for Themselves)
A couple loved living in Sea Gate, Brooklyn, so much that they wanted to share the experience with others. So they looked for a distressed property they could restore and rent to a low-income tenant.
Cat Greenleaf finds solace near the water.
She and her husband, Michael Rey, left their brownstone in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn, six years ago and moved to a house in Sea Gate — “a magical little gated community,” Ms. Greenleaf said — at the western tip of Coney Island.
“Moving to the ocean was so profound and restorative for our family that we wanted to share it with as many people as we could,” she said. “I wondered: Who needs the water the most? People who spent time living in cages seemed like a good place to start.”
So she connected with the nonprofit Osborne Association, which helps people who are leaving prison, and made it her mission to buy and rehabilitate distressed waterfront properties and offer them to low-income tenants who qualify for a subsidized Section 8 rent voucher — if possible, people who were formerly incarcerated.
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Ms. Greenleaf, 51, has always been an intrepid house hunter. She and Mr. Rey, 53, a producer for “60 Minutes,” married 20 years ago at Brooklyn Borough Hall. “I didn’t want a wedding — I wanted a house,” she said. They now have two sons who are 12 and 14.
For a dozen years the family lived in that Cobble Hill brownstone, where Ms. Greenleaf would sit out front and tape her television talk show, “Talk Stoop.”
They bought their first distressed property a year and a half ago, upgrading a row of three bungalows on City Island in the Bronx.
“Really interesting oddball properties exist in New York,” Mr. Rey said. “The goal is to find these waterfront gems to share the experience of the water. We still need to bring in rent and manage our costs, so it makes sense to be working with Section 8.”
They are creating a nonprofit to further their work, calling it the Restorative Housing Organization.
Last fall, Ms. Greenleaf was ready for her next project. With a budget of around $450,000, she began looking for a waterfront house in need of transformation, preferably an old one that had stood the test of time. It had to be free of moisture, mold and serious structural damage. She budgeted around $15,000 for upgrades, although she knew that renovating is always unpredictable.
She hunted throughout the boroughs, wherever there was water, and scoured online listings daily.
“I drive around watery neighborhoods,” she said. “I meet agents and talk to people on the street. When a good deal comes up, I want to jump on it.”
Among the options:
No. 1
Annadale, Staten Island
This unoccupied one-story house on the southeastern shore of Staten Island was built around 1920. Described as a “waterfront property surrounded by custom homes,” it was about 220 square feet with a backyard that stepped down to a sandy beach, but the interior was in terrible shape, with at least one hole in the ceiling. A dead tree stood outside. The asking price was $400,000, with annual taxes in the high $2,000s.
No. 2
Rosedale, Queens
This circa-1920 house was in the tiny Meadowmere section of Rosedale — just across the water from Kennedy Airport and across the road from some big-box stores — and it backed up to Hook Creek. The house, on stilts, was listed as a “diamond in the rough,” in need of vision and a contractor. It had two bedrooms upstairs, several rooms downstairs, a backyard with a deck, and a boat dock. The price was $450,000, with taxes in the mid $2,000s.
No. 3
Broad Channel, Queens
This seasonal property included two structures with almost 1,000 square feet of living space, standing on pilings and reached by a city-owned boardwalk. Built in 1929 and renovated in 2017 to repair damage from Hurricane Sandy, it had several decks overlooking Jamaica Bay. “Perched over the glistening waters,” the home offered “an unparalleled seasonal experience,” the listing said — meaning there was no water or heat in the winter. The price (cash only) was $475,000, with taxes of around $2,100.
Find out what happened next by answering these two questions:
Which Would You Choose?
Annadale, Staten Island
Rosedale, Queens
Broad Channel, Queens
Which Did They Buy?
Annadale, Staten Island
Rosedale, Queens
Broad Channel, Queens