Gentrification is a mother. The Notorious B.I.G.’s childhood apartment in Brooklyn’s Clinton Hills neighborhood has been put up for sale for a hefty $725,000.
The Daily Intelligencer reports:
Before he was rap martyr Notorious B.I.G., a young Christopher Wallace lived at 226 St. James Place, apartment 3L, in Brooklyn, and worked as a bag boy at the Met Food around the corner. Now immortalized as a hip-hop landmark, the apartment was listed for sale yesterday for the very 2013 price of $725,000. While Biggie referred to his “one-room shack” in Bed-Stuy, times have changed: “This three-bedroom plus den/office condominium was renovated a few years ago preserving traditional styling while answering the needs of modern usage,” and now the area is referred to as Clinton Hill.
The listing agent, Judith Lief, is well aware of the apartment’s cultural significance but doesn’t feel it will have much of an affect on the apartment’s sale. “The tour buses that come by regularly are enough,” she told the Daily Intelligencer. “I don’t really know yet what impact, if any, [Biggie’s looming presence] will have on the sale. I think it’ll be notable, but I don’t know if novelty translates to a purchase.”
On the apartment’s listing on StreetEasy, the unit is partly described as having “wonderful light” and is “beautifully proportioned” with “spacious east-facing living room to the formal dining room to its very well-appointed kitchen with lots of storage and prep space.”
Check out photos of “The Mayor of St. James'” old digs in the gallery.
—
Photos: StreetEasy, New York Daily News
