A Unique and Versatile Co-op in a Prime Location
Zoned for P.S. 321, the unit boasts 2.5 beds, 2 baths, 2 terraces, and more
Sponsored by the SBN team
When Mike Barry and Grey Brooks relocated to NYC in 2010, they purchased a one-bedroom co-op at The Presidential, 759 President Street in Park Slope. Since then the couple has married, rescued a dog, had a child, and expanded the apartment to accommodate their growing family. Now after 15 years, they are looking to sell their home and move on. “When we tell people that we are selling this place they go, ‘Why are you doing that?,’” Barry said as the couple prepared to put the apartment on the market.
It’s easy to understand the surprise. Their sunny, top-floor unit offers two bedrooms, a home office, two baths, two terraces, and amazing views. The building, formerly a hospital, features a landscaped courtyard, roof deck (with skyline views), high ceilings, a spacious elevator (big enough to fit a gurney), and a part-time super and porter. The building is zoned for P.S. 321.
“There are not too many units like this in Park Slope,” says their real estate agent Rezwan Sharif, noting the array of amenities. “It really checks off a lot of boxes.”
Originally from Arlington, Virginia, Barry moved to New York to attend Columbia University and “fell in love with the city.” After graduating, he enrolled in the musical theater graduate program at the Boston Conservatory of Music. While in Boston, he met Brooks, who is originally from Wellesley, Massachusetts. After Barry finished grad school, the couple moved to Brooklyn and temporarily crashed with Barry’s brother Ben. “When we moved back, we wanted to find a place where we could put down roots, so we lived with my brother and my sister-in-law while we searched for apartments,” Barry explains. Sharif had already found Ben and his wife a new home and took on Barry and Brooks as clients as well, helping them find a one-bedroom at The Presidential. “There was another great apartment closer to my brother that we were thinking about,” Barry recalls. “One night Grey and I went to the park and talked it through and Grey looked at me said, ‘I need that balcony.’” They purchased unit 4B in 2010 for $365,000 and married the following year.
Brooks, Deputy Campaign Manager for NYC mayoral candidate Zellnor Myrie, has a green thumb and planted a container garden of native plants on the larger of the two terraces. “I do spend a lot of time out there,” Brooks says. “It’s kind of a little oasis.” Along with butterflies and bees, the pollinator garden also attracts a “rotating cast of birds.”
“This is a pretty special outdoor space,” he continues. “One of the most common things people say when they step out here for the first time is, ‘I don’t feel like I’m in New York City.’ You can’t see a single tall building…except for the gorgeous old stone church.” The couple enjoys an unobstructed view of the St. Francis Xavier steeple from their fourth-floor perch.
Barry, a former actor who now works in digital media, will also miss the unique outdoor space. “There’s a period in the summer when the sunlight is extra golden and the balcony is full of flowers…. We’ll sit out there with the kid, the dog will be out there resting…and then you’ll hear the ambient noise of what Park Slope is. The other kids playing, the ice cream truck. It’s so special and I love those summer moments so much—that joy, that feeling of being rooted at home.”
The Presidential became a co-op building in the 80s, and their first apartment still had the original finishes from that decade. Barry and Brooks gave the bathroom and kitchen a much overdue update. The kitchen features a Heath Tile backsplash, quartz countertops, custom cabinetry, and high end appliances.
In 2017, the couple adopted Archie, a pitbull mix from Sean Casey Animal Rescue. That same year, they began the adoption process for their first child. Fortuitously in 2018, a studio apartment, 4C, adjacent to their unit, became available. “We had been thinking about what it would mean to raise a child in a one-bedroom apartment,” Barry recalls. “When the opportunity to expand presented itself, it seemed the easiest option for us, so that’s what we decided to do.”
The pair purchased 4C in 2018 for $379,000. It took seven weeks to gut the second space, adding a spacious main bedroom with a spa-like en suite bathroom — featuring Clé Zellige Moroccan tile, walnut veneer paneling, and natural slate flooring — as well as a flexible room that can be used as an office or guest room.
Barry and Brooks welcomed their son Saul in 2021 and are hoping for a second child, so more space has become essential for the growing family. “We just want a little bit more space so everyone can run around,” Barry says. And while their two terraces may be the envy of many city dwellers, a yard would suit the family’s needs better. “We got the best of almost everything,” Barry says. “We just want a yard, a little bit of outside space that we can call our own, a place where Grey can put plants into the ground instead of in containers, where Archie can run around, where Saul can leave his toys around.”
The couple hopes that another family will love this apartment as much as they do and enjoy all that The Presidential has to offer. “This building is wonderful,” says Barry. The couple has watched their neighbors’ children grow up over the years and their four-year-old has plenty of kids his age to play with. “This building is a group of folks who are easygoing, who are invested in this building, invested in each other, and invested in the community.”
“Wherever we go next, we want to make sure that we can put down a new set of roots,” Barry adds. “We’re just ready for a new adventure.”
See the full listing for 759 President Street, Unit 4BC here.
Thank you to the SBN team!
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