Nobody builds U-shaped apartment buildings anymore: That open courtyard space in the middle would be cost prohibitive today. But the colossal U-shaped brick and limestone building at 4014-22 North Central Park Avenue has been so nicely rehabbed, it might as well be new.

Irving Park

From: $165,000
To: $295,000

According to the project’s developer, Daniel Capota, and his real-estate agent, George Schultz of @Properties, the building, which went up in 1926, had declined into a rundown, low-rent mess. Seeing the potential of the building’s big courtyard (63 feet wide, compared with a norm of about 45 feet), Capota bought the place in July 2007. To maximize residents’ use of the central court, he rearranged the floor plans so that the living room in each of the 31 condos would front on the open space—and 21 of the units now have balconies that extend over the courtyard.

Twenty-six condos, all ready for immediate occupancy, were available at presstime. They start at $165,000 for a 750-square-foot one-bedroom unit and go up to $295,000 for a two-level, 1,800-square-foot unit that could be configured as three bedrooms or four.

Photograph: Courtesy of @Properties