Development
January 31, 2008
Development Watch: 144 South 4th Street
Just down the block from our first apartment in Brooklyn, a ten-story residential building is in the early stages of development. Designed by Nataliya Donskoy, a Scarano protege responsible for the makeover of 140 Degraw Street, the structure is planned to include 75 units over 134,000 square feet. An adjacent existing building on the same zoning lot will be reborn as a commercial property with the off-street parking required by the apartments. This should be a doozy. GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
Strong Place Church Construction Update
Over the weekend, Michael Ingui of Baxt Ingui Architects sent in a progress report on the Strong Place Church conversion that the firm is overseeing. Below is a condensed version.
The Strong Place Church is going very well, but a little slow. It has been incredibly challenging to keep the church standing. The contractor and engineer devised an elaborate structural steel system that spanned the entire width of the church so that they could complete structural concrete work below. After the concrete foundation work was competed at the side walls the permanent structural steel above was installed. This was an incredibly time-consuming task, adding many weeks to the timeline, because the steel workers needed to carefully thread the massive pieces of steel through the maze of shoring steel. Once the steel was in place at the sides they removed the shoring steel so that work could commence in the center portion of the church.
January 30, 2008
UPDATE: Scaffold Collapse To Blame at 525 Clinton Avenue
According to an eyewitness, the man who was killed this morning on site at 525 Clinton Avenue was working on the interior of the top floor when the high winds created a wind-tunnel effect that allegedly blew him through the glass window and to his death. This is all the more surprising given our report last summer that the development was using a new, unusually thick (four inches) type of glass called Visionwall. The eyewitness reminded us that the winds can get especially bad in Clinton Hill because it is, after all, on a hill. Unbelievable.
UPDATE: Here's an update we just received from DOB:
Upon inspection, Buildings engineers and inspectors determined a three-frame pipe scaffold installed on the roof of the new building under construction had collapsed. Sections of the pipe scaffold collapsed onto the 2nd floor and 12th floor setbacks of the new building under construction. Preliminary reports indicate three workers on the pipe scaffold were performing stucco work on the exterior of the rooftop bulkhead at the time of the incident. The workers were employed by a sub-contractor, Bell Tower Enterprises, retained by the general contractor overseeing construction of the new building, Clinton Court Development LLC.
Given this new information, we're redacting the earlier eyewitness account until we can get more information.
BREAKING: Worker Killed at 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
Photo by Gary Brubaker
BREAKING: Worker Killed at 525 Clinton Avenue
WNBC is reporting that a construction worker died this morning in a fall from a scaffolding at the 13-story work-in-progress at 525 Clinton Avenue in Clinton Hill; a second worker is reportedly injured. The accident occurred at about 10 a.m., after the DOB had issued safety warnings about the high winds. Is anyone nearby with a camera?
Construction Worker Dies After Fall From Scaffolding [WNBC] GMAP<--> P*Shark
Development Watch: 525 Clinton Avenue Check-In [Brownstoner] DOB
Development Watch: 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
525 Clinton Avenue Looking Good [Brownstoner]
525 Clinton Gets Its Glass On [Brownstoner]
Tower Rising at 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
Photo by Tracy Collins
Condo Conversion for 283 Washington Avenue
The five-story brownstone at 283 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill, which last changed hands for $1,670,000 in 2005, will soon be reborn as the Cherry Tree Condos, according to a sign in the house's front yard. A peek at DOB filings suggests it will consist of five units. Brooklyn Properties will have the listing, but there's nothing on its website yet. Anyone know anything else? GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
Brooklyn Bridge Park: It’s a Go!
After many years and countless delays, construction on Brooklyn Bridge Park began this week, according to a statement released by BBP Corporation President Regina Myer. Site prep for the first phase of the project—which includes the demolition of five pier shed buildings, the Purchase Building, and a few other buildings—started on Monday. The first phase is expected to last nine months. Update: As of 9:40 this morning, there was no action at the Purchase Building. Anyone have a view of the piers? We'd love a photo...
Brooklyn Bridge Park Construction Begins [NY Sun]
Amidst Lingering Controversy, BBP Construction to Begin [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Bridge Park Meeting: The Morning After [Brownstoner]
Impact of BQE Reno on Brooklyn Bridge Park Unclear [Brownstoner]
BBP rendering from BrooklynBridgePark.org.
January 29, 2008
Development Watch: 31 Kosciusko Street
Despite being just down the block from 192 Spencer, this new 12-story building at 31 Kosciusko Street has managed to fly under our radar for the past several months. We don't know much about it (neither the architect nor the owner rang a bell) other than that it's slated to contain 23 units over a gross area of 27,000 square feet. Details anyone? GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
Checking In With Magic's Green Street Condos
After some noise complaints and worries about damage to a neighboring building, Magic Johnson's 130-unit condo development at 100 Green Street in Greenpoint appears to be in high gear. A reader who lives nearby wrote in to report that the west side of the building is just about topped out (it's going to be six stories). We're curious to see what the market's going to be like for a luxury development in this corner of North Brooklyn when it's ready to go, presumably later this spring or summer. Waddya think?
Magic Johnson Planning Greenpoint Project [NY Post] GMAP<--> P*Shark
Magic's Greenpoint Bldg Gets Foul, Refuses to Go to Bench? [Curbed]
The Latest (g)Rumblings at 110 Green Street [NY Shitty]
January 28, 2008
Closing Bell: Myrtle Building Boom from Above
Two different readers happened to send in these cool shots of the development activity along Myrtle Avenue between Flatbush and Ashland Place in the last few days. In the upper right of the top photo, BFC's 37-story tower at 150 Myrtle Avenue is in the lead with five stories of steel under its belt. The race for second place is close. The 660-unit development from John Catsimatidis' Apple Group (upper left) is winning, though it had a big head start over upstart Avalon Bay, which has been in demolition overdrive for the past month in preparation for erecting 650 rental apartments. Can't wait to see what this view looks like a year from now! Below, the view from the southeast, with the Apple Group project in the foreground, BFC to the left and Avalon at top.
New Details on 150 Myrtle Avenue [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
Catsimatidis on Myrtle Revealed [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
So That's What Avalon Myrtle Will Look Like! [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
Development Watch: Hager Wasting No Time at 421 Kent
Just two blocks north of the 475 Kent mass eviction, developer Issac Hager has wasted little time getting to work on his latest project which takes up the entire block of South 8th Street between Kent and Wythe Avenues in South Williamsburg. Just a month ago we reported that the man who has just recently broken ground on another high-profile project—the Flatbush Flatiron—had paid $42.5 million for the site, where it's unclear whether he's planning on building a 7- or 20-story building. In the past couple of weeks, much of the former parking lot has been torn up and, judging from all those port-o-potties (on the jump) they're expecting quite a crew of workers.
Hager Re-Ups in Williamsburg Big-Time [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Continue reading "Development Watch: Hager Wasting No Time at 421 Kent"
New Charter School Underway in Clinton Hill
Work on the future home of Achievement First Endeavor Charter School, a 5th to 8th grade program launched in 2006, is now underway at 510 Waverly Avenue in Clinton Hill (current photo on the jump); the school, which has been lodged in temporary quarters at 850 Kent Avenue for the last two years, will ultimately accommodate 700 students. The rendering on the architect's website looks promising to us, a tasteful melding of a modern addition and the existing ice cream factory. As far as we know, it's supposed to be ready for the 2008-2009 academic year. Perhaps the arrival of a school on that block will turn up the pressure on the methadone clinic a few doors down to clean up its act. GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
Continue reading "New Charter School Underway in Clinton Hill"
Downtown Brooklyn in Transition
The Brooklyn Eagle has a series of stories about the massive changes under way in Downtown Brooklyn, chief among them the area’s shift from a primarily commercial district to a residential area. The paper figures that if all the buildings (not counting AY) now planned for Downtown are built, there will be more than 15,000 new residents in the area, and it could become a vibrant 24-7 community further bolstered by an influx of college students in the wake of NYU and Polytechnic’s merger. In the meantime, however, large swaths of Downtown are primed to become “miniature ghost towns” for a few years as businesses are forced out and construction projects commence. Reporter Sarah Ryley found that many business owners are angry about getting evicted, and current residents are frustrated about the dwindling number of amenities as shops shutter. Ryley noted that none of the business owners she interviewed on Bridge and Willoughby streets has received government assistance to relocate, though a spokesperson for the EDC said the city plans to give them relocation funding “when and if appropriate.”
Much of Downtown Brooklyn Is Going Out of Business [Brooklyn Eagle]
Downtown Residential Growth Ready To Take Off [Brooklyn Eagle]
Downtown Brooklyn: A College Town [Brooklyn Eagle]
Rendering of Downtown in 2012 from The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership.
January 25, 2008
Development Watch: 840 Bergen Street
A little later to the game than some other neighborhoods, Crown Heights has seen some new developments get underway recently. Last week, we took a look at the 8-unit building going up at 717 Prospect Place; this week, we stumbled upon a much larger project at 840 Bergen Street. After purchasing the one-story warehouse for $5,250,000 in 2005, the owners are in the middle of putting up a five-story, 67-unit building. The design, which isn't far enough along to get a feel for yet, is by Manhattan-based Kutnicki Bernstein Architects. Anyone know if this has an affordable component? If not, this would have to be the biggest market-rate project in the area yet, no? Any other big Crown Heights developments underway that we should check out? GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
Video: Imagining Flatbush in 2030
Here's a clip put together by the Municipal Art Society about a workshop the organization conducted last month along with the Flatbush Development Corporation. The workshop was one of a series called Imagine Flatbush 2030 that "is piloting the idea that full implementation of the Mayor’s PlaNYC 2030 will depend on engaging neighborhoods more fully in the dialogue about sustainability in planning and development," according to the MAS. The most recent Imagine Flatbush meeting was held last night—did any readers attend?
Building a Consensus for Growth in Flatbush [Brownstoner]
Imagine Flatbush 2030 [Vimeo]
January 24, 2008
10 Jay Street to Get Another Five Stories
DumboNYC reported yesterday that the nine-story building at 10 Jay Street, currently full of "creative" commercial tenants, is slated to get a five-story addition. If they can ever get the Stop Work Order lifted, that is. The design for the addition is being done by TKA Studio, one of the building's tenants. Back in October, we speculated that rooftop cabanas were in the works; evidently, we underestimated the owner's ambitions: Curbed theorized yesterday that the addition could be a prelude to converting the entire building to residential. Think that's likely? Any long leases still in place?
5 Story Extension Planned For 10 Jay Street [Dumbo NYC] GMAP<--> DOB
Historic Dumbo Building to Have a New Growth Spurt? [Curbed]
Cabana Envy in Dumbo? Prepping at 10 Jay & One Main [Brownstoner]
Time Equities CEO Weighs In On Amity Plan
Time Equities head honcho Francis Greenburger has responded to blog posts on Brownstoner (last week), the Historic Districts Council Newsstand, Lost City, and Gowanus Lounge about all the hoo-ha surrounding the developer’s plans for 110 Amity Street. In the statement, which seems legit, Greenburger says Time Equities and its development partner Lucky Boy “do not want to present a project that does not have community support” and makes it sound like the “mews” design is toast: “At this point, we will re-conceive the project in a traditional street wall approach and try to present a plan that is responsive to the input received at the most recent Landmark hearing.” Last year the Real Deal interviewed Greenburger, and the following Q&A seems like it has bearing on the 110 Amity situation:
Q: How do you deal with antagonists?A: It depends on what kind of antagonists they are. If they're bullies, I'm extremely stubborn and I'll fight them tooth and nail. If they're crazy people, then I try to figure out how to work around them and not waste my time with them. If they are people who have a reasonable point of view that's different than mine, I try to understand it and work with it.
Sounds refreshingly logical for a developer.
Amity Street Development Turned Back By LPC [HDCN]
The Closing: Francis Greenburger [TRD]
Sometimes They Hear You [Lost City]
Amity Street Developers Go Back to the Drawing Board [GL]
110 Amity Proposal Takes a Drubbing at LPC Hearing [Brownstoner]
Cobble Hill Association: 110 Amity Plan ‘Unacceptable’ [Brownstoner] GMAP
Opposition to 110 Amity Plans Grows [Brownstoner]
CB6 Tries to Avoid Amity Street Horror [Brownstoner]
Inset photo of Greenburger from TimeEquities.com.
Gowanus Roundup: Public Pl. Bids Whittled, Builders Bullish
When will major new developments come to Gowanus and, when they do, what are they going to look like? Plans for the area—and an assessment of its prospects—are the subject of articles in both the Brooklyn Eagle and the New York Post this morning. First off, the Brooklyn Eagle reports that the city has narrowed the field of potential candidates to redevelop the 6-acre Public Place site, above. Between 500 and 1,000 housing units will be built on the land between Smith Street and the canal, which used to be the site of a manufactured gas plant. The two finalists are the Related Companies (partnering with Monadnock Construction Inc., Catholic Charities and Donna Walcavage Landscape Architect), and the Hudson Companies (partnering with the Fifth Avenue Committee, Jonathan Rose Companies and the Bluestone Organization). Both proposals include a significant amount of affordable housing, according to an HPD spokesman, and a representative from the Related Cos. has called the firm’s bid “really progressive and environmentally friendly.” The city is expected to announce which developer it has selected at the end of next month, and decontamination of the site is expected to take two years. The Post, meanwhile, has a long article about how developers are still keen on Gowanus as a whole, and it notes that City Planning is expected to release its official proposal for rezoning the neighborhood—which will allow for more residential development—soon. The builders waiting for the rezoning to go through include Leviev Boymelgreen, who is planning a development called "Gowanus Village" with several 10-story loft buildings along the canal between Carroll and Third streets; Toll Brothers, which is planning a townhouse-style condo development on Bond Street between Carroll and Second streets; and the Bayside Fuel Oil Depot Corp., owner of the Bayside Fuel Terminal, which wants to build 10- to 12-story towers along the canal at Sackett Street.
Go, Go Gowanus [NY Post]
Two Finalists Vie To Develop Toxic ‘Public Place’ [Brooklyn Eagle]
AvalonBay Stresses Affordable Housing in Public Place Bid [Brownstoner]
Gowanus Rezoning: Complete Chaos [Brownstoner]
January 23, 2008
Development Watch: 328 Grand Avenue
A couple of backhoes have shown up in the last few days at 328 Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill, but don't get your hopes up. First of all, there's no record of new building permits online. And even if there were, chances are we're in for another temple of mediocrity courtesy of the same guys who built the rental building across the street at 309 Grand Avenue (at right). As we said last March, we wish they'd kept the old two-story commercial building and built an interesting addition on top. Some Most people have no imagination.
328 Grand: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow [Brownstoner] GMAP<--> P*Shark DOB
January 22, 2008
Development Watch: 238 St. Marks Avenue
The digging had barely begun at 238 St. Marks Avenue in Prospect Heights when the project was hit with a Stop Work Order last week. The punishable offense? A lack of approved plans at the site for the "support of excavation and underpinnings." Sketch-o-rama. The Karl Fischer-designed building is slated to have 20 units over eight stories for a total of about 27,000 square feet. No renderings are available. GMAP<--> DOB
Navy Yard Watch: Men In Blue's Building All Yellow
As we reported back in September, the Navy Yard is building a new headquarters for the tow pound cops as part of a larger plan that will reclaim the Sands Street entrance as the main gateway to the Navy Yard itself. Apparently, two stories is all she wrote on this one. No word on whether the new digs will make the pound police any more pleasant to deal with.
Navy Yard Watch: New Tow Pound Building Rising [Brownstoner] GMAP<-->
January 21, 2008
Development Watch: 681 Driggs Avenue
We were surprised not to see any work being done at 681 Driggs Avenue when we passed by last week. The site, along with another Karl Fischer-designed project across the street, is under the gun to get its foundation in before the surrounding area can be downzoned. The community board fast-tracked its approval of a proposal to limit building height in the area two weeks ago, putting the ball in City Planning's court. Located on the border of the north and south sides of Williamsburg, this design is for a 14-story, 41-unit structure that would come in at just under 100,000 square feet; the project across the street at 207 Grand Street is slated to by 10 stories.
Race to Stop Karl Fischer Grand St. Towers [Curbed] GMAP<--> DOB
January 18, 2008
Brooklyn House of Detention Plans Falter
Ideas for adding new uses to the Brooklyn House of Detention seem to be going nowhere. After the Observer reported that the city was giving up on its plan to allow for retail and condos jail because of a lack of developer interest, the Brooklyn Paper followed up last week with an article saying there’s been talk of putting a new middle school in the jail at Atlantic and Smith. This week, though, the paper files a story saying city has officially abandoned the school-jail proposal. The condo plan was originally floated because the city wants to make the jail's 2012 reopening and expansion (it's supposed to go from 749 to 1,469 inmates) more palatable to the surrounding community. Last week Marty Markowitz told the Daily News that he's still searching for "creative ideas for the site."
Sorry Bids Shove Shiv in City's Plans to Expand Brooklyn Jail [NY Observer] GMAP
Jail Middle School is Sentenced to Death [Brooklyn Paper]
Lock 'Em Up [Brooklyn Paper]
No go for new Condominium Complex [NY Daily News]
Officers’ Row Supermarket Not Happening Anytime Soon
The controversial plan to demolish ten 19th century houses owned by the federal government in order to build a supermarket at the Navy Yard has been "delayed indefinitely," according to an article in this week’s Brooklyn Paper. Federal officials say they need to determine if the Officers’ Row buildings can be preserved and hold a series of meetings about the buildings with the city and neighborhood residents. Those meetings wouldn’t begin until March, according to Kristin Leahy, the manager of the National Guard Bureau Cultural Resources Program, who said it was impossible to estimate how long the review process would take. The potentially lengthy review isn’t being greeted favorably by politicians who have been pushing for the feds to hand the properties over to the city so they can be torn down to build a supermarket that would serve residents of the nearby housing projects. “I’m disappointed,” said Councilwoman Letita James. “We’re trying to expedite the process.”
Navy Yard Supermarket on Hold as Feds Consider ‘Row’ [Brooklyn Paper]
Federal Goverment Not Rushing Admiral's Row Decision [GL]
Admiral's Row: Feds Must 'Consider' Preservation [Brownstoner]
Admiral's Row: "Extremely High Level of Historic Integrity" [Brownstoner]
Officers' Row: Let's Have Our Cake and Eat It Too [Brownstoner]
Officers' Row Preservation Coming to a Contentious Head [Brownstoner]
For Officer's Row, Supermarket All But Certain [Brownstoner]
Photo by j. vasco.
January 17, 2008
Fate of 163 Washington Still TBD
The Board of Standards and Appeals has yet to make a final decision on whether to let a controversial 16-story tower rise at 163 Washington Avenue. On Tuesday the BSA decided to leave the case open but end the public hearing portion of the proceedings; the board is asking the developer to make another submission backing up its claims about when, exactly, it completed work on the property’s foundation. GLC Developers’ documentation is an issue because critics of the project have repeatedly contested the firm’s claims about when and how contractors finished foundation work, a big sticking point since GLC is arguing it has the right to put up a 16-story building because its contractors completed enough of the foundation to be vested under the area’s old zoning, which changed in June. “There are basically huge problems with their concrete pouring timeline and their record of trucks, truck numbers, and even exact dates, and these problems exist not only in the developer’s own construction logs but also in the logs and official papers officially recorded by the concrete testing agency,” says Peter Eide of Building Too Tall, a community group that is opposing the project. “After making these submissions to the file the developer and his law team then made things even worse by submitting new logs and official papers from the concrete testing agency that are completely changed—new truck numbers, new pour times, new dates, new everything—and with no supporting documentation for these changes. It's all just made up as far as anyone can tell.” If the BSA is satisfied with the developer’s submission, it’ll rule on the project on March 4th.
BSA Considers 163 Washington Plans For a 3rd Time GMAP<--> DOB
Day of Reckoning for 163 Washington Avenue? [Brownstoner]
CB2 Votes on Two BSA Recommendations [Brownstoner]
CB2: Thumbs Down on Washington, Thumbs Up on Grand [Brownstoner]
Clinton Hill Rezoning Rejects Pitch BSA Bail-Out To CB2 [Brownstoner]
Race Against Clock at 163 Washington [Brownstoner]
January 16, 2008
Development Watch: Universal Church at 1091 Fulton
While we don't much like the looks of this new home for Universal Church at 1091 Fulton Street, if its presence on the block will help clean up the corner of Classon and Fulton, we'll be willing to forgive the blandness of the five-story design. In addition to fronting on Fulton Street, the structure appears to wrap around in an L-shape to include 40 Claver Place around the corner. Given the size, we assume there will be some residential component to the project, but can't tell for sure from the permits.
Another Church on Fulton (As If It Needs One) [Brownstoner] GMAP<--> DOB
Two Trees Rental on Atlantic Rises As TJ’s Treads Water
Two Trees isn’t wasting any time putting up its new rental next to the future home of Trader Joe’s on Atlantic Avenue. It's not clear whether the City Council has officially approved the building at 182 Atlantic Avenue, which is slated to rise 10 feet higher than what’s allowed in the Cobble Hill Historic District, but last week the DOB issued a permit for a six-story building. Even if Two Trees is waiting for the Council’s OK on those last 10 feet, though, the rest of the development (which is supposed to look like the rendering on the jump, per Curbed) is going up very quickly. At the same time, no work has been done on the Trader Joe’s building, a state of affairs that’s not sitting well with Lost City. The blog points out that Two Trees arg