Brownstoner

test2

nataliep — 2008-10-17T10:40:15-05:00

test

test test

nataliep — 2008-10-17T10:36:35-05:00

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Tuesday Blogwrap

TCulver — 2008-10-14T16:29:04-05:00

Garden On Gowanus. Photo by galvarez51 from the Brownstoner Flickr pool.
Fishing in the Gowanus Canal [GL]
What $12,000 A Month Gets You On Smith [PMFA]
Steal This Look: White Living Room [Remodelista]
Landscape Architect Olin Leaves AY Project [AY Report]
Herbert von King: Bed-Stuy's 'Central Park' [Bed-Stuy Banana]

Closing Bell: Give the 4 Train Your Feedback

lisa — 2008-10-14T16:00:03-05:00

Yesterday through Friday, the MTA is asking riders of the 4 line to give it a grade. They're handing report cards out at various stations; Brooklyn gets the pencils ready today. Report cards can be found at Crown Heights-Utica Avenue, Franklin Avenue, Atlantic Avenue, Nevins Street, and Borough Hall.

Quote of the Day

Brownstoner — 2008-10-14T15:21:36-05:00

Brooklyn can support a wide variety of retail because it has the population and household income to do so, and is underserved by retail. The idea that big boxes drive out small retail is a myth that mistakes correlation for causation. Small retail suffers in areas where population and income are declining: aging rust belt areas or rural areas where automation in agriculture is eliminating jobs. It doesn't happen in areas that are growing. In economically healthy areas, like Brooklyn or the New Jersey suburbs, small retail thrives in proximity to big boxes, like remoras alongside a shark. Mall owners in Jersey don't have any problem renting out their smaller spaces when they have Wal-Mart or Target as an anchor.

— by Flatbushwhacker in Brooklyn Solves Retail Puzzle

Today on the Forum

TCulver — 2008-10-14T15:01:27-05:00

Here are some of the topics posted on The Forum today:
Vintage Pedestal Sink For Sale
Interior Stairs in a Duplex
What is the Best Use of a Parlor?
Need EPA Certified Lead Paint Remover
Moving a Drain Pipe in Backyard

Development Watch: 265 Ocean Parkway

lisa — 2008-10-14T14:29:46-05:00

This lot at 265 Ocean Parkway sits between a single family house and a tall co-op building; this project should fall somewhere in between. According to the DOB, it's an eight-story, 15-unit building designed by Issac & Stern Architects. We're not familiar with their work. Anybody out there have a sense of it? GMAP P*Shark DOB

Streetlevel: We the Free on Smith Street

lisa — 2008-10-14T13:51:05-05:00

We love our tipsters, one of whom sent in this report about a new store at 113 Smith, at Pacific. "We The Free, a part of Urban Outfitters, opened their first store ever right here in Brooklyn. We The Free is a clothing line carried by Free People, which has a few locations across the US. We The Free will have 3 stores open by the end of the year. They are opening a couple in Chicago and Los Angeles. Just a pro-brooklyn story that this national company is opening up their first of a new concept store in Brooklyn. The site used to be a drycleaners for a number of years." Keep the tips coming!

House of the Day: 156 Hicks Street

Brownstoner — 2008-10-14T13:12:12-05:00

You know times are tough when a five-story brownstone in Brooklyn Heights hits the market for less than $3 million. In this case, there are extenuating circumstances: 156 Hicks Street is less than 16 feet wide, and is in need of some TLC. The raw materials are there (woodwork, mantels, etc.) but the $2,875,000 asking price still's not a lay-up, primarily because, well, nothing's a lay-up in this market. It will be interesting to see if houses that need work get penalized more than those in move-in condition the grim market marches on. Update: A tipster sent in some interior photos "from 4 or 5 years ago" that we posted at the bottom of the post; click through to check them out.
156 Hicks Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark

Condo of the Day: 255 Eastern Parkway

Brownstoner — 2008-10-14T12:39:34-05:00

As the picture on the jump shows, 255 Eastern Parkway (aka the Woodrow Wilson) started out life as a grand building. After falling on hard times (like much of the area) in the latter decades of the 20th century (see comments), the building was converted to condos in 2003, with some units selling for under $150 a foot at the get-go. One of the larger apartments in the building is now back on the market, a 1,437-square-foot four-bedroom place asking $835,000. (Our best guess is that it's apartment E16, which traded for $527,360 back in 2006.) It's obviously a charming and spacious prewar pad, but we'd be surprised if this price were achieved in the current market.
255 Eastern Parkway [FSBO/NYT] GMAP P*Shark

New Development Coming to Bushwick

lisa — 2008-10-14T11:47:27-05:00

The Knickerbocker, a 49-unit condo building, is on the docket for 320 Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick. It's an adaptive reuse project that will "transform some of the neighborhood’s finest historic housing stock into modern, loft-like apartments while adding a new top floor containing dramatic penthouse units," according to their Web site. Some 40% of units have terraces or patios, and there's a gym, "virtual doorman," storage and roof access. It'll be LEED-certified. Here's the review from our tipster: "Knickerbocker Condominiums is located one block from Maria Hernandez Park and two blocks from both the L and M trains. They're incorporating most of the block along Knickerbocker along with an old 4 floor-walk-up building around the corner, visible in the photo on the far right (check out Curbed for the rendering).The building was a large grocery store on the first floor for years. This establishment closed two or three years ago." No word on prices, but seems pretty high-end. Is Bushwick — "up and coming," per the developers — ready?

Last Week's Biggest Sales: Closing Time at One BBP

Gabby — 2008-10-14T11:30:25-05:00

While we couldn't find the exact sizes of the Brooklyn Bridge Park units that sold, they're probably all over 2,000 square feet, given the average asking prices in the building.

1. Fort Greene $2,375,000
76 South Elliott Place GMAP (left)
3,200-sf, 3-fam townhouse was asking $2,795,000 when we had it as an Open House Pick in March. According to StreetEasy, the listing price was reduced to $2,395,000 before it sold. PropShark records say it last changed hands almost exactly a year ago, for $1,950,000. Deed recorded 10/9.

2. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $2,350,000
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Unit 636 GMAP (right)
One of several closings at 360 Furman over the past couple weeks. According to StreetEasy, the average listing in the building is a touch north of $1,000/sf. Deed recorded 10/7.

3. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $2,275,000
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Unit 436 GMAP
Deed recorded 10/6.

4. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $2,075,000
One Brooklyn Bridge Park, Unit 629 GMAP
Deed recorded 10/9.

5.DUMBO $1,890,000
One Main Street, Unit 12K GMAP
1,414-sf unit in this record-breaking condo. Last sold for $1,150,000 in 2003. Deed recorded 10/8.

Photo of 76 South Elliott from Property Shark.

Brownstoner Book Club Reads In the Country of Brooklyn

lisa — 2008-10-14T11:13:12-05:00

Peter Golenbock's tome of Kings County history, In the Country of Brooklyn: Inspiration to the World, chronicles our neighborhoods, and the characters they spawned, from the 1920s until now. Greeks in Red Hook, Russians in Brighton Beach, Curtis Sliwa, Neil Sedaka, Pete Hamill, Shirley Chilsolm, White Flight, Dodgers, Marty Markowitz ("Brooklyn's cheerleader") — it's all in there. And while there's plenty for the history buffs, some might be most interested in the latter chapters on recent Brooklyn issues: Atlantic Yards, the remaking of Coney Island and our own real estate boom. The book has a decidedly uncritical bent; he attributes our real estate boom to Ratner's Metrotech and Atlantic Center projects, and finds a pro-AY subject to interview for the chapter. As for Coney Island, he profiles Thor Equities' Joseph Sitt and his plan to build a "glitzy billion-dollar hotel/mall/Las Vegas attraction on the boardwalk." Not sure if this is the Brooklyn stuff that inspires the world, but the book is chock full of other interesting Brooklyn tidbits that might excuse the rose-colored-glasses view of certain modern projects. The book goes on sale today.

A Sexy Behind for 139 Lincoln Place?

Brownstoner — 2008-10-14T11:01:27-05:00

This proposal for a rear addition at 139 Lincoln Place surfaced at the LPC back in August; it also included a rooftop addition. The application was laid over before the commissioners could opine on it and it will be resurfacing again at tomorrow's meeting. It caught our eye when we were snooping around the viewing room at LPC last week because of what looks like a glass ceiling for the basement which extends 15 or 20 feet out into the yard. What do you make of that?
Agenda 8/12/08 [LPC]

111 Lawrence Rising

Brownstoner — 2008-10-14T10:30:51-05:00

After many months of excavation and shoring, the Clarett Group's massive tower at 111 Lawrence Street is starting to rise towards its ultimate height of 51 stories. Did you catch that? 51 friggin' stories! (The proof is here.) At this point, it seems a pretty safe bet that the 491 units will be rental when they come online.
Development Watch: 111 Lawrence Street [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Digger, Not Much Else at 107 Lawrence [Brownstoner]
Clarett's Big Plans on Lawrence Street [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 107 Lawrence Ready for Next Stage [Brownstoner]