Brownstoner: Brooklyn Real Estate and Renovation

Thursday Blogwrap

Paul’s Daughter Scrubbed Clean of History [Lost City]
The Littleneck Dudes: Aaron Lefkove and Andy Curtin [Eater]
Knowledge and Power Prep Spared From Closure [BS Patch]
Cyclist Hit By Car Making Left Turn at Vanderbilt and Myrtle [FG Patch]
New Commercial Building at 231 Front Street (Vinegar Hill) [Dumbo NYC]
Troubled Fort Greene Condo-Turned-Rental Finds Buyer [The Real Deal]
Help Sustainable Flatbush with Composting at the Flatbush Reformed Church Garden [Ditmas Park Blog]
Photo by greenelent

Categories: Brooklyn

By Emily | 02/09/2012 4:30 PM | Comment

Closing Bell: Sh!t Park Slope Parents Say

Comedy has to be based on truth. You take the truth and you put a little curlicue at the end. — Sid Caesar

Categories: Closing Bell, Park Slope

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 4:00 PM | Comment

Building of the Day: 342-352A Vernon Avenue

Brooklyn, one building at a time.

Name: Row Houses
Address: 342-352A Vernon Avenue
Cross Streets: Lewis and Stuyvesant Avenues
Neighborhood: Bedford Stuyvesant
Year Built: 1889
Architectural Style: Neo-Grec/Queen Anne
Architect: Theobald Engelhardt
Other buildings by architect: Arion Hall, Ulmer Mansion and Brewery, and countless homes, tenements and factories in Bushwick, Williamsburg, and this end of Bed Stuy. Also Peaks Mason Mints Building, Bklyn Hts.
Landmarked: No

The story: In certain parts of this borough, if you throw a rock, you’ll probably hit a Theobald Engelhardt designed building. He was an amazingly prolific architect who seems to have single-handedly designed the entire Eastern District, that part of Brooklyn loosely covering Bushwick, the far eastern part of Bedford Stuyvesant, and parts of Williamsburg. It comes as no surprise that these houses are his. And for several good reasons. (more…)

Categories: Bedford Stuyvesant, BOTD

By Montrose Morris | 02/09/2012 3:30 PM | Comment

Forum Poster Wants Great But Cheap Neighborhood

On the Forum: Where can I get a yard big enough for a garden, safe nabe and decent public transport? http://t.co/ehIkIstb

about 5 hours ago via webReply RetweetFavorite

@Brownstoner

Brownstoner

Categories: Ditmas Park, Neighborhoods, Twitter

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 3:02 PM | Comment

Inside the New One Girl Cookies in Dumbo

Given that our office is next door, there’s no excuse for having taken a week since the opening to post some photos of the new One Girl Cookies cafe at 33 Main Street in Dumbo. The new 1,400-square-foot space is the second retail location for the popular bakers–the first shop debuted in 2006 at 68 Dean Street in Cobble Hill. (The company has been baking wholesale since 2000.) The new spot, which includes a large Brooklyn mural by the illustrator Aaron Meshon, has a large central serving and display area ringed by lots of counter seating. It’s light, airy and overall very pleasant. Interior shots on the jump… GMAP
(more…)

Categories: DUMBO, Streetlevel

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 2:52 PM | Comment

20 Henry Street Condos Officially Hit the Market

The old the Peaks Mason Mints candy factory, aka 20 Henry Street, launched sales today after a five-year drumroll. There are 38 residences throughout the old factory building (pictured) and the addition next door on Poplar Street (pictured here). Units range from studios to four-bedrooms, priced from $450,000 to $2.595 million. There are also six penthouses, asking $2.1 to $2.55 million. It’s been a long road for this development: After getting approval from LPC in 2006, 20 Henry Street first launched sales in 2008, ran into some legal troubles, then finally got the reboot last year. How do you think it’ll do this time around?
20 Henry Street Hitting Market Next Month [Brownstoner]
20 Henry Addition Loses Scaffolding, Gets Bricked [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 20 Henry Street [Brownstoner]
Beams Rising at 20 Henry Addition [Brownstoner]
20 Henry Indeed Getting a Reboot! [Brownstoner] GMAP

Categories: Brooklyn Heights, Condos, News, Sales

By Emily | 02/09/2012 2:00 PM | Comment

House of the Day: 476 1/2 State Street

When there’s a fraction in house’s address, chances are it’s gonna be a narrow house. That is indeed the case with 476 1/2 State Street, though in this case it’s nothing too drastic: The four-story brick townhouse is just under 17 feet wide, a perfectly manageable width. The house has some very nice original details throughout. The kitchen’s the only thing that leaves us a little limp. Although the house has only 2,300 square feet, $1,695,000 is not a lot of money for a house in this neck of the woods these days. We bet they’ll end up getting pretty close.
476 1/2 State Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

Categories: Downtown Brooklyn, HOTD

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 1:28 PM | Comment

Co-op of the Day: 298 Garfield Place, #4

Last summer we featured the parlor apartment at 298 Garfield Place in Park Slope which had been listed for $999,000 and ultimately sold for $950,000. Now another floor-through pad in the brownstone co-op has come on the market. This unit, on the fourth floor, doesn’t have quite the same wow factor purely because of the fact that it’s not the parlor floor. (It’s also a little smaller.) That said, it still has lots of prewar charm; in addition, it gets more light than the lower floors. To cap it off, there’s a 350-square-foot terrace off the living room. Very nice. Asking price is $945,000, definitely at the upper end of the spectrum for a set-up like this, but also definitely one of the nicer ones around.
298 Garfield Place, #4 [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark

Categories: Co-ops, Park Slope

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 12:57 PM | Comment

Categories: Advertisement

By Emily | 02/09/2012 12:51 PM | Comment

Rental of the Day: 842 Macon Street

Red and white paint job aside, this three bedroom at 842 Macon Street in Bed Stuy is very pretty. There aren’t any pictures of the bedrooms, kitchen, or bathroom but the living room is full of historical detail and looks plenty spacious. Probably considering the lack of transportation options (closest subway is the J train), the rent comes in very low at $1,800/month. Worth checking out?
842 Macon Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark

Categories: Bedford Stuyvesant, Rentals

By Emily | 02/09/2012 12:32 PM | Comment

New Traffic Light Comes to Hall and Park

For Clinton Hill residents on their way home from Williamsburg or the BQE, Hall Street has always been a short cut in no small part because there was no light, only a stop sign, to get across Park Avenue. Well, those days are over. As of the end of January, there’s a new stoplight at the crossing. Evidently there were a number of accidents that happened with people pulling out across oncoming traffic on Park Avenue.

Categories: Brooklyn, Clinton Hill, News, Streets

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 12:00 PM | Comment

The Insider: Apartment into Loft in Brooklyn Heights

Welcome to The Insider, Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at interior design and renovation in the borough of Brooklyn. It’s written and produced by Cara Greenberg, a design journalist who blogs at casaCARA: Old Houses for Fun & Profit. Find it here every Thursday at 11:30AM.

IN THE MID-’80s, a developer chopped up a former YMCA building in Brooklyn Heights, creating condominium apartments with dropped ceilings and sorry little galley kitchens. When a couple in the arts — she’s a fashion editor, he’s a screenwriter — bought a 1,344-square-foot duplex in the building a few years ago, they called on Brooklyn-based designer Elizabeth Roberts to help them realize the potential they knew was there.

Roberts removed walls, raised ceilings and doorways, and re-thought the uninspired staircase to the upper level, where three bedrooms were converted to a master bedroom and a home office (there’s a powder room on the lower level, a bath-and-a-half upstairs). Most strikingly, the kitchen area was opened up to bring in light and make the space more conducive to entertaining.

Fred Taverna of New York Interior Construction (212/251-0790) saw the project through. Total cost: approximately $300,000.

“When they purchased it, it was an apartment,” says Roberts. “Now it’s a loft.”

Photos: Sean Slattery

More, including ‘befores’ and construction shots, after the jump. (more…)

Categories: Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights, Interview, Renovation, The Insider

By casaCARA | 02/09/2012 11:30 AM | Comment

67 Adelphi Sells Low, Preps for Renovation

We noticed interior work happening at 67 Adelphi Street, the rundown Fort Greene home that was a House of the Day back in June. At the time the asking price was $750,000, which seemed pretty high for a house in this condition, regardless of the presence of some original detail. Turns out our instincts were right: The home recently sold for less than half off–$350,000 to be precise, according to public records. No permits have been filed with the DOB yet, but it looked like the building was getting cleared out. Wonder if the new owners will redo the facade… GMAP
HOTD: 67 Adelphi Street [Brownstoner]

Categories: Fort Greene, News, Renovation, Sales

By Emily | 02/09/2012 11:00 AM | Comment

Walkabout: Green-Wood’s Tragic Guardian

(Illustration: The Keeper’s Lodge, Green-Wood, from Green-Wood Illustrated, 1847)

Green-Wood Cemetery is one of Brooklyn’s historical treasures. The land for Green-Wood was acquired in 1838, and by the turn of the 20th century, the cemetery had grown in size and popularity to be one of New York State’s most popular tourist attractions, as well as THE place to have your mortal remains spend eternity. The cemetery takes up 478 acres of hills, valleys and plains, with thousands of monuments, headstones and mausoleums, connected by an interconnected series of roads and byways. It was, and is, a park of enormous proportions. By the end of the 1800’s, it was necessary for this park to have its own police force, dedicated to keeping order, and preventing crime. In 1899, you might think that patrolling the land of the dead would be an easy job, but it would prove fatal to Captain Peter D. Lark, the head of the Cemetery Police Force. (more…)

Categories: Greenwood Heights, Historical, Walkabout

By Montrose Morris | 02/09/2012 10:30 AM | Comment

Almost Fully Rented, 111 Kent Up For Sale

Since breaking ground in 2007, 111 Kent Avenue has had a tough road. The construction dragged on for years with the building finally changing hands in 2010 for $43 million (after the original developers defaulted on a loan) and getting a reboot as a rental last year. By October, the 62-unit development was 50-percent-rented. Yesterday, Crain’s reported that, with all but two of the apartments spoken for, owner Stellar Management was putting the property back on the market. “It was always part of our business plan to buy the asset, finish it and to market it,” said Matthew Lembo, vice president at Stellar Management. Studley will do the honors on the brokerage side.

Buyer Finishes, Flips Billyburg Building in a Year [Crain's]
111 Kent Avenue More Than 50% Rented [Brownstoner]
111 Kent Avenue Takes the Plunge as a Rental [Brownstoner]
111 Kent Avenue Preparing for Take-Off [Brownstoner]
111 Kent Development Changes Hands [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 111 Kent Avenue (March ’09) [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 111 Kent Avenue (June ’08) [Brownstoner] GMAP
Development Watch: 111 Kent Avenue (March ’08) [Brownstoner] P*Shark
Development Watch: 111 Kent Avenue (July ’07) [Brownstoner] DOB

Categories: Development, News, Rentals, Williamsburg

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 10:14 AM | Comment

An Unguided Architectural Tour of Buffalo, NY

Last month, we had occasion to take a day trip to Buffalo. Despite having spent our entire lives in New York City we’d never been to the next most-populous city in the state. The purpose of the trip isn’t important (okay, we were picking up a Siberian cat for the Brownstoner household–Mrs. B is allergic to regular cats) but we found ourselves with a couple of hours to kill in between flights and decided to take a somewhat haphazard walking tour of the formerly great commercial center. With the decline of heavy industry in the area and shipping traffic, the city began a slow but steady decline that resulted in abandoned buildings, widespread unemployment and overall economic malaise. From what we saw, there are encouraging signs of rejuvenation and gentrification (no one’s complaining up there) happening north of the Downtown area. And they’ve certainly got the raw material to work with: The architecture–from the office buildings of Downtown, to family houses to Allentown to the mansions of Millionaire’s Row–was stunning. Herewith follows a random smattering of buildings that grabbed our attention for one reason or another. Apologies for the less-than-stellar photos. All we had with us was an iPhone and it was still pretty early in the morning on a winter day.
(more…)

Categories: Architecture

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 10:01 AM | Comment

Thor Equities Buys Boerum Hill Props Over Ask

The mixed-use property at 292-294 Atlantic Avenue (which includes the St. Clair Diner on the ground floor) recently sold well above the asking price to Thor Equities, the developer best known for its Coney Island holdings. Massey Knackal put the listing on the market in May for $4 million; it sold for $5,151,250 in December. The property was marketed as “three retail stores, two offices & four apartments.” The listing also noted that the corner retail space could be delivered vacant even though the New St. Clair Restaurant’s lease was good through 2017. (The eatery just got a big makeover in 2007.) According to Property Shark, there’s about 2,000 additional buildable square feet for the developer to play with. It doesn’t look like the development company owns any other sites nearby. We spoke with a worker at the diner (which is not closed) and he said he didn’t know what would be happening. A rep from Thor did not return a call about the sale.
Prime Boerum Hill Buildings on the Market [Brownstoner] GMAP

Categories: Boerum Hill, Commercial Real Estate, News, Sales

By Emily | 02/09/2012 9:30 AM | Comment

MNS: New Development Prices Up in 2011

The Local has nicely uploaded the MNS 4th Quarter 2011 New Development Market Report market report to Scribd. Here’s the summary:

In Brooklyn, 2011 has fared better than 2010, with a peak median sales price in the third quarter of $575K, and a strong finish in the fourth quarter with a high median sales price per foot of $622/SF. Year-over-Year Brooklyn New Development Condominium sales price per foot numbers are up 8% ($622/SF this quarter versus $574/SF in 4Q10), and median sales prices are up 15% ($542K this quarter versus $471K in 4Q10).

The report also notes that sales inventory dropped 36% and sales dollar volume was down 35% from the 3rd to 4th quarter. Brooklyn Heights had the highest average price per square foot of $944 in the fourth quarter (driven largely by big sales at One Brooklyn Bridge Park), with The Edge taking that prize among individual developments with a whopping average of $1,142. Prospect Heights saw a big fall in prices, but that was largely due to a temporary pause in marketing at On Prospect Park due to a broker change-over.
(more…)

Categories: Brooklyn, Market

By Brownstoner | 02/09/2012 9:00 AM | Comment