Brownstoner is Brooklyn's most read
website about real estate, renovation
and neighborhood news. Read More»
Empty Lot Snapped Up on St. Marks Place
The empty lot at 11 St. Marks Place, right off 3rd Avenue, was purchased recently for $1,450,000, according to public records. The land is zoned for residential but no plans have been filed with DOB yet. Luckily this block was included in the recent Boerum Hill downzoning so don’t expect anything too monstrous going up here! GMAP
02/10/2012 2:40 PM
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
02/09/2012 9:30 AM
Comment
Building of the Day: 143 Bond Street
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: Wood frame house
Address: 143 Bond Street
Cross Streets: Bergen and Dean Streets
Neighborhood: Boerum Hill
Year Built: Unknown
Architectural Style: Italianate
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: No
The story: For many, this little frame Italianate is housing perfection. I tend to agree. It’s in great shape, in a great neighborhood, and has lots of room around it. It’s cozy, and scaled to a comfortable living scale, and for a single person or a couple, would give them room to live, work, and still have a guest over once in a while. What’s not to like? (more…)
02/08/2012 3:30 PM
Comment
Last Week’s Biggest Sales
1. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $11,000,000
212 Columbia Heights GMAP P*Shark
This was a record-setting sale last week for Brooklyn Heights. It was on the market for $13.5 million and previously sold for $8.5 million in 2006. You can see interior shots of the home right here. Entered into contract on 12/21/11; closed on 1/17/11; deed recorded on 1/30/2012.
2. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $2,596,537.50
360 Furman Street, #215 GMAP P*Shark
A three bed/three bath asking $2.6 million. Entered into contract on 11/7/11; closed on 1/23/11; deed recorded on 2/2/2012.
3. PARK SLOPE $1,775,000
287 Garfield Place GMAP P*Shark
This home wasn’t officially on the market for sale. Entered into contract on 6/28/11; closed on 12/20/11; deed recorded on 1/30/2012.
4. BOERUM HILL $1,700,000
257 Hoyt Street GMAP P*Shark
257 Hoyt has a weird sales history. According to Streeteasy, it sold in 2006 for $830,000, then went to the market in 2010 for $750,000. It sold for $335,000. Then it was listed for $1,650,000 in 2011, a sale was recorded for $550,000. Then it was re-listed and finally sold for $1,700,000. Entered into contract on 6/28/11; closed on 12/20/11; deed recorded on 2/1/2012.
5. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $1,657,528.13
9 College Place, #3J GMAP P*Shark
A 1,697-square-foot two bed, three bath. Asking $2,100,000. Entered into contract on 12/2/11; closed on 1/17/11; deed recorded on 1/31/2012.
02/07/2012 11:31 AM
Comment
House of D Open for Tours This Coming Weekend
This weekend the public is being given a chance to get inside the House of Detention without going through central booking first. Here are the details, via Cobble Hill Blog: “The open house in being held in advance of the phased re-opening of the House of Detention. Approximately 100 inmates per week will be transferred to the facility beginning in February. This will be an opportunity to meet Warden Walter Nin, ask questions and tour the facility.” The jail will be open from 10:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m., this Saturday, February 4th. You can get on the list by RSVPing to Delilah Ortega in the DOC Department of Public Information: Delilah.Ortega@doc.nyc.gov.
Come See Inside Brooklyn’s “Big House” [Cobble Hill Blog]
01/30/2012 12:00 PM
Comment
Open House Picks
Park Slope
587 5th Street
Halstead
Sunday, 11:30-1:00
$2,795,000
GMAP P*Shark
Fort Greene
404 Clermont Avenue
Corcoran
Sunday, 11:00-12:00
$1,500,000
GMAP P*Shark
Windsor Terrace
502 Prospect Avenue
Betancourt
Sunday, 1:00-3:00
$1,495,000
GMAP P*Shark
Bed Stuy
397 Bainbridge Street
Fillmore
Sunday, 3:00-4:00
$599,000
GMAP P*Shark
01/13/2012 1:07 PM
Comment
New Rental Planned for Pacific Street in Boerum Hill
Manhattan-based developer Quinlan Development Group purchased the warehouse at 259 Pacific Street, between Smith Street and Boerum Place, as well two adjacent vacant lots, and intends to build a new rental building. Tyler Wilkins of Quinlan says the plan is to demolish the warehouse sometime soon and hopefully get shovels in the ground within 5 months or so. The company is looking to develop a building with about 60 apartments, according to Wilkins, that’s seven stories high. Quinlan’s purchase of the three properties for $6.2 million was recently recorded in public records. The warehouse and vacant lots traded hands last year as part of a larger sale of properties on the block. Between Quinlan’s project, the possibility that work will finally start on an apartment building at Atlantic and Boerum, and the townhouses coming to State Street, there’s plenty of development to keep an eye on in Boerum Hill these days! GMAP
Photo by PropertyShark
01/12/2012 9:00 AM
Comment
Construction Coming to Long-Vacant Boerum Hill Lot?
Take this with a grain of salt, considering plans for this lot have stalled for years, but a new building permit was renewed for the property at 252 Atlantic Avenue, at Boerum Place. The city first approved plans for seven stories and 66 units back in 2008. (Here’s an old rendering.) The construction crew in the picture was working on the street outside, not on the development itself. This site abuts 262-276 Atlantic Avenue, three storefronts and vacant land purchased last summer with several other Boerum Hill parcels. Anyone heard rumblings of a new development to come? GMAP P*Shark DOB
01/06/2012 9:00 AM
Comment
Inmates Coming Back to the House of D Next Month
The Department of Corrections says it will start putting inmates into the House of Detention on Atlantic and Smith next month, according to the Daily News, and eventually fill all 759 of the facility’s beds over the coming year. According to the story, the inmates will be pretrial prisoners who have court dates in Brooklyn and Staten Island. The jail basically stopped hosting inmates in 2003, and some neighborhood residents are less than thrilled about the HOD’s reopening: “Howard Kolins, president of the Boerum Hill Association and a member of the house of detention’s community advisory committee, said that when the jail was open, it brought visitors ditching contraband in the street, vehicles parking in bus stops and handicapped spots, and shackled prisoners being transported through residential streets. ‘Residents of State Street with small children are unnerved by that,’ he said.” A few years ago a bunch of different schemes for the building that came to nothing were bandied about, including ones that involved getting a developer to build retail and expanding the jail facilities. It remains to be seen whether simply bringing inmates back will have an effect on residents’ quality of life.
Inmates to Fill Reopened Brooklyn House of Detention in Boerum Hill [NY Daily News] GMAP
Photo by JayeClaire.
01/05/2012 9:30 AM
Comment
Plans Released for State Renaissance Townhouse Interiors
The firm Durukan Design has posted images on its website of how the State Renaissance Townhouses, new homes set to rise on State Street between Bond and Hoyt, are supposed to look on the inside. According to Durukan’s website, “[Each townhouse] features 5,000 square feet… and will offer buyers a choice of modern or traditional design. All townhouses are smart homes, with each room having its own sound system, light control, heat control, internet and television.” There are more interior renderings after the jump, including a vague exterior rendering presented to Community Board 2 last week. Plans for these buildings have surfaced as construction is about to begin on another set of high-end townhouses also on State Street, on the other side of Hoyt. We’re looking at a total of 13 new houses coming to the two blocks in the near-ish future, which is quite a lot of inventory for Boerum Hill!
Plans Dusted Off For Boerum Hill Townhouses [Brownstoner]
Friends’ Expansion Making Enemies on State? [Brownstoner]
Six More New Brownstones for State Street? [Brownstoner] (more…)
01/04/2012 10:30 AM
Comment
House of the Day: 482 Warren Street
This three-family house at 482 Warren Street snuck onto the market in the last week of the year and will have its debut open house this Sunday. The brick townhouse has an owner’s duplex topped by two floor-through two-bedrooms. The house has been recently renovated in a tasteful manner, albeit one that may not appeal to historic purists. Given the rent, which we’d guess is at least a combined $4,000 a month from the two apartments, the asking price of $1,850,000 doesn’t seem bad except for the fact that the house is located just a half block from the Gowanus Houses. We’ll see how big an impact that has on the ultimate selling price.
482 Warren Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
01/03/2012 1:27 PM
Comment
Work Starting on 14 Townhouses, Phase Two
It looks like construction of the second phase of the extremely successful 14 Townhouses development on State Street in Boerum Hill is imminent. Over the summer developers Hamlin Ventures and Time Equities pulled permits for the project—which will involve the construction of nine new houses in the style of the first 14 further west on State Street—and now construction equipment has appeared at the lot, which is on the corner of Hoyt Street. The second phase of the development has been on hold since 2008. The first houses sold for between $2 and $3 million in the mid-to-late 2000s, and one recently resold for $3.4 million. The nine now being built will run from 4,300 to 5,100 square feet. We wouldn’t be surprised if the new houses are priced at $3 million+ from the get-go.
14 Townhouses, the Sequel: Coming Soon to State Street? [Brownstoner]
01/03/2012 11:00 AM
Comment
Last Week’s Biggest Sales
1. MANHATTAN BEACH $2,650,000
72 Coleridge Street GMAP P*Shark
This is a five bedroom, 8,000-square-foot house (with a four-level elevator!) Ask was $4,100,000, then $3,999,000. Entered into contract on 9/26/11; closed on 12/1/11; deed recorded on 12/12/2011.
2. VICTORIAN FLATBUSH $1,475,000
120 Marlborough Road GMAP P*Shark
A HOTD in September. We said: “The front porch and lawn, the formal dining room and eat-in kitchen, the surfeit of original woodwork! So good. In fact the only mark against this place is the fact that the kitchen could benefit from some updating.” Ask was $1,495,000. Entered into contract on 10/17/11; closed on 11/30/11; deed recorded on 12/16/2011.
3. FORT GREENE $1,300,000
106 Vanderbilt Avenue GMAP P*Shark
This is a two-family, 25-foot-wide home. The interior is nice but the exterior leaves something to be desired. Ask was $1,399,000. Entered into contract on 8/24/11; closed on 11/4/11; deed recorded on 12/12/2011.
4. BOERUM HILL $1,150,000
82 Douglass Street GMAP P*Shark
82 Douglass was an OHP pick a few times. It’s a two family currently used as owner’s lower duplex and a rental 1 BR apartment on the 3rd floor. The ask was $1,295,000 when it went on the market in May. Entered into contract on 10/5/11; closed on 12/02/11; deed recorded on 12/16/2011.
5. GRAVESEND $1,125,000
16 Village Road East GMAP P*Shark
A two-family detached home that went on the market in January for $1,689,000. It slowly but surely decreased down to $1,299,000. Entered into contract on 5/12/2011; closed on 6/27/2011; deed recorded on 12/15/2011.
12/20/2011 11:30 AM
Comment
Plans Dusted Off for New Boerum Hill Townhouses
A string of new townhouses may soon be under construction in the long-empty lot along State Street between Hoyt and Bond streets. The developers of the mixed-income rental building on Schermerhorn, State Renaissance Court, floated the idea of building six townhouses in the adjoining empty lot in 2009. It looks like the idea is primed to become a reality soon, as this item has popped up on the Community Board 2 land-use meeting notice for next Wednesday: “Petition for Revocable Consent to install stoops on the new townhouses being constructed at 345, 347A, 349A and 353 State Street.” We didn’t hear back from the developers about whether the plans resemble the old rendering, which is posted after the jump. Back in the day, the plan was to sell each house for $4 million a pop. These aren’t to be confused with the project slated for the empty lot one block over, where nine new townhouses are in the works from the developers of the 14 Townhouses development.
Friends’ Expansion Making Enemies on State? [Brownstoner]
Six More New Brownstones for State Street? [Brownstoner] (more…)
12/16/2011 9:00 AM
Comment
Development Watch: 253 Pacific Street
Here’s the progress at 253 Pacific Street, seven months after DOB approved plans for a new five-story, three-family building. Wonder how the exterior will turn out.
New Building Coming to 253 Pacific [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
12/15/2011 2:40 PM
Comment
Cobble Hill Success Academy Charter School OK’d
Last night the Panel for Educational Policy approved the controversial plans to co-locate Success Academy Cobble Hill charter school at the school building on Baltic and Court streets. By all accounts there was a significant turnout of parents and educators opposed to the school. Nevertheless, Patch reports that 12 of the 13 members of the school panel voted in favor of Success Academy’s co-location. The Times story on the vote draws parallels between Cobble Hill and the Upper West Side, as some parents in the Manhattan neighborhood also mounted a vocal campaign against a Success Academy there: “Cobble Hill shares many similarities with the Upper West Side: It has desirable elementary schools at or near capacity, as well as million-dollar homes blocks from public housing developments. In an earlier interview, Ms. Moskowitz said her network, Success Academy Charter Schools, meant to serve both.” Another Success Academy was also approved for Bed-Stuy.
Charter School Approved for Affluent Brooklyn Enclave [NY Times]
PEP Approves Co-Location of Brooklyn Success Academy [Patch]
Brooklyn Success Academy Cobble Hill Charter School Approved [NY Daily News]
12/15/2011 9:00 AM
Comment
Vegetarian Restaurant Opening on Atlantic Avenue
On Friday a restaurant called Maimonide of Brooklyn will be in business on Atlantic Avenue between 3rd and 4th avenues. A French hotelier and restaurateur, Cyril Aouizerate, is behind the new eatery. The menu will focus on healthy vegetarian fare, and most of the offerings will consist of $8 open-faced sandwiches. The interior of the space it’s in, at 525 Atlantic, has been extensively renovated, and the set-up is for communal dining. Click through for a photo. GMAP (more…)
12/14/2011 2:00 PM
Comment
House of the Day: 140 Bergen Street
This listing at 140 Bergen Street hit the market in mid-November with an asking price of $2,648,000. The decision to squeeze five units into the building seems a little strange, since it basically rules out all buyers who’d want to live there. (Even the ground floor is divided into two units.) The place is newly renovated. Most of it looks perfectly nicely done, though the kitchens scream generic flip-job. The best things this place has going for it are the corner location (which means lots o’ windows) and a roofdeck from which the views must be great.
140 Bergen Street [Douglas Elliman] GMAP P*Shark
12/13/2011 1:24 PM
Comment
The Insider: Parlor Floor Upgrade in Boerum Hill
The Insider, Brownstoner’s weekly in-depth look at interior design and renovation, appears every Thursday at 11:30AM. Written and produced by Cara Greenberg, a design journalist who also blogs at casaCARA: Old Houses for Fun & Profit.
Photo: Elizabeth Lippman
This revamp of a parlor floor in a brick Boerum Hill row house was two-fold. First, Brooklyn-based architect Alicia Balocco opened up an existing 17-foot extension on the 20’x40’ building with a bank of aluminum-framed glass doors; a new atrium-like skylight spanning almost the full width of the building lets even more sun shine in. She also improved the kitchen layout and added a bathroom with distinctive tile walls.
Then, local interior designer Julia Mack (that’s Julia in the photo, above) gave the clients, a couple with two teenage kids, the fresh and modern look they wanted. “The house didn’t have a lot of lavish detail,” Mack says. “It seemed a perfect opportunity to bring in some modern design and not feel you were turning your back on anything that was already there.” As always, Mack made a special effort to work with local suppliers in sourcing furnishings both vintage and new.
Kitchen/bathroom/extension photos: Courtesy Alicia Balocco; Living/dining room photos: Elizabeth Lippman
More photos and info on the jump…
12/08/2011 11:30 AM
Comment
Fashion Forward on Atlantic Avenue
There’s another fashionable addition for Atlantic Avenue, a clothing boutique called Drape New York. The space will stock original clothing design by Ioanna Kourbela and jewelry from Evan Katsoulias, both designers from Athens. You can see images over at the website. Drape New York is located on 355 Atlantic Avenue, between Hoty and Bond. GMAP
12/07/2011 2:04 PM
Comment
tanner
Feb 06, 2012 | 12:32 PM