July 2005
July 29, 2005
South of Division Street: Part 5
The streets are quiet on a Saturday afternoon...
...plenty of opportunity to admire the details.
Today on the Reno Blog: Kitchen Updates
The stove and dishwasher are hooked up in our kitchen now and we'll pop in the microwave/fan and the fridge any day. That and a view of the latest progress in the rental kitchen on the Reno Blog today.
Update on Kitchens [Renovation Blog]
Open House Picks
Sorry for the lack of geographic diversity this week, but didn't find much of interest in other hoods...
Clinton Hill
239 Washington Avenue
William B. May
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,765,000
GMAP
Clinton Hill
25 Cambridge Place
Corcoran
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,695,000
GMAP
Fort Greene
281 Cumberland Street
By Owner
Sunday 10am-12pm
$1,595,000
GMAP
Bedford Stuyvesant
607 Quincy Street
Park Terrace Properties
Sunday 1-2pm
$599,999
GMAP
Latest Contribution to "My Brownstone" Gallery
Come check in with the latest submission to the My Brownstone gallery. The owner of this 1905 Renaissance Revival house in Prospect Lefferts had plenty of dirty work to do even though he purchased the place from a flipper. Check it out and then get to work on creating an homage to your own place!
Prospects Lefferts 1905 [My Brownstone]
Reconciling Old & New, Preservation & Progress
Feeling torn between her philosophically modern stance and her nostalgia for the "Old Brooklyn" she loves to inhabit, writer Karrie Jacobs tries to come to terms with the building boom going on in Brooklyn:
Generally speaking I'm not against development or change, even in my own backyard. I'm enthused about other smaller-scale plans, such as the 500,000-square-foot residential project that Time Equities--a relatively enlightened developer--and Hamlin Ventures are building above the subway station at Hoyt and Schermerhorn Streets in Downtown Brooklyn...But I'm troubled that Brooklyn is being regarded as an opportunity rather than as a place. Ratner's development scheme, the Downtown plan drafted by the city, and the vision for the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront all seem to view the borough as a tabula rasa. It is that old urban-renewal thinking that overvalues the potential and understates the significance of what's already here--exactly the kind of thinking that engendered a 30-year backlash. It's not nostalgia or NIMBYism to want planning that intelligently integrates past, present, and future.
Oh Brooklyn, My Brooklyn [Metropolis]
Seeking Photo Submissions of Shingles
Since we're going to be out of town this weekend and unable to photograph any themes or neighborhoods for next week, we thought we'd ask the readership to pitch in. We've always been drawn to the occurrence of shingles in a city dominated by stone and brick. Next week, we'd love to be able to exhibit examples of shingled structures in Brooklyn. So if you've got your digi with you this weekend, we'd appreciate any and all submissions along with a note about the location. We'll post the results throughout the week. Thanks a mucho.
Mixed Signals in Schaefer Landing Marketing
We're a little confused. We got this flyer (sorry for the blurry photos) in the mail this weekend from Fillmore advertising the condos for sale at Schaeffer Landing in the Southern-most regions of Williamsburg for between $700,000 and $1.7 million. But there's no info on the Fillmore site. A quick Google later and we're staring at the Douglas Elliman site that proclaims that Phase 1 is sold out. What's a trust-fund baby to do!
Homepage [Fillmore]
Schaefer Landing [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
$1,000 PSF on Below Fourth Ave? Gimme a Break
Our first reaction to this listing was that it had to be a joke. But on closer inspection, it appears to be a legitimate, albeit delusional, attempt to push the bubble to its outer limits. In fact, this one might burst it. Over $1,000 a square foot for an average-looking, new-construction condo on Seventh Street below Fourth, yes Fourth, Avenue? We don't know what else to say. We're stunned.
7th Street [Corcoran]
Minerva Versus Scarano, Revisited
The battle over the statue of Minerva's view of the Statue of Liberty is still raging, according to NY1. As discussed in this space before, residents around Greenwood Cemetary are concerned about the planned development at the corner of 23rd Street and 7th Avenue. Architect Robert Scarano says he has redesigned the building's line of site in response to the community outcry to allow for the view, and he says he may even go one step further and use scaffolding to create a life-size mockup at the site, hoping to get approval from the cemetery, which he claims he really doesn't need. What's the matter people, you don't take Scarano at his word that he has the community's best interests at heart?
Old Brooklyn Battlefield Site Of New Conflict [NY1]
A View to be Killed [Brownstoner]
Friday Links
Shoot the Freak (Coney Island). Photo by Magnetomotive
Restaurant Review: Taku in Boerum Hill [NY Times]
House for Sale, Body Included [NY Post]
Rowhouses as Slave Haven [NY Daily News]
Brooklyn Gum Makes It Home [NY Daily News]
Curtains for 1928 Movie House [NY Daily News]
Ferdinando's Focacceria [L Magazine]
E. Billyburg Condos [Curbed]
Brooklyn Fish Camp [OTBKB]
Sunset Park on a Sunny Day [Blather from Brooklyn]
Boerum Hill Open House Tonight
If you've got nothing better to do tonight, you can stop by the open house at 447 Pacific Street in Boerum Hill from 6 to 7:30. There's not much in the way of pictures to go on, so we can't do much more than parrot the listing: Traditional lower duplex with grape leaf moldings, pocket doors, and marble mantles, all in a two bedroom unit with an open kitchen, washer & dryer, and private land-scaped garden topped by a more modern upper duplex with cathedral ceilinged living room, newly redone kitchen, a large skylight, wood burning fireplace, 2 bedrooms plus a den or home office. Price? $1.7 million.
447 Pacific Street [NYT Listings] GMAP
House of the Day: Crown Heights Original
This beautiful 4-story place in Crown Heights just came on the market yesterday and it has us salivating over some of its delicious details. The original wood detailing and paneling is very impressive; the unusual light blue detail in the bathroom tile is also pretty cool. As for the asking price, hard to say. Judging from the view of the backyard, the immediate neighborhood has not exactly been taken over by gentrification just yet! But that's why it's $950,000 and not $2 million on the other side of the park. Our only serious concern is the fact that it's an SRO. On the positive side, it's vacant, so there are no ugly evictions to go through; on the negative side, there is a several-month process to go through with HPD to change the C of O. If the current owner has kept a decent paper trail on the former SRO tenants, that will make things much easier. Also, being willing to tackle unpleasant tasks like this is often a way to create value. It certainly enabled us to pick up our place at a discount.
Sterling Place [Ettelson RE]
Brooklyn Waterfront 80 Years Ago
We stumbled across this photograph of the bustling waterfront in southern Brooklyn circa 1926. Pictured here, from left, are the Army base, the Long Island Railroad yards and float bridges, and the Brooklyn Edison power house. The website, Life in Brooklyn, notes that at this point in time the Brooklyn waterfront was more prosperous than Manhattan's, with hundreds of acres of dry docks and storage warehouses. No condos though.
Neighborhoods: Sunset Park [Life in Brooklyn]
Share the Love in the Brownstoner Forum
We've got a bunch of new queries in the Brownstoner Forum that could use your input. Please take a couple of minutes to check in and contribute your two cents. Thanks.
Architects, Wallpaper Hangers, and Asbestos [Brownstoner Forum]
All Equitied Up With No Place to Go
The mathematics behind today's "Trapped in a Bubble" story makes perfect sense. Say you decided to buy a $200,000 studio three years ago with 50% down and were selling it now for $300,000 so you could trade up to a one-bedroom. Your $100,000 in equity would now be $200,000. Great, but that one bedroom that was $400,000 when you bought your studio is now $600,000, so despite your increased equity, the mortgage you'll need a mortgage that's $100,000 higher than you would have three years ago to carry that one-bedroom ($400,000 instead of $300,000). Oh, and your income has not kept pace with the rise in housing prices. Doh!
Trapped in the Bubble [NY Times]
MTA's Shut-out of Extell Confirmed
As reported yesterday, the MTA has caved to what we are sure are vast political pressures and agreed to negotiate only with Ratner for 45 days. While at least they are standing up for themselves a little by trying to extract some more cash, to the outside observer, the decision adds a whole 'nother later of stink to what has already been a suspect process. While we are in favor of the area getting developed and think a master plan is called for, we have to side with DDD's Daniel Goldstein (pictured) on this one: It is truly unconscionable that Extell would get cut out at this point given its higher bid. The fact that many residents prefer Extell's more modest (though still large-scale) plans aside, the eleventh-hour bidders are offering three times as much money! As one reader commented yesterday, "All along this has reeked of political back-room dealing to the extreme... Robert Moses would be proud but I'm not."
M.T.A. to Deal Only With Ratner [NY Times]
Slideshow [NY Newsday - Photo by J. Klein]
Thursday Morning Craig
Carlton Avenue (Prospect Heights). Photo by Frank Lynch
5-story 10-family on Park $2.1 Million [Fort Greene]
3-Story Mixed Use $1.3 million [Prospect Heights]
3-Family Shell $1.2 million [Park Slope]
3-Story 2-Family Brownstone $1.06 million [Carroll Gardens]
2-Family 4-floor $850,000 [South Slope]
July 27, 2005
South of Division Street: Part 3
This gorgeous building on the Northeast corner of Rodney and Bedford is now a shul, or synagogue. Dig the detail!
Breaking: MTA Postpones Vote on Atlantic Yards
The MTA announced that it was delaying picking a winner to develop the Atlantic Rail Yards for at least 45 days. From the sound of it, the MTA may be hoping that the bids may be increased: “I think that the bid that we did get from Forest City, while complete and well thought out, frankly was not as high as I expected,” said MTA head Peter Kalikow. “I expected the MTA to receive more money.” Hmmm...Newsday is reporting that the MTA voted to negotiate exclusively with Ratner for the next 45 days. If they don't reach a deal in that time, Extell could be back at the table.
MTA Postpones Vote on Atlantic Yards [NY1]
MTA to negotiate exclusively with Ratner [NY Newsday]
House of the Day: Clinton Hill Woodframe Lovely
Wearing our Clinton Hill bias on our chest, we have to say that we like the looks of this 25-foot-wide Civil War-era woodframe house. This place is located within throwing distance of all the Pratt-related mansions on Clinton Avenue and just a few blocks from Fort Greene park. The original details appear to be intact (though perhaps in need of a tune-up). There's no square footage given, but the house is only three stories and looks to have a deep front yard, so it's probably not more than about 3,000 square feet or so, maybe a little less. Nevertheless, it's rare to find something at this price ($1.25 million) in such a prime part of Clinton Hill these days. We think it'll go fast, probably above ask, unless there's some catch we're unaware of.
Clinton Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP
Brownstoner Launches "My Brownstone"
Close followers of the site may have noticed earlier this week the appearance of a new feature which we're calling "My Brownstone". The idea is to create a place for brownstone owners to build homepages for their houses. Through words and pictures, we want you to tell stories about your house, to point out details that you love, processes you went through, etc. We were able to talk a couple of guineau pigs into throwing something together before we went live, but the whole thing is a bit of work-in-progress. More than anything, we hope as many people will participate as possible. In the true blogger spirit, don't overthink it, just jump in and get your hands dirty. Your page can be a work in progress, edited, supplemented, etc. whenever you want. Have fun.
New Feature: My Brownstone [Brownstoner]
A Tomato Grows in Brooklyn
A reader sends in evidence of fertile soil in Prospect Park South...
New Blog Devoted to Brooklyn Food Scene
We're happy to welcome new blog Eating for Brooklyn on to the scene. Written by Pete Hassler (cool last name, no?), the blogspot-hosted site promises to explore "the bounty of Brooklyn," including restaurants, farmer's markets, and other "hidden gems." We're down--we think the borough's non-Smith Street establishments could use a lot more coverage. We hope he'll supplement his verbiage with some photos going forward and alert us to new openings on the horizon.
Homepage [Eating for Brooklyn]
Disagreement over Tower Next to Brooklyn Bridge
Cobble Hill Association member Roy Sloane stirred up quite a tempest in a teapot when he emailed his take (below, left)) on what the proposed 30-story tower at the entrance to the planned Brooklyn Bridge Park waterfront development would look like to 51 recipients, including members of the state-mandated Community Advisory Committee to the BBPDC, the development corporation and the designers. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation subsequently released its version of the tower view (below, right) and also overlayed what they believe to be more accurate dimensions onto Sloane’s rendering (top).
Picture This [Brooklyn Papers] GMAP
Drawings Become Centerpiece in Battle [Brooklyn Eagle]
Agency Adopts Park Plan for Brooklyn Waterfront
July 27, 2005, NY Times -- State officials approved a draft plan yesterday for an 85-acre waterfront park near Downtown Brooklyn that would include playing fields, marinas, restaurants and offices, and 1,200 units of luxury housing. The proposed plan for a 1.3-mile shoreline park stretching from the Manhattan Bridge to Cobble Hill is an important step forward in a contentious effort over nearly 20 years to develop the largely neglected waterfront area. The park plan and a draft environmental review will go before public hearings in September.
By far the most controversial part of the plan is the proposal to build or renovate five residential buildings, including a new 30-story tower. The decision to include housing was first made public in December, as part of a plan to make the park finance its own upkeep. But the number of housing units, first revealed yesterday, elicited angry reactions from a number of community groups that have opposed the plan. If it goes forward, building on the park project is expected to begin in 2008 and to be completed by 2012, according to the plan released yesterday. The park's design, by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, includes "canals, boardwalks and floating bridges that wind around the existing piers." There would be 12 acres of paddling waters for kayaking, rowboating and other water sports. The entrances to the park would be at Atlantic Avenue and Fulton Ferry Landing and in Dumbo (for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass).
The project would also include a 224-room hotel, restaurants and cafes, 150,000 square feet of retail space and 1,100 parking spaces. But it is the residential element that has galvanized opposition among many Brooklynites. Although a few civic groups have come out in favor of the plan, opponents say the housing element was pushed through largely in secret. Some have accused the park's planners of catering to developers, particularly at 360 Furman Street, a privately owned warehouse near the northern edge of the park.
Agency Adopts Park Plan [NY Times]
DDD Threatening Years of Lawsuits
July 27, 2005, NY Post -- A neighborhood group opposing developer Bruce Ratner's plan to build an NBA arena in Downtown Brooklyn warned the MTA yesterday it could face years of litigation if the agency hands over development rights of land needed for the $3.5 billion project. Jeffrey Baker, a lawyer for Develop Don't Destroy Brooklyn, said in a letter to MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow that the agency shouldn't let Ratner build on the 8.3-acre Long Island Rail Road yard at Atlantic and Flatbush avenues.
Baker said the developer would be "hard-pressed" to obtain other land needed for his project because Ratner is relying on the state's eminent-domain powers to take it from homeowners. Baker said the homeowners in the Prospect Heights neighborhood do not want to sell and that the developer doesn't have legal grounds to take the land through condemnation because property values are "escalating" and the area is not "blighted." Group members said they would strongly consider suing the state's Empire State Development Corp., the MTA and Ratner if a move is made to take their land through condemnation.
The letter to Kalikow comes as board members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority could decide as early as today who gets to build over the rail yard. Whether the decision is made today or put off, Ratner is still considered a heavy favorite over rival bidder Extell Development.
Arena Foes Readying Lawsuits [NY Post]
Wednesday Photo of the Day
Inside McCarren Pool. Photo by Tien Mao
July 26, 2005
South of Division Street: Part 2
These places must have been pretty sweet as single-family homes in their day!
Last Piece of the Puzzle: How to Finish the Stairs
The last major aesthetic decision we need to make for the house is how to finish the stairs. The linoleum has been removed from most of them, leaving us with what you see above. We're going to keep the banister its current dark wood color and will probably paint the vertical back of each stair white. What do people think we should paint the stairs and the spindles? Keep in mind that the hallway floors on each landing are going to be natural wood with poly. Thanks.
House of the Day: Classic Fort Greene Goodness
This brownstone listing in Fort Greene looks like a beauty. The 22-foot-wide classic brownstone appears to be in good shape. The 17-foot (come on, guys, it's probably more like 14, but still...) parlor floor is dripping with detail and floors and moldings look to be in good shape. The triplex over duplex set-up is well-configured for family living plus income. The prime location--three blocks from the park--certainly doesn't hurt either. We think this'll go for at least asking price.
Clermont Avenue [NYT Listings] GMAP
Blimpie Is Coming, Like It or Not
The controversial Blimpie under construction at S. Elliot and Lafayette, as captured by Set Speed.
Blimpie Awning [Set Speed]
Blimpie, DD to Mar Lafayette [Brownstoner]
LPC to Decide Fate of Burg Waterfront Landmark
The fate of the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg will be decided at a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing today. Built by architect Cass Gilbert (of Woolworth building fame), the building is owned by Moishe Kestenbaum. Kestenbaum wants to build a large rooftop addition and convert the three-part windows to single windows. Council Member David Yassky has been bought off, allegedly, by a $335,000 contribution Kenstenbaum is making to a fund for affordable housing. The hearing at 1 Centre Street, 9th Floor North at 3 pm today. Those in favor of the Landmark status are encouraged to show up at the hearing to show their support.
Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse [Gotham Gazette]
NY Mag's Triple Assessment: Gretsch Duplex
60 Broadway, Apartment 5Q, Williamsburg, Brooklyn
One-bedroom, two-bath, 1,755-square-foot condo.
Asking Price: $1.25 million.
Monthly Charges and taxes: $608.
Broker: Christopher Mathieson and Jennifer Regenstreich, JC DeNiro & Associates.
Is it possible to have too much space in New York? Our panelists were keen on this duplex in Williamsburg’s Gretsch Building, but it needs a buyer willing to pay big bucks for what’s essentially a huge, luxe one-bedroom.
Patrice A. Mack, Prudential Douglas Elliman
“The amenities are top-notch, and the space “is great for entertaining,” she says, but buyers could find two-bedroom apartments nearby for a similar price.
Her assessment: $1.1 million.
Highlyann Krasnow, The Developers Group
“The double-height ceiling is pretty dramatic, and the finishes are spectacular,” says Krasnow, who also enthused over the generous closets.
Her assessment: $1.05 million.
David Maundrell, Aptsandlofts.com
The Gretsch is a coveted building, allows Maundrell, but this wide-open space isn’t practical for family-oriented buyers. “They’ll have to build out the loft,” he says.
His assessment: $995,000.
Triple Assessment [NY Magazine - 3rd Item]
Extell: We'll Build Your Arena For You, Bruce
July 26, 2005, NY Times -- The real estate investment group battling with the developer Bruce Ratner for control of the Atlantic railyard near Downtown Brooklyn offered a compromise yesterday that it said would allow both parties to declare victory: The group would incorporate Mr. Ratner's plan to build a glass-walled basketball arena for the Nets into its project. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is scheduled to review the rival bids, and possibly select a winner, at its board meeting tomorrow. The investment group, led by Gary Barnett, president of Extell Development Company, has offered $150 million in cash for development rights at the 8.3-acre site, or three times as much as Mr. Ratner.
Knowing that the city and the state want to provide a home in Brooklyn for the Nets of the National Basketball Association, Mr. Barnett said yesterday that if he won, his company would resell a portion of the development rights for no additional cost to Mr. Ratner so that he could build the basketball arena, now expected to cost more than $500 million. But Mr. Ratner, who has worked for three years on a $3.5 billion proposal for the arena and 6,000 apartments at the railyard and on adjoining parcels of land, brushed off the proposal. He contends that the transit authority and the public will get far more from his project than the $50 million he bid, including a newly built railyard, affordable housing, transit station improvements and tax revenue from the arena.
Development Rival Offers Compromise [NY Times]
Blocking Ratner's Shot [NY Post]
Pols: Don't Take Either Offer [NY Daily News]
Tuesday Linkage
Red Hook Tree. Photo by Stupidfresh
Brooklyn Still Bidding for Interim U.N. HQ [Brooklyn Eagle]
U.N. Tenancy a Real Possibility [Brooklyn Papers]
Halt on 160 Imlay Condos...Again [Brooklyn Papers]
Last Flower Boxes from Brooklyn! [Apartment Therapy]
Dumbo Closing Dates [Curbed]
Suspicious Package in Downtown B'kln [WNBC]
The Leaning House of Brooklyn [7online]
July 25, 2005
South of Division Street: Part I
While Mrs. B and our eldest were grabbing some Z's on Saturday afternoon, we popped Brownstoner Jr. into the Baby Bjorn and set out to explore South South Williamsburg. Though we've been living in South Williamsburg, just north of the bridge, for the past two years, we had never gone on foot into the largely Hasidic neighborhood south of Division Street. Although we have been uniformly unimpressed with any buildings the Hasidic folks have had a hand in building themselves, there are a number of beautiful nineteenth-century structures, most of them worse for the wear, that still stand amid the squat, window-guarded facades that dominate the landscape. Throughout the week we'll be posting pictures from our walking tour, most of which took place on Bedford Avenue but included some forays down side streets.
Extell Bid for Yards Three Times Greater than FCR's
At least someone's paying attention! A reader alerted us to yesterday's Times article reporting that Extell Development's bid for the railyards is in fact $150 million--three times the amount Bruce Ratner submitted. The MTA board is supposed to decide the winner at its monthly meeting on Wednesday. Turns out, though, that both bids are shy of the value determined in a recent appraisal commissioned by the MTA. The contest is over the rights to an 8.4-acre parcel known as Vanderbilt Yards, a potentially valuable site opposite Atlantic Terminal, the city's third-largest transportation hub, with 10 subway lines and a station for the Long Island Rail Road. The railyard now forms a waterless moat between the surrounding neighborhoods, but, according to the Times, the residential project proposed for the site could form a vibrant bridge between the communities. Only time will tell.
Rival Bid Tops Ratner's [NY Times]
Brownstoner T-Shirts Hit the Market
Well, we finally got our act together and, like any good Brooklyn-based company, have made ourselves a t-shirt. With the help of our friend Matt's Fort Greene-based company Pigeon Extraordinary, we cranked out an initial batch of 40 or so shirts (roughly 10 per size), including some for the tiny tots in your life. We have no idea what the demand will be, but, like Doritos, if you keep crunchin', we'll make more. We've only got one color selection at this point--green and brown print on light blue background. Hit the link below to go to the store that Matt's also running for us. Full outsourcing--we love it! BTW, you'll need a paypal account to get get your hands on one of these babies.
Brownstoner T-Shirts for Sale [Brownstoner Store]
Asking Price Dropped $300,000 at 30 Cambridge Pl
We're not sure when the price was dropped on this classic 4-story Clinton Hill brownstone. When we first posted in at the end of May, we thought it compared favorably in quality to a similar house on Grand Avenue but couldn't understand the $555,000 difference in asking prices at the time. We're glad Warburg (or the seller) came to its senses and brought this down from the ridiculous ($1.95 million) to expensive-but-possible ($1.65 million). We suspect it'll go for more for between $1.5 million and $1.6 million, but they could get ask.
30 Cambridge Place [Warburg Realty] GMAP
Clinton Hill Face-Off [Brownstoner]
Today on the Reno Blog: Counters, Sink A Go
The marble counters with undermount sink are now in place. The hole for the spray handle was cut too close to the faucet, though, so it's covered up by the escutcheon. More intrigue on the Reno Blog.
Marble Counters Installed [Renovation Blog]
Recent Sales in Brooklyn
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $396,000
135 Eastern Parkway
Prewar one-bedroom, one-bath Art Deco co-op, 825 square feet with walk-in closet, hardwood floors, renovated windowed bath and windowed kitchen; Turner Towers building features doorman, elevator, renovated lobby, storage, laundry and gym. Maintenance $645, 29 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $395,000, on market four weeks. (Brokers: Bonnie Kirschenbaum and Howard Lev, Dwelling Quest)
CARROLL GARDENS $340,000
535 Clinton Street
Renovated one-bedroom, one-bath co-op in an eight-unit brick building, 600 square feet, with hardwood floors, gourmet kitchen, stainless-steel appliances, granite countertops and washer/dryer; building is pet-friendly and features basement storage. Maintenance $434.54, 50 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $359,000, on market three weeks. (Brokers: Robert Frye and Amy Krolak, Brooklyn Bridge Realty)
PARK SLOPE $498,180
393 Dean Street
Two-bedroom, two-bath floor-through condo, 874 square feet, with chef's kitchen, stainless-steel appliances, Jacuzzi, washer/dryer, central A/C, hardwood floors, private balcony and N/S exposures; Park Slope Manor building features elevator that opens into unit. Common charges $221, taxes $36. Asking price $498,180, on market three months. (Broker: The Corcoran Group)
SUNSET PARK $240,000
702 49th Street
Prewar three-bedroom, one-bath co-op in brick walkup, 765 square feet, with new windowed eat-in kitchen, window A/C and laundry in basement; building is pet-friendly. Maintenance $501, 40 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $245,000, on market 37 days. (Broker: Rodolfo Lucchesse, the Corcoran Group)
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Peeking Inside the Washington Condos
Someone named the Big Baldman sent blogger Set Speed some stealth photos of the development at 35 Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights. All we learn from the development's website is that Aguayo & Huebener have been chosen to market the property, so we'd love to hear any tidbits of info on the project. Actually, info might be too strong a word: we'd like to hear unsubstantiated gossip about the project.
35 Underhill [The Washington]
Sneak Peek at Washington Condos [Set Speed]
Homepage [The Washington Condo] GMAP
Massive Bed Stuy Condo Development On Way
We drove past this large lot on Myrtle and Nostrand last week and were able to find a hole in the fence to sneak a picture. When we inquired at a store across the street, the extremely up-on-his-real-estate proprietor informed us that this was going to be a huge condo development. Lots of 1,000-square-foot two bedrooms for $450 a foot, he informed us. When we started asking around among brokers, we were quickly directed to the website below which was created by the previous owners who were looking to flip the site with approved plans. A tip that everybody's favorite architect Scarano & Associates was behind the design led us to a treasure trove of info on what we've now learned is called Myrtle Place: 74,000 square feet of residential areas shared by 72 apartments, more than 14,000 square feet of commercial spaces, an underground parking garage for 42 cars and 2,500 square feet of medical offices. They have the brashness to claim that the site is located in Clinton Hill--probably the biggest reach we've heard yet. Large-scale luxury living in Bed Stuy is slated for November of 2006.
A rendering of the project on the jump...
Unique Development Opportunity [Bedfordcrown.com] GMAP
Myrtle Place [Scarano]
Continue reading "Massive Bed Stuy Condo Development On Way"
Savoring the Downtown Greenmarket
On Saturday, Blogger Blather from Brooklyn visited the Greenmarket in the plaza in front of Brooklyn Borough Hall and the Federal Courthouse:
This is a perfect, clear Saturday and season's gorgeous, delicious bounty is filling the plaza...The turkey farmer was sizzling samples of his homemade sausage on a grill. At a bakery stand, a tray of broken cookies was available for tasting. A farmer who specializes in fruit spread her homemade jam on crackers and artfully arranged them on a paper plate while a girl nearby set out slices of ripe, juicy peaches. It was impossible not to taste and buy, taste and buy, taste and buy.
Greenmarket Morning [Blather from Brooklyn]
Monday Links
Amidst the Brush. Photo by Gil Shapir
Once Derelict, Now Desireable [NY Times]
Two Scrappy Cousins in Red Hook [NY Times]
Street Cleaning in Brownstone Brooklyn [NY Times]
Brokers Want to Sell Fast, Not High [NY Post]
Updating Kitchen Cabinets [NY Post]
Reverend Al Marches for Bruce [NY Daily News]
Ultra Luxe Condos in Fort Greene [Set Speed]
145 Park Place [Daily Heights]
Clawfooty Goodness [Domicile]
July 22, 2005
Lovely Fort Greene B'stone Floorthrough for Rent
We haven't paid much attention to rentals up to now, but we also realize that most folks buying brownstones these days (ourselves included) can only swing it by renting out a floor or two for income. As owners who have put a lot of effort and expense into renovating our rental unit, we also know that we want to have a renter who will appreciate and respect the space that he/she's living in. So...going forward we want to invite similarly-minded owners to let us know when they are looking for a tenant. Hopefully by keeping it all in the Brownstoner family we can minimize the chances of ending up with a nightmare tenant.
The first rental that's come up is a freshly renovated floor-through apartment in a brownstone in central Fort Greene. It has 1.5 bedrooms, but it would be a pretty tight squeeze for two roommates who were not also bedmates. For $1,850/month, you get 850 square feet; a large new kitchen with all new appliances and butcher block counters; french doors and open layout; high ceilings, most with original detail; original hardwood floors (refinished); 2 exposures (6 windows; pets are welcome, on approval. There's an open house Sunday from 1-4pm. Email onadelphi@yahoo.com for details.
Floorplan on the jump...
Continue reading "Lovely Fort Greene B'stone Floorthrough for Rent"
McCarren Park Development 5
This one's on the North side of the park. Though you can't tell from this photo, the tall building on the left could end up having some nice spaces in it.
Open House Picks
Park Slope
147 Berkeley Place
Heights Berkeley
Sunday 1-4pm
$2,150,000
GMAP
Carroll Gardens
131 Summit Street
Irongate Properties
Saturday 12-2pm
$1,800,000
GMAP
South Slope
193 12th Street
Lisa Iulo, Esq.
Sunday 6-8pm
$729,000
GMAP
Bedford Stuyvesant
218 Putnam Avenue
Corcoran
Sunday 4-5pm
$549,000
GMAP
Today on the Reno Blog
Following up yesterday's unveiling of the garden-floor rental, today we show you the floors on the second floor with one coat of sealer on them. That and a look at the paint color we went with for the second floor today on the Reno Blog.
Second Floor Floors [Renovation Blog]
General Contractor Reviews
We would like to start assembling a more comprehensive library of service provider references than the ad hoc feedback that happens in the Forum. To that end, over the next several weeks, we will solicit your feedback on a variety of services that go into building, restoring and maintaining brownstones (and apartments for that matter). We want to hear the names of the companies/individuals you have used (you can stay anonymous), any contact info you have, how they performed, how were they priced, were they on time, pleasant to deal with? Finally, if you can rate them on a scale of 1 to 5 (with 5 being the best), that would be great too. Hopefully all of this can ultimately result in a comprehensive resource that we can all benefit from.
So we'll kick it off with General Contractors today. Who wants to go first?
Plans for the Strong Place Baptist Church?
We got an email this week from from a reader who checks Brownstoner once a week (that's it?) to look for news on her home nabe of Cobble Hill. She's particularly curious to find out what's going to happen with the Strong Place Baptist Church on the corner of Strong Place and Degraw Street. She heard from some neighbors that the original buyers had so much trouble with Landmarks that they sold it and the new owners plan to turn it into a school. Anyone have the skinny? GMAP
WSJ: Number of 'Workouts' on the Rise
July 21, 2005, Wall Street Journal -- Typically, mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures result from an unexpected financial crisis – a job loss or medical illness that leaves homeowners unable to pay the bills. But now experts are warning that homeowners who – thanks to low rates – have taken on more debt than they should have, face a growing risk of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Indeed, the first signs of it are starting to emerge. The number of homeowners seeking loan workouts reached 89,741 in the first quarter of 2005, compared with 155,495 for all of 2004, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Last month, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services in New York said the risk of defaults is growing on certain adjustable-rate mortgages. These loans initially can lower monthly mortgage payments, allowing some buyers to purchase homes they otherwise couldn't afford. Some borrowers may face increases in their monthly payments of 50% to 90% when the low-rate period ends, S&P warned, and homeowners who haven't planned carefully, or whose income proves insufficient, may default. "With some of the very unique and potentially risky loan products out there now, and the very high rate at which they're being used, it could turn into the full employment act for loan workout specialists," says Laurie Maggiano, deputy director of the office of single family asset management at HUD.
Workouts to Prevent Foreclosures [Wall Street Journal]
Friday Linkage
Berkeley Street, Park Slope. Photo by Gil Shapir
Marketing Your Own Home [Wall Street Journal]
Blackout in Fort Greene [NY Times]
Arena Vulnerable to Terrorists [NY Sun]
Competing Bids for Rail Yards [NY1]
NYPD's "Operation Trident" [NY1]
Blogger Booted [NY Post]
Requiem for a Dream House [Curbed]
House of the Day: Definitely Ditmas
Mary Kay's got a new listing in Ditmas that sure is purdy. The 15-room Victorian house has stained glass windows, a sun porch and large garden (and a private office with separate entrance). We're not loving the floors from what we can see, but that can be remedied. The listing says this is located in the Ditmas Park Landmark Historic between Ditmas Avenue and Dorchester Road. Sounds good enough to us, but we don't know the area well enough to specifically comment on the immediate area. The price tag of $1.34 million ain't cheap, but it seems like it's buying a lot more house in this case than in some other recent listings. Who's seen it?
Grand Victorian Home [Mary Kay Gallagher]
Brooklyn Celebrity Real Estate Roundup
We know some of you can't stand it when we go into star-fucking mode, so we'll apologize in advance. Sorry. Now to the two snippets of Brooklyn celebrity real estate. Adrian Grenier (top), the HBO star who's buying a place not far from us in Clinton Hill, gives us a glimpse of his renovation plans in this week's NY Magazine and it ain't pretty:
I just bought a place in Clinton Hill...My summer plan is to fix up my house. I have a bed already. I’d buy some Föm pillows ($75 at Brookstone) and an above-ground pool for the backyard ($140 at Sports Authority). The rest of the furniture, I’ll find on the street.
There goes the neighborhood. And in more tenuous news, the NY Observer is reporting that actress Rachel Wiesz (bottom) and director fiance Darren Aronofsky may be ditching their recently acquired $3.5 million East Village townhouse for a place in Brooklyn.
Star of Entourage Buying in CH [Brownstoner]
How Would Adrian Grenier Spend $9,000 [NY Magazine]
Manhattan Transfers - 2nd Item [NY Observer]
215 East 11th Street [Corcoran]
Reno Blog: Like a Phoenix Rising from the Ashes
The floors of the garden rental have gotten their first coat of poly and we're so friggin' psyched. To think we had no idea this parquet even existed when we bought the house! Lots of before and after pics today on the Reno Blog.
Rental Floors Get Poly'd [Renovation Blog]
Walking the Line (Between Brooklyn and Queens)
Forgotten NY explores the dividing line between Brooklyn and Queens. Between Jamaica Avenue and 95th Avenue, the border runs down the middle of a street called Eldert Lane. Houses on the West side of the street are in Brooklyn while houses on the East side are in Queens addresses. According to FNY, the other 16 streets that border the boroughs are Onderdonk Avenue, Flushing Avenue, Cypress Avenue, Menahan Street, St. Nicholas Avenue, Gates Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, Irving Avenue, Interborough Parkway, Robert Street, 95th Avenue, Drew Street, Liberty Avenue, 75th Street, Dumont Avenue and 78th Street.
City Line: Brooklyn-Queens [Forgotten NY]
Stepping Out in the Bathroom Tile Department
For those who thought the bathroom tiles we chose were too white and boring, the Times offers up some bolder ideas for jazzing up your inner sanctum.
Bold Bathroom Tiles [NY Times]
Newsday Discovers "Hot" Williamsburg
July 15, 2005, NY Newsday -- Williamsburg still rules Kings County as the 20-somethings' destination of choice. The drawback to being so hot for so long? Someone eventually gets burned. These days, one-bedrooms rent from $1,300 for a standard apartment to $1,900 for lofts with 13-foot ceilings, said Gea Elika, founder of citycrybs.com, an online housing marketplace. Higher rents mean more people sharing apartments, said Scott Elyanow, an agent for Citi Habitats Inc. who lives in the neighborhood. "At the end of the day, [people] just need a place to crash," he said. They are willing to share living space, he added, "and use the neighborhood as their playground." Danny Lockwood, 24, stumbled upon Williamsburg two years ago after moving from California to further his career as a percussionist. "Everybody is pretty youthful, there are good bars, and it's close to the city," Lockwood said. "It's young and seems to be entrepreneurial. It's kind of nice to be around that.".
Hip Pockets of the Apple [NY Newsday]
Thursday Morning Craig
Brooklyn Rooftop. Photo by Bob Sanderson
Carriage House + Garage $2.3 Million [Cobble Hill]
2-Family Classic Brownstone $1.65 Million [Clinton Hill]
3-Family + 2 Stores on Park $1.6 million [Park Slope]
4-Story 3-Family Brownstone $950K [Stuyvesant Heights]
4-Story 3-Family Brownstone $859K [Bedford Stuyvesant]
McCarren Park Development 3
This property on the eastern side of the park'll probably end up being our favorite, since it's starting with a nice old shell. The developer is knocking out the old smaller windows and creating large floor-to-ceiling loft windows. And who's in charge of marketing? Our friends at the Developers Group.
House of the Day: Crown Heights Original
We're digging this Crown Heights 4-story, 4-family brownstone. The recent renovation appears to have been very respectful of the lovely original details, though we don't understand why someone would renovate and keep the building configured as a 4-family. At least create an owner's duplex in this market. We also wish they'd done something about the white windows which detract significantly from the beauty of the facade. The house is on an extra-deep lot on a block that sounds stable. The valuation comes out to less than $300 a foot, but the asking price of $1.1 million seems pretty high on an absolute basis. We recall that only one-family houses in pristine historic shape have fetched over a million bucks on this side of the park. Are we wrong on that?
Sterling Place [Corcoran] GMAP
Al Fresco Dining Options in Brooklyn
Africa under the stars in Clinton Hill: Head to the back garden at Kush, just opened by chef Samuel Beket from the Ivory Coast, for pan-African cuisine with French influences. Feast on seafood maffé, an African stew, surrounded by wood carved animals and other faraway touches. Kush, 17 Putnam Ave., (718) 230-3471.
Miami or Prospect Heights?: See and be seen in the rooftop lounge at the JRG Fashion Cafe. Relax in a deck chair or at a romantic table for two above the urban hustle while sampling mango salmon, jerk chicken and other Caribbean-inspired fare. JRG Fashion Cafe, 177 Flatbush Ave., (718) 399-7079.
European charm in Cobble Hill: Escape into the hidden garden behind Sweet Melissa for a civilized afternoon tea complete with scones, finger sandwiches and assorted cookies. The ivy-covered walls feel like England, while the picture-perfect patisseries are worth a trip to Paris. Sweet Melissa, 276 Court St.; (718) 855-3410.
Park Slope pub grub: Revelers pack the side patio at The Gate, an Irish-style local pub with an only-in-Brooklyn twist: With no food on their menu - and 24 beers on tap - patrons are encouraged to order take-out from the plethora of nearby spots, from fish and chips to sushi. One high-end place, Stone Park Cafe, even delivers real plates and silverware. The Gate, 321 Fifth Ave., (718) 768-4329.
More on the jump...
Al Fresco Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
This Week on the Reno Blog: Opening Up the Arches
Last week the cinderblock was removed from three arches in the cellar. It opens up a 6-foot-wide gallery on the other side of the arches that will make a great workshop space, we think. That, and another look at the top-floor bathroom, this week on the Reno Blog.
Arches Revealed [Renovation Blog]
Brooklyn Salvager: Clawfoot Perfection
Moon River Chattel just got in a beautiful clawfoot tub (we'd guess either 60" or 66"). At $650 it's certainly not the cheapest one you can find, but the original hardware is gorgeous and the enamel looks to be in pretty good shape as well. Moon River Chattel is at 62 Grand Street in Williamsburg. For dimensions and haggling, call 718-388-1121.
Erection Visible at Old Yabby Site
After walling off the lot back in early April, it looks like the construction on the site of the old Yabby on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg is underway.
One Less Place to Drink Outdoors [Brownstoner]
NY Magazine Discovers Prospect Lefferts Gardens
NY Magazine--along with editors of trendy magazines--discovers the neighborhood of Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Noting the diversity of housing stock, the closeness of residents and the sub-million-dollar price tags, the weekly seems to agree with one transplanted Manhattanite who promises (threatens?) to import his many tastemaking friends to the nabe: "It'll be the next best thing."
Comment: Wow, what a edgy pioneer!
Excellent Prospects [NY Magazine]
Wednesday Links
Photo by Rannie Turingan
Rubbish in Park Slope [NY Daily News]
Straphangers Complain about Brooklyn Stations [NY1]
South Brooklyn Residents Battle Overdevelopment [NY1]
Real Estate Sales Slide in Bay Area [Inman News]
Lubing Up in Clinton Hill [Curbed]
Thrift Store Season [Apartment Therapy]
Feds Renew Push for Mortgage Simplification [Bankrate]
Stuff to Do [OTBKB]
July 19, 2005
McCarren Park Development 2
This one's on the Southeast corner of the park. The units appear to have double height living rooms with mezzanines at the back. These may turn out to be decent.
House of the Day: 1840's House on the Park
Here's an interesting one. An 1840's house on Prospect Park for only $1.165 million? Granted, it's not on the best side of the Park, but Windsor Terrace is no slum. Located at 85 Prospect Park Southwest (A&H gave this away in the file name of the photo!), the house has tons of old-school character from the outside. Which leaves us with the interior and the answer to our riddle: It looks like someone got a little carried away back in the early Eighties. Every photo is cropped below crown molding-level, suggesting there ain't any. Much of the flooring looks recent and the bathrooms, well, let's just say they will probably need to be redone. That said, we bet we could have this place looking pretty good for $1.5 million all in (a little salvage could go a long way here), which would be a steal for a parkside residence, no? We don't think this will last long.
Jewel on Prospect Park SW [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP
Dressing Up at Greene House Condos
Over at Set Speed, they think that Corcoran's recent "staging" at the Greene House Condos reeks of desperation. How much of that place is sold anyway?
Greene House Condos [Set Speed]
Follow Up on South 3rd Street Development
When we took a look at these two adjoining buildings a couple of weeks ago, we didn't know whether they were being perpetrated by the same developer or not. Our man on the street tells us that indeed they are. He also tells us that the developer is not The Developers Group (the firm is only lending its marketing genius to the project). This source also tells us that this is an example of a technique that many developers (especially those with close religious affiliations) have used to juice their FARs. Supposedly, at the beginning of a project, they get a religious organization to commit to occupy some or all of the space, which allows them to build more floor area than they otherwise would be allowed. Then, as the project is nearing completion, the organization backs out. But, guess what, the building is already built and the developer is laughing all the way to the bank. We have nothing but hearsay to back this up, so we'd like to hear from people who actually know what they're talking about. We'd also be interested to know whether this is what's going on at 15th Street in the South Slope as well.
More (Un)Hot South Third Street Action [Brownstoner]
Too Tall in Park Slope [Brownstoner]
WSJ: Housing Getting Even Less Affordable
July 14, 2005, Wall Street Journal -- After dropping almost steadily for three years, an important measure of housing affordability has reversed course, a development that could help put the brakes on prices in some of the nation's hottest markets. The average initial mortgage payment for home buyers climbed to $2,338 in the first quarter from $2,060 in the fourth quarter of 2004, according to the investment bank. That suggests many home buyers are likely to have an increasingly difficult time offsetting higher home prices by taking advantage of low interest rates and new mortgage products designed to lower their monthly payments. If this trend continues, some home buyers may have to stretch more or set their sights lower. Declining affordability also could help slow the torrid home-price appreciation in the nation's hottest home markets. The decline in affordability in some markets is supported by other recent data. In 41 out of 325 metro areas nationwide, home prices were so high during the first quarter that someone earning the median income couldn't afford a median-priced home based on traditional lending standards, according to an analysis prepared for The Wall Street Journal by consulting firm Economy.com.
Housing Gets Even Less Affordable [Wall Street Journal]
Underground Railroad Site Next to Hotel Project
Newyorkology has a follow up to last week's news that a development site on Duffield Street near Willoughby may be the future home of a Hilton and a Sheraton. The blog notes that the site is just across the street from 233 Duffield, which, according to signs in the window, may have housed slaves on the Underground Railroad. Other placards in the window support anti-development causes like the Brooklyn Coalition Against Urban Removal, something Newyorkology suggests could spell trouble for the hotel developers. We're not sure if this means the house has to be cleared to make way for the development or the owner could just end up being a giant pain in the ass to the developers.
Hilton, Sheraton Considering Downtown Bkln [Newyorkology] GMAP
Hotels for Downtown Brooklyn [Brooklyn Eagle]
Sharpton Backs Ratner's Plan for the Yards
July 19, 2005, NY Times -- The Rev. Al Sharpton said yesterday that he was backing a plan by Bruce C. Ratner, the developer, to build a canyon of skyscrapers and an arena for the Nets over railyards near Downtown Brooklyn. Mr. Sharpton, much as he did when he announced his support for the proposed Jets stadium on the West Side of Manhattan, argued that the building plan, designed by Frank Gehry, would provide needed jobs and lower-cost housing for largely poor and minority areas nearby. "We have real problems in the neighborhoods surrounding this project," Mr. Sharpton said in a statement released by his office. "We need a plan that is inviting to newcomers while avoiding the type of gentrification that pushes out the old while in the same breath romanticizing the old. "It's not about a new Brooklyn or an old Brooklyn; it's about a thriving Brooklyn where people of all colors have a chance for a better home, a better job and a better life."
Sharpton Backs Developer's Plan [NY Times]
Tuesday Photo of the Day
Red Hook Soccer Fields. Photo by Alif
July 18, 2005
McCarren Park Development of the Day
We hadn't taken a stroll around McCarren Park in a few months, so we were rather surprised to see how much development is going on around its perimeter. Given the building boom in the rest of Williamsburg (and to a lesser extent Greenpoint), we shouldn't have been too surprised. For the rest of the week, we'll feature one of these developments a day and hope to get some input from all of you about developers behind the projects, schedules, potential pricing, etc. The good news is that none of these projects (okay, the one on Thursday's pretty hideous but...) looks anywhere near as ugly as most of the stuff going up further South in the Burg. We're going to start out with one that looks recently completed but is, in our opinion, fairly uninspiring. Located on the South side of the park, this 4-story brick appears to have some residential tenants already but has a whole lot of retail space yet to be claimed.
House of the Day: Views in the Heights
We're not expecting this one to generate a lot of controversy (or to fall into most of our readers' budgets) but we couldn't let it pass unnoticed. The 8,000-square-foot palace has 12 apartments, killer views of Manhattan and one of the most amazing staircases we've seen in a Brooklyn residence. We would have appreciated it if the brokers could have included a little more info on the status of the rentals, without which it's impossible to comment on the value of the property. Has anyone had the good fortune to climb these stairs?
Columbia Heights [Corcoran]
Today on the Reno Blog: Kitchen Cabinet Doors
The doors were installed on the kitchen cabinets on Friday and they look as good as could be expected. We have to say that except for the difficulty of getting a human being on the other end of the line, the Ikea process was pretty smooth.
Ikea Cabinet Doors [Renovation Blog]
Just Sold in Brooklyn
EAST FLATBUSH $540,000
4206 Avenue J
Semidetached two-family home, 2,478 square feet, with a finished basement. Property has a three-bedroom, one-bath unit over a two-bedroom, one-bath unit; also features a private driveway and a garage. Asking price $599,000; home on market 51/2 months. (Broker: Tracey Real Estate)
MARINE PARK $515,000
1927 Gerritsen Avenue
One-family attached three-bedroom, one-bath brick duplex, measures 1,280 square feet with a formal dining room, modern kitchen and finished basement; property features rear deck and yard, private driveway and garage. Asking price $495,000, home on market 175 days. (Broker: Tracey Real Estate)
OLD MILL BASIN $410,000
1682 E. 46th Street
One-family semidetached three-bedroom one-plus-bath duplex, 1,216 square feet with new windows, new bath. Set on a 30-by-100 foot lot. Has parking for four cars. Asking price $429,000, on market 350 days. (Broker: Tracey Real Estate)
PARK SLOPE $528,770
393 Dean Street
Two-bedroom, two-bath floor-through condo, 874 square feet, with state-of-the-art kitchen, Jacuzzi, private balcony and N/S exposures. Park Slope Manor has an elevator that opens into the unit. Common charges $216, taxes $35. Asking price $528,770, on market 61/2 months. (Broker: Joyce Batarse, Jessica Buchman and Peter Noonan, the Corcoran Group)
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Waterfront Slide Show
The Gotham Gazette has thrown together a fun slideshow of the City's varied waterfront, including this shot of the Greenpoint Terminal Market. Located on the East River between Noble and West Streets, the deserted 20-acre complex is being reviewed by LPC for landmark status.
Waterfront Slide Show [Gotham Gazette]
Open Bidding For Yards Urged in Group Letter
July 18, 2005, NY Daily News -- Fearing a repeat of the West Side stadium mess in Manhattan, a coalition of advocacy groups is demanding that the MTA publicize bids for the Atlantic Ave. railyards. "We really want the MTA to get the value of the property," said Gene Russianoff of the Straphangers Campaign. The watchdog group signed off on a letter to the MTA last week along with 35 other groups. They want the cash-strapped agency to get top dollar for the site. Developer Bruce Ratner is trying to build a $3.5 billion basketball arena and 17 soaring skyscrapers over the yards and into Prospect Heights. Rival developer Gary Barnett of Extell Development Corp. is also trying to buy the 8.4-acre parcel for housing and retail. Both bids were submitted this month - but so far the MTA hasn't said how much the yards are worth or how much is being offered. MTA spokesman Brian Dolan declined to comment on the letter.
Update: According to the NY Observer, the MTA has sent both proposals back to the bidders for "clarification". This means it's unlikely the MTA board will vote at its upcoming July 27 meeting. The upshot: We won't know anything until the following meeting at the end of September.
Open Bidding Urged for Atlantic Avenue [NY Daily News]
More "Unavoidable Delays" [The Real Estate]
Open House Picks Follow-Up
If you made it to any of this weekend's Open House Picks, we'd love to hear your feedback back at Friday's original post.
Open House Picks [Brownstoner]
Monday Links
Place to Sit. Photo by Rion Nakaya
Clinton Hill: Racy Store, Ruffled Neighbors [NY Times]
Architect of Public Housing [NY Times]
Which Mortgage? A Complicated Tale [NY Times]
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Overhead Light Suggestions [NY Post]
U.N. Narrows Search for Space [Crain's]
Cachet Grows in Brooklyn [USA Today]
July 15, 2005
Final Images from Brownstoner's Vaca in VA
Pastoral scenes to kick off your weekend...
Open House Picks
Park Slope
417 4th Street
Warren Lewis
Sunday 12-2pm
$2,050,000
GMAP
Fort Greene
319 Vanderbilt Avenue
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,650,000
GMAP
Ditmas Park
304 East 18th Street
Corcoran
Sunday 12-2pm
$1,195,000
GMAP
Windsor Terrace
536 16th Street
Open Options RE
Saturday 12-2pm
$975,000
GMAP
Bedford Stuyvesant
623 Decatur Street
Brenton Realty
Saturday 12-3pm
$729,000
GMAP
What's Up with 327 President Street?
"Anyone know what's up with the brownstone at 327 President Street, between Smith and Hoyt?" A reader writes in to ask. "It's been abandoned since I moved in down the street about a year ago, and by the looks of the building, much longer. It's smack in the middle of some of Brooklyn's finest brownstones on a block where all the houses have extended front yards. Just seems a shame." GMAP
Work Officially Stopped on 15th Street
According to Curbed, a Stop Work Order signed by Borough Commissioner Susan Hinkson has been posted at 408 15th Street in the South Slope, putting a (temporary, at least) crimp in Radusky's plans to further blight the nabe.
Call Off the Human Chain [Curbed]
More Trouble at Radusky Site [Brownstoner]
An Excuse for Ladies in Pearls to Hit Coney Island
Arts group Creative Time is maintaining its Coney Island presence for a second year running with its Dreamland Artist Clubhouse, a combination social club, salon, and functioning sign shop. Open Thursday through Sunday until Labor Day, the Clubhouse is dedicated to resurrecting the art of the hand-painted sign, with contributions from a global roster of art world names. "We're a club in that we're joined by craft and high-fructose corn syrup at our feet," says organizing artist Steve Powers. The key to the Clubhouse's success so far according to Powers? "Ladies in pearls love having a legitimate excuse to go to Coney Island."
Dreamland Artist Clubhouse [Creative Time]
Price Cuts on 2 of This Week's Houses of the Day
Did anyone else notice that Aguayo & Huebener has dropped the price of Tuesday's House of the Day to $995,000 from $1,060,000? Oh, and looks like yesterday's Windsor Terrace house has been marked down $100K to $1,600,000 too.
House of the Day: Clinton Hill Brick [Brownstoner]
Enchanting Gem [Aguayo & Huebener]
House of the Day: A Lot for That Muffler [Brownstoner]
City Trying to Demolish Admiral's Row
The City's planned acquisition of 34 acres of the Brooklyn Navy Yard has put several of its most historic structures in peril. The seven remaining houses on Admiral's Row (partially visible from Flushing Avenue) are located on a 6-acre parcel that has until now been under Federal ownership and therefore not landmarked. The City, citing an estimated $25 million in restoration costs, wants to tear the historic structures down; the Historic Districts Council and the Fort Greene Association want them preserved. Orginally numbering 10 houses, Admiral's Row (aka Officer;s Row) was built between 1864 and 1901. Families lived there as recently as the 1970's. Check out the link below to read about the Officer's Row project launched by Corie Trancho and Alexis Robie (of Lex's Folly).
Historic Navy Houses Threatened [Brooklyn Eagle]
March 20, 2005 [Officersrow.org]
Friday Linkage
Laundry. Photo by Todd Gross
Sheraton, Hilton Hotels for Downtown B'kln [Brooklyn Eagle]
Greenpoint Gracefully Absorbs Hipsters [Brooklyn Eagle]
Walentas Illegally Dumping Asbestos [NY Daily News]
Mortgage Scheme Arrerst [NY Times]
Practical Floor Coverings [NY Times]
William Faulkner, Renovator [NY Times]
Beware of High Closing Costs [NY Daily News]
The Little Garden That Could [OTBKB]
Brooklyn Armagehry? [The Gutter]
July 14, 2005
More Salvaging South of the Mason-Dixon Line
While in Virginia last week, we visited a great salvage store at 122 East Main Street in Front Royal called Architectural Old House Parts. Run by a woman named Patricia Failmezger, the mid-sized store has a ton of good stuff for a whole lot less than you'd find in New York. We picked up a glass french door, a porcelain sink and several porcelain bathroom sconces. Well worth the visit.
Homepage [Oldhouseparts.net]
I Vermiculate, You Vermiculate, We All...
This vermiculation thing is really catching on! Blogger A Brooklyn Life noticed a sweet example on a recent trip to Montreal's Old Town.
Vermiculation [A Brooklyn Life]
Brooklyn Heights Walking Tour Friday at 3 pm
Beginning with the Brooklyn Historical Society's 1881 National Historic Landmark building, take a walk through the streets of Brooklyn Heights and visit sites that reflect its rich architectural heritage and the unique stories of New York's past, including the Brooklyn Heights Promenade (1950s), St. George Hotel (1885), and Plymouth Church of the Pilgrims (1849). Meet in BHS lobby, tour will last approximately 45 minutes. Free with admission, no pre-paid reservations necessary.
Calendar of Events [Brooklyn Historical Society]
House of the Day: A Lot For That Muffler
Some good friends of ours have one of these lovely rounded bay front houses in Windsor Terrace. Like this one a block away at 246 Windsor Place, it's incredibly charming and well-appointed. It is not, however, huge. They paid about a million bucks than three years ago; we'd thought similar houses in the area had appreciated to $1.3 or $1.4 million, so we were a little surprised to see that Douglas Elliman has this house listed for $1.7 million. Not a bad thing to say about it, but we'd have to think that this would be a record by a substantial margin if this goes near asking price. Maybe the locals can let us know if we're just behind the times on this one. It wouldn't be the first time we were wrong.
246 Windsor Place [Prudential Douglas Elliman] GMAP
Brownstone: A Little History
And we quote...In the period prior to the 1830's or so, most of the rowhouses being constructed in New York had either brick or wood facades. Alternatives such as marble existed, of course, but these were far too costly for most homeowners to consider, especially since the stone had to be cut by hand and transported long distances. With the growth of the new urban middle class came a desire for something more sophisticated in appearance than simple brick, and more durable than wood. Brownstone, a type of sandstone, was readily available from quarries located in New Jersey and Connecticut. A form of sedimentary rock which frequently contains fossilized footprints of prehistoric animals, it owed its unique dark brown color to high concentrations of iron, which turned color with exposure to water. Using barges, it could be shipped easily to New York, where it quickly became popular. In Brooklyn, brownstone houses could be found anywhere from Bedford Stuyvessant to Brooklyn Heights and Carroll Gardens. Houses themselves were not constructed of brownstone, but rather a veneer less than a foot thick was placed on the front of each home, which was actually constructed of brick. The mark of a good brownstone mason was his ability to cut and assemble the blocks of a facade so carefully that it almost appeared to be a single mass of stone.
Tidbits [Nero Wolfe]
U.S. Bubble May Not Play Out Like Japan's
July 12, 2005, Wall Street Journal Online -- If, as some analysts claim, the U.S. has a property bubble, does Japan's "lost decade" of economic misery provide a glimpse of what's in store? As in the U.S. today, property values in Japan were spurred by low interest rates. What's more, the Japanese run-up in real estate continued a couple of years after the stock market peaked at the end of 1989. In the U.S., house prices are still rising more than five years after the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit its peak in January 2000. But economists say there are significant differences. For a start, Japanese house prices jumped faster and higher. The average price of a 750-square-foot condominium in Tokyo rose to more than 70 million yen, or about $625,000 at current exchange rates, in 1991 from about 25 million yen in the early 1980s. After crashing in the early 1990s, the average house price has hovered around 40 million yen, or about $360,000, for the past 10 years. House-price inflation in major U.S. cities has been more moderate. The Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight's index of home prices rose 159% in the Los Angeles metropolitan area and 129% in the New York metro area during the 10-year period through March 2005.
Japan's Bubble Burst May Not Echo in U.S. [Real Estate Journal]
Front Page Forum: Best Deal on Rewiring?
We have a bunch of old light fixtures we've been accumulating that we need to get rewired asap. Not surprisingly, we want to find an affordable, reliable place to do the job. Suggestions?
Thanks,
B'stoner
Home Depot Firms Up Bed Stuy Opening
Home Depot announced yesterday that its newest Brooklyn store--at 569 Dekalb Avenue--will open on August 18. The company also released renderings for the 111,000-square-foot location in Bed Stuy, its fifth in the borough. Frankly, we're thrilled. We are not familiar with the existing architecture on the block so we can't comment on the aesthetic impact of the store, but from a selfish perspective the proximity to Clinton Hill is a huge score for us.
Home Depot Announcement [Brooklyn Eagle] GMAP
More Trouble at Radusky Site in South Slope
According to one of the residents actively fighting the illegal development being perpetrated at 408 15th Street, the pulling of permits by the DOB has not stopped activity at the site:
This morning we were startled by someone revving the engines of this huge excavator that is parked on the 408 15th Street site. The crew of workers arrived at the site to meet Verizon workers to begin moving the telephone poles from the lot. This after all the permits were pulled by the Dept. of Buildings back in May. Verizon reps. when confronted with the fact that they had been presented void permits, said they are not in the business of verifying whether permits are true or not. The contractors admitted that they are going to begin digging on Monday. You have to understand the law requires a 5 day notice before digging can begin. This is a hole 3 stories deep 100'x100' wide that is surrounded by 100+ year old row houses and a church.
Shameless. If anyone has contacts at the DOB, please alert them immediately.
Too Tall in Park Slope [Brownstoner]
Thursday Morning Craig
Flatbush Avenue. Photo by Frank Lynch
2-Family Brick $1.5 Million [Boerum Hill]
1-Family Detached Victorian $900K [Prospect Lefferts]
5-Family Bay Front Brick $799K [Crown Heights]
2-Family Victorian $769K [Ditmas Park]
1-Family + Store $750K [Williamsburg]
July 13, 2005
The Inspiration for Many a Bathroom Wall
It's called subway tile for a reason...
4th Avenue, Brooklyn [Travis Ruse]
Rescuing Old Homes Beam by Beam
In addition to selling the standard array of old building materials and fixtures, Virginia-based Salvagewrights also specializes in rescuing historic structures. We had the pleasure of accompanying owner Craig Jacobs to the site of a 5,000-square-foot clapboard house that he is in the process of dismantling and moving to the other side of the county. It was being moved to make way for an industrial park. Is anyone aware of instances of entire brownstones being saved and moved to another site in the New York?
Homepage [Salvagewrights.com]
House of the Day: South Slope Frame
We know we focus a lot on square footage around here--often too much, as our cool-headed critics occasionally point out. It's a helpful measure to put a house's price in perspective, but in the end a well laid-out 2,000-square-foot space can be much better than a poorly organized 3,000-square-foot one. Which is all a long way of introducing the fairly small house of the day, a 2-story plus English basement in the South Slope. The place has clearly just been reno'd, and while we can quibble on points of taste, the bottom line is that there aren't a lot of houses for under $800,000 in move-in condition out there, so this may make a lot of sense for some young couple. We are not intimately acquainted with the South Slope enough to guess where this is located from the photos, but we're hoping one of you can. Our favorite thing about the house? The grassy garden with the high wall of bountiful ivy. Anyone been inside?
Adorable Two Family Frame [Betancourt]
Today on the Reno Blog: Kitchen Cabinets
The kitchen on the second floor is hopefully only temporary--until we can afford to take over the entire parlor floor. So like many budget-conscious kitchen renovators, we went the Ikea route. We were very close to pulling the trigger on the red lacquer finish, but in the end made the safer choice of the dark brown wood Hallarum finish instead. We are splurging a bit on the counter, though, having it made out of some slabs of marble salvaged from an old theater in the West 40's.
Kitchen Cabinets [Renovation Blog]
It's Crazy in Copenhagen Too
We just got an email from a loyal Brownstoner who recently left Clinton Hill for Denmark. Unfortunately for her, she went out of the frying pan and into the fire:
The market is just as wild in Copenhagen as it is in New York. And everyone just says the same "This can absolutely NOT go on for any longer!" Half the people here are eagerly waiting for the market to crash. We went to an open house for a wreck last weekend and it looked like a block party!!! And it wasn't exactly cheap!
Kouun wo inorimasu, Julie!
Queens Getting Its Own Ratneresque Brouhaha
Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg announced a deal to turn a parking lot in Flushing into a flashy multi-use development to include 500 residential units, 350,000 square feet of retail space, a multi-screen movie house, a recreation center, restaurants, a 2,000-car underground parking garage and a 200-room hotel. On cue, several neighborhood groups rose up in protest. Of particular concern: the area's ability to absorb the increased traffic and parking demands.
Flushing Revamp Unveiled [NY Newsday]
$136 Million Brooklyn Water Project Awarded
July 13, 2005 -- Swedish construction company Skanska said Wednesday it has received a contract worth US$136 million (euro111 million) to construct an environmental project in New York. The order from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection will be included in bookings for the second quarter, the company said. Skanska will build the final phase of the Paerdegat Basin Water Quality Facility, aimed at improving water quality in Brooklyn, New York. The contract includes construction of new buildings and plant facilities. Skanska will also be responsible for installation of control systems, piping, valves and pumps. The contract requires wetland restoration for certain areas of Jamaica Bay. Site work will begin in July with expected contract duration of four years.
Skanska Gets $136M Construction Deal [Forbes]
Too Tall in Park Slope
July 12, 2005, Village Voice -- On a Saturday morning in April, neighbors on a quiet Brooklyn block on the southern edge of Park Slope looked into their backyards to see workmen erecting a construction fence on their properties. In brownstone Brooklyn this is the face of war: sneak attack by developers. One irate woman called her lawyer, who told her to call the cops, who promptly tossed the workers off the site. But it was a brief retreat. The developer quickly arrived, offering $3,000 in cash for the right to work on their properties. His goal, he said, was to start digging a big hole where a new building would rise on what had been a 100-by-100-foot parking lot on 15th Street between Seventh and Eighth avenues near Prospect Park...
Too Tall in Park Slope [Village Voice]
Wednesday Links
Taco Bell. Photo by Hugh Crawford
Landmarks Clears Way for Plaza Reno [NY Times]
110 Livingston Ready for Condos [NY Post]
Brooklyn Subway Bomb Hoax [NY Post]
Brooklyn Tree Counter [NY Daily News]
End of the Line for 505 Court [Curbed]
Mass Exodus in Dumbo [Set Speed]
Flying Walentas [The Real Estate]
Real Estate Hot for TV [Inman News]
July 12, 2005
Seen Better Days in Red Hook
Red Hook, Brooklyn. Welcome home, Lex!
Not Bushwick [Lex's Folly]
House of the Day: Clinton Hill Brick
Here's a lovely 1870's brick 2-family that Aguayo & Huebener currently has on the market for $1,060,000. We don't recognize it off hand and, as is their habit, A&H do not give an address, so we can't confirm whether this is Clinton Hill proper or "Clinton Hill East". It also looks like this is really a 3-story house (not 4 as advertised), as the basement apartment is about 75% below grade. Regardless, the place appears to have retained much of its original charm and this is certainly on the low end of the price spectrum for Clinton Hill these days. We don't know the square footage, but in general houses in Clinton Hill are selling for between $300,000 and $350,000 per floor. By those metrics, this is right in line even as a 3-story house. We expect whether this is a good deal or not hinges on the exact location.
Enchanting Gem [Aguayo & Huebener]
Salvager: Beautiful 5-Panel Doors
We saw these 5-panel doors on Craigslist last night and almost grabbed them for ourselves but the sizes aren't quite right. The seller has 10 of them, most with original hardware. They look perfect for brownstones though we think the price is a tad steep for a person-to-person sale. But if the hardware's nice it could be a fair price. The seller is replacing them with new doors. Ughh!
5-Panel Doors [Craigslist]
A Different Type of Renovation Blog
Fans of our Renovation blog will love the much sexier take on the process put together by the founders of Barcade in Brooklyn. The bar's homepage chronicles the efforts of several dissheveled brothers-in-arms to transform a huge one-story industrial space on Union Avenue in Williamsburg into a hip, arcade-themed watering hole. Not surprisingly, one of the partners seems to possess some decent web design chops as well.
Making of Barcade [BarcadeBrooklyn.com via Kottke]
Salvaging in Virginia: Gobble, Gobble
We managed to sneak off for a couple of salvage-oriented excursions last week. After several phone calls, we tracked down a wonderful guy named Craig who runs an architectural salvage company out of an old turkey farm in Orange, Virginia. He as a full range of items (doors, windows, etc.), though we were particularly impressed with his collection of wooden mantel pieces. We picked up some lovely old hinges--he's got bags and bags full. The company also specializes on moving and restoring historic homes, but more on that tomorrow.
Homepage [Salvagewrights.com]
Fifth Avenue: Brooklyn's Restaurant Row?
Is Fifth Avenue in Park Slope really the densest stretch of restaurants in Brooklyn? Let us know.
Counting Park Slope's Restaurants [Curbed]
Outer Borough Message Board [Chowhound]
Brooklyn, the Gum
According to blogger The Food Section, Italians can't get enough of this Brooklyn-brand gum. The one-track-minded boys over at Curbed see this as yet another sign of a bubble in our dear borough.
Brooklyn's Bubble, Now in Mint [Curbed]
LPC to Revisit Walentas Prop for Bank Building
July 11, 2005, Brooklyn Eagle -— David and Jed Walentas’s proposed development for the Independence Community Bank site at 130 Court St. in Cobble Hill is back on the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) agenda for a public hearing Tuesday, July 12. Originally scheduled for an April meeting agenda, the LPC held it over to await input from Community Board 6. As previously reported, which as previously reported, both Community Board 6 and the Cobble Hill Neighborhood Association are opposed to the project.
The bank intends to sell the property, which is in the Cobble Hill Historic District, to the Walentas’s firm, Two Trees Management Co., but retain a bank branch on the first floor. According to commission documents, the firm’s application is to demolish several additions plus a one-story separate store building in the parking lot, and construct a penthouse addition plus a new seven-story adjacent addition. The zoning is R6 for the property, which also bears the address of 195 Atlantic Ave.
Two Trees has described its addition as a contemporary brick and limestone apartment building with retail space on the ground floor. Plans also call for enlarging and converting (to residential use) the upper portion of the bank building. Within the two buildings there would be about 70 residential units. Architects at Beyer Blinder Belle in Manhattan are designing the proposed seven-story, 133,820-square foot adjacent building and the addition to the existing bank building.
In rejecting the proposal, CB 6 followed its Landmarks Subcommittee recommendation, stating that the project’s height, depth and design are “inconsistent with” and “not contributing to” the historic district. Specifically, the new addition’s 70-foot height exceeds the district’s 50-foot height limit.
Landmarks to Hear Walentas [Brooklyn Eagle]
Tuesday Photo of the Day
Prime Meats, Flatbush and Fifth. Photo by David F. Gallagher
Brownstoner Forum: Give a Little Bit
If you have a little time to kill this afternoon, consider a visit to the Brownstoner Forum where we have some recent questions about spiral stairs, floorplan layouts and window installations that have gone unanswered today. Thanks!
Forum [Brownstoner]
Appreciating Some Distinctly Rural Design
Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, the fact that we spent last week working from the remote reaches of rural Virginia was hopefully undetectable. Despite the slightly slower connection and the distraction of multiple children underfoot, we tried not to let pace of posts slow. We also found time for some local architectural appreciation. While there are plenty of grand old plantation houses in Rappahannock and Culpeper Counties, the most compelling structures to us are the simplest: The clean lines of an old barn or a one-room shack have a quiet elegance that wins us over every time.
Today on the Reno Blog: Bold Color for TV Room
We weren't sure how this color would work out when Mrs. B presented it to us a few weeks ago, but now that we see it on the walls of the tv room, we are digging it. It'll go perfectly with the vintage fuscia couch we insisted on buying.
Bold Color Choice [Renovation Blog]
Recent Sales in Brooklyn
PARK SLOPE $1,150,000
332 16th Street
104-year-old, 3-story wood-frame hose; dining area, renovated kitchen, den, tin ceilings, home office, wide-plank floors, 16-by-100ft. lot (multiple bids). (Broker: Warren Lewis)
DUMBO $955,000
85 Hudson Avenue
Two-bedroom, one-bath penthouse condo, 1,295 square feet, with dining room, gas fireplace, maple kitchen cabinets, granite countertops, stainless-steel appliances, floor-to-ceiling limestone tiles in bath, hardwood floors, new windows, L-shaped dining area, central A/C, security system and N/S/E/W exposures with skyline and river views from four separate terraces; building is pet-friendly and features glass-enclosed atrium. Common charges $430, taxes $25. Asking price $995,000, on market 90 days. (Brokers: Steven Gerber and Mort Goldstein, the Corcoran Group)
FORT GREENE $315,000
153 Clinton Avenue
Prewar one-bedroom, one-bath garden co-op, 700 square feet, with new kitchen with marble countertops and stainless-steel appliances, dishwasher, oversized windows and S/W exposures; building is pet-friendly and features storage, bike room, laundry and courtyard. Maintenance $356. Asking price $299,000, on market 39 days. (Broker: Rodolfo Lucchesse, the Corcoran Group)
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $526,000
230 Park Place
Prewar two-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 900 square feet, with hardwood floors and northern exposure; building features full-time doorman, elevator and laundry. Maintenance $834, 48 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $499,000, on market 146 days. (Brokers: Anita Culp and Lois Thompson, the Corcoran Group)
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Greenmarket a Buy Signal in Bushwick?
So, is the arrival of a green market in Bushwick one of those pivotal events in a neighborhood's evolution? We can't think of a better barometer of impending gentrification.
For a Scrappy Neighborhood, the Scent of Farm Fresh [NY Times]
Extell Bid "A Cudgel" to Force Ratner to Downsize
An article in today's Crain's makes the argument that the rival bid from Extell Development, while not very likely to win, may serve the purpose of forcing Bruce Ratner to whittle down the scale of his ambitious--and controversial--proposal. "The new plan really frames the choice in a compelling and challenging way," says Brad Lander, director of the Pratt Institute Center of Community and Environmental Development in Brooklyn. "There's something compelling about saying, `Let's not blow the neighborhood out of scale.' " The article also cites the architects behind the Extell plan, a Park Slope husband-and-wife architectural team named Cetra/Reddy. Anyone know anything about them?
New Brooklyn Proposal Faces Uphill Battle [Crain's]
Wall Street Journal Pumping Harlem
The Wall Street Journal highlights this 4-story, 4,000-square-foot brick house in Hamilton Heights this week. Owned for almost thirty years by Arthur Mitchell, a founder of the Dance Theater of Harlem, the 22-foot-wide pad was bought by a developer last year and upgraded before being put back on the market recently for $1.9 million. Someone at The Journal didn't check their facts though: Corcoran has it listed at $1,990,000. Eager beavers can check it out at an open house this Wednesday from 12-1:30pm.
Harlem Renaissaance [Wall Street Journal]
517 West 152nd Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Monday Linkage
North Brooklyn Twilight. Photo by Bluejake
Mayor Pursues Plans Outside Manhattan [NY Times]
Harlem Housing Woes on His Mind [NY Times]
When Buying on Impulse Pays Off [NY Times]
Coney Island Strutting Once More [NY Times]
Rail Trouble for MTA over $3B [NY Post]
What's a Gallery? [NY Post]
Brighton Beach Land Grab [NY Daily News]
Eating Fish from Brooklyn's Shores [NY Daily News]
BAM Celebrates Johnny Depp [Gothamist]
Front Page Forum: Marble Cutter/Counter Maker
Our kitchen cabinets were installed today, so we're ready to have the counters cut. As some readers may recall, we bought two large slabs of 2-inch 1 1/2 thick marble that came out of an old theater in the West 40's at Build It Green NYC a couple of months ago. So now we need a recommendation of someone who can come to the house to create the template, then go pick up the slabs in Queens and finally cut and finish them. Preferably this would all happen next week. Any ideas?
Open House Picks
Park Slope
134 Park Place
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 2-4pm
$2,650,000
GMAP
Park Slope
199 6th Avenue
Warren Lewis
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,975,000
GMAP
Clinton Hill
130 Washington Avenue
Betancourt
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,489,000
GMAP
Clinton Hill
77 St. James Place
Corcoran
Sunday 11:30-1pm
Tuesday 6-7pm
$1,325,000 GMAP
Props for the Stoner
We aren't exactly paying the mortgage around here with the site, so we have to survive on the occasional scrap of recognition that comes our way. So we were pleased to learn yesterday that Brownstoner is one of ten finalists in the category of the Most Innovative Media Sites in the 2005 Inman Innovator Awards. Also in the running are Curbed (Go Lock!), Property Grunt and several larger companies like New York Times Real Estate and Real Estate Journal. The winner will be announced on July 27 at the Inman conference in San Francisco.
Innovator Award Nominees [Inman]
Resources: Phil Watson's Vintage Lighting
Back in the Fall when we were still planning the renovation we let our excitement get the better of us an we went out and spent more money than we really could afford on a couple of beautiful lights from Phil Watson's Vintage Lighting. As we've discovered, picking lighting is very difficult. We've covered a lot of ground on the Internet getting a handle on all the options and out there and have to say that this is our favorite site by far.
Nickel Plated Wall Lights [PW Vintage Lighting]
How Anti-Ratner Groups Got Extell On Board
July 8, 2005, NY Daily News -- Historic brownstones! Prospect Park! Brooklyn Museum! That's how a band of Prospect Heights activists tried to attract rival developers to bid for the downtown Brooklyn site where Bruce Ratner wants to build a $3.5 billion arena and housing complex - and it worked. The group along with Develop - Don't Destroy Brooklyn stuffed more than 100 envelopes with photos and fancy cover letters trying to court developers from Illinois to Singapore. The Manhattan-based Extell Development Co. took the bait and put in a last-minute surprise bid yesterday for the 8.4 acre stretch of railyard along Atlantic Ave. The MTA put out a request for proposals for the site in May and bids were due by Wednesday. Ratner wants to build an arena and 17 soaring skyscrapers - the tallest reaching 620 feet high - along the yards and extending into Prospect Heights. The Extell plan is a much smaller and does not involve taking private land. "We went through all the developers and read about the kind of things they worked on," Hagan said about choosing who to target.
Continued on the Jump...
A Coney Island Dream [NY Daily News]
Continue reading "How Anti-Ratner Groups Got Extell On Board"
Develop Don't Destroy Comes to City Hall
Once again, Set Speed is out in front of the pack covering the Atlantic Yards drama. Here he captures the press conference yesterday at one o'clock to trumpet the Extell bid. Click through to see an action photo of Bloomberg and Develop Don't Destroy's Dan Goldstein.
1 pm Press Conference [Set Speed]
Friday Morning Craig
Locked. Photo by Mad Orange Fools
1-Family Reno'd Townhouse $1.7 Million [Windsor Terrace]
4-Family 4-Story $1.4 Million [Carroll Gardens]
6-Family Brick Vacant $785K [Crown Heights]
2-Family 4-Story Brownstone $670K [Bed Stuy]
2-Family Brownstone Orig Details $600K [Bed Stuy]
House of the Day: Over the Clinton Hill Border
This Bed Stuy baby's a beauty but it's pushing the envelope price-wise. If you're a believer in the long-term Bed Stuy story, though, this could be a wonderful place to grow old in. To be fair, the 5-story, 5,700-square-foot mansion is less than half a block from Clinton Hill, where this would probably cost another $500K. It's hard to tell from the limited photos what the interiors are like, though the kitchen looks recently remodeled and the listing claims lots of original details. Anyone seen it yet
Gates Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP
Lying Fallow on South 3rd
Anyone know what the story is with this development on South 3rd and Berry that's sat untouched an uninhabited for the past several months. Judging from the ironwork and choice of brick, it's clearly a Hasidic job but we wonder if they ran into problems with the Buildings Department or something...
Condos for Coney
July 7, 2005, NY Daily News -- Farewell, my Coney Island baby, hello, my Coney Island condos. A developer is plowing ahead with plans to build Ocean Dreams, a $56 million seashore condominium project with more than 300 apartments along the Coney Island Boardwalk. The three seven-story luxury buildings will have doormen, balconies with ocean views and two swimming pools. "This will be the first development in Coney Island in a long time," said developer David Weisz. The condos - if approved by the city - will go up in a school bus parking lot between W. 35th and W. 37th Sts. and between Surf Ave. and the Boardwalk. The condo development would be nestled among the upscale Sea Gate neighborhood, a Jewish Community Council of Greater Coney Island complex and sprawling public housing projects..
A Coney Island Dream [NY Daily News]
Grave Sitch for Red Hook Graving Dock
We didn't get around to reading the City section until Wednesday this week and so we're a little late to the draw on highlighting this article on the historic graving dock in Red Hook being threatened by Ikea's plans for a parking lot. To begin building over the historic structure, the retailer needs to obtain permits from the Army Corps of Engineers and the State Department of Environmental Conservation. A coalition of 11 preservation and maritime groups called Save the Graving Dock has come together over the past year to try to block the plans, going so far as to commission two alternative designs. The preservationist organization says it does not oppose the store, but it contends that the dock has historic significance and is crucial to the harbor's future, especially since only two other comparable docks exist in the New York region. In January, the Preservation League of New York State included the dock on its "Seven to Save" list of threatened structures. We haven't seen the alternative proposals but we don't think Ikea's "compromise" of saving 20% of the dock as part of its waterfront park cuts the mustard.
Sailing Into History [NY Times]
DDD Finds White Knight at Eleventh Hour
After months of talk, anti-Ratner group Develop Don't Destroy scored its biggest coup to date when Extell Development Company submitted a rival bid for the Atlantic Rail Yards just in time to beat Wednesday's 5 p.m. deadline. Although the details are fuzzy, one can safely assume it will not include any tilting towers! While there are plenty of ways to improve on the Ratner plan, the group's idealism may put them at a disadvantage in the bidding, as the memo sent out yesterday from Develop Don't Destroy to Historic Fort Greene members (via Set Speed) points out:
Keep in mind that Extell has been in a difficult position of having to bid a high number to try to win, while building low enough to satisfy the community. They have essentially been caught between a rock and a hard place: the MTA suggests an FAR (floor to area ratio) of 10 (Ratner is using about 8.9), while the Community wants an FAR of 6.0. So they are likely being pulled in 2 directions... thanks for nothing MTA!
Extell proposes the creation of a corridor of apartment buildings undulating over the yards, with shops, landscaped walkways, recreation areas and 1,940 housing units for roughly 4,800 people. According to the NY Times, there are a total of 11 buildings ranging from 4 to 28 stories tall. (By contrast, Ratner has proposed 17 Gehry-designed buildings with 6,000 residential units housing roughly 15,000 people and 1.9 million square feet of office space In addition.) While this sounds to us like a meaningful difference in size, it's still on a much larger scale than the existing neighborhood so we have a hard time believing that the vocal opponents of Ratner's plan as well as those brownstone owners nearby are going to be exactly thrilled by this one either. Sounds like it will also be a little bit of Houston in Brooklyn.
The one thing we feel strongly about is that the area does need a master plan. There are aspects to Gehry's design which are compelling in our opinion, but others we could do without. If Extell can manage to win the bid while creating a viable plan that's more in scale with the neighborhood, we're all ears.
Brooklyn Plan Draws Rival Bid [NY Times]
Jump Ball in Brooklyn [NY Post]
Nets Face Competing Bid [NY Newsday]
Surprise Competing Bid for Rail Yards [NY1]
11th Hour Heroics [Set Speed]
Home Page [Develop Don't Destroy]
Thursday Links
Nathan's, Coney Island. Photo by Rion Nakaya
Brooklynites Speak Up About Development [NY Times]
The Mystery of the Tunnels [NY Times]
For a Maligned Line, a Minor Victory [NY Times]
Countertops with Character [NY Times]
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Love Con in Rent Swindle [NY Post]
Today on the Reno Blog: Poly Test Runs
With most of the floors sanded, we started putting a little poly in patches to test what the finished floors would look like. The result: No stain for us. Check it.
Testing the Poly [Renovation Blog]
More (Un)Hot South Third Street Action
Like a hormone-riddled teenager, South Third street is sprouting developments like a bunch of bad zits. This one's going up behind the Developers Group project between Bedford and Berry. It's sure to be a winner!
342 Bedford Near Completion, Still Underwhelming
Here's a shot of the the development at 342 Bedford at South 3rd Street in Williamsburg. The Developers Group has their banner up on the side of the building but still no mention on their website. As we've mentioned before, this place has nothing special to recommend it, but for some reason we like the fact that they mixed it up a little when picking brick color. It reminds us a bit of some of those postwar apartment buildings on the Upper East Side with funny brick colors. There was one on Madison and 64th or 65th that caused a tempest in a tea pot a few months ago when it decided to change its blue(?) bricks to red, wasn't there?
Developments [Developers Group]
Follow Up on East Tenth Street: Renwick Triangle
On the advice of a reader, we consulted Charles Lockwood's bible Bricks & Brownstone to get the scoop on the East 10th Street house we featured last week. As suspected, it turns out the house and its neighbors were built a good deal earlier than 1899--between 1859 and 1861 to be precise. Lockwood devotes considerable verbiage to the group of houses in his Wast Village walking tour:
Next to the Stuyvesant Fish house is the "Renwick Triangle", at Nos. 23-35 Stuyvesant Street and Nos. 114-128 East 10th Street. These Anglo-Italianate row houses are attributed to James Renwick Jr., who is best known as the architect of the Smithsonian Institution's "Castle" on The Mall in Washington D.C. These row houses were some of the last single-family homes built in the neighborhood, and they have always been among the most sought after properties in the East Village.
So there you have it.
Close Up on 128 East 10th Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
Vermiculation Abounds [Brownstoner]
Flatbush Reformed Church Parsonage
While perusing the archives of Forgotten NY, we came across this photo of the Flatbush Reformed Church Parsonage. It's a looker, to be sure, but we wish there'd been a little more info on it. A Google search turns up one reference to the Flatbush Dutch Reformed Church at 890 Flatbush Avenue, originally constructed in 1654 by order of Peter Stuyvesant. If anything, though, we suspect that is the church that may have once sat alongside the parsonnage.
Lanes of Mid Brooklyn [Forgotten NY]
Historical Buildings [Brooklyn Online]
The Un-Ratner: A Tribute
July 5, 2005, NY Daily News -- When Mayor Bloomberg, developer Bruce Ratner and a gaggle of civic and community leaders crowded onto a podium last week to sign a community benefits agreement connected with Ratner's proposed sports arena and housing complex in Brooklyn, one key player was missing. One of Brooklyn's unsung civic heroes, 59-year-old Bilal Muhammad, unexpectedly died a few days before the signing ceremony.
Muhammad belonged on the stage with the dignitaries and politicians. He did as much as any of them - and far more than most - to spur an economic renaissance over the past decade that turned Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights from troubled areas into three of the city's hottest neighborhoods.
(continued on the jump)
Wednesday Photo of the Day
Coney Island Boardwalk. Photo by Eliot Shepard
Today on the Reno Blog: Painting Underway
Visit the Reno Blog today to get your first good look at some of the colors we've picked for the bedrooms. The rooms on the top floor got their first coat at the end of last week. Let us know what you think.
First Paint [Renovation Blog]
HOTD: Rip-Off Under the Gowanus Expressway
If last Wednesday's small brick house on Bergen Street in Park Slope was overpriced at $2.15 million, this place in Carroll Gardens (barely) is a joke. It also makes the Clinton Hill carriage house we discussed last Monday look like a bargain. Though marketed as a carriage house, this building which is asking an astounding $1.995 million, retains none of the charm that one would accompany such a description. Besides a solid looking old cornice, just about all original detail appears to have been purged, with a rather unappealing contemporary aesthetic put in its place. The listing says that there are some buildable air rights, which just might give you enough height to watch the traffic go by on the nearby Gowanus Expressway. Get real.
Carroll Gardens Carriage House [Piazza Realty] GMAP
Removing Hard-to-Remove Linoleum Remnants
Our contractor has not been able to get these bits of old linoleum off the wood floor in one corner of what will be our living room. Big bummer. Anyone have any special tips? We not thrilled with living with this crap on the floor or the alternative of replacing the floor. There has to be some secret technique...
Even A-listers Have Brownstone Troubles
In the latest issue of Time Out NY, we learn that even wealthy movie stars have brownstone horror stories:
Having moved her brood from a cramped Manhattan apartment to a cozy brownstone in her home borough of Brooklyn, Connelly is also well acquainted--despite her presumably hefty budget--with the hell that is Gotham real estate..."Right after we moved in, the toilets started overflowing out of the tops of the tanks. Then it gets even weireder: We took a trip to Scotland, and the minute we get off the plane, there are all these voice messages from our alarm company saying the fire department is at our house. We later found out that something happened on the fifth floor of the building, and water was gushing everywhere--through the ceiling, down the walls...By the end of it, there was a foot of water in our kitchen."
We're not sure the "cozy" description is terribly apt, but, man, what a bummer!
Brooklyn's Hottest Mom [Time Out NY]
Gehry & Ratner Show Their Cards
July 5, 2005, NY Times -- The massive building plan surrounding a new Nets arena east of Downtown Brooklyn will include a ridge of a half-dozen skyscrapers as high as 60 stories sweeping down Atlantic Avenue, along with four towers circling the basketball arena, according to new designs completed by the developer Bruce C. Ratner and the architect Frank Gehry. The project, the largest proposed outside Manhattan in decades, would include much more housing than originally announced in 2003, growing to about 6,000 units from 4,500, according to a plan made available to The New York Times. But the real impact would be in the size and density of the buildings, which are taller and bulkier than once envisioned. With 17 buildings, many of them soaring 40 to 50 stories, the project would forever transform the borough and its often-intimate landscape, creating a dense urban skyline reminiscent of Houston or Dallas. The project would be built in phases, starting with the blocks around the arena, then the apartment complexes along Dean Street at the Vanderbilt Avenue end, and finally the northern stretch of housing along Atlantic Avenue. The arena is planned to open for the 2008-9 basketball season, said James P. Stuckey, an executive vice president at Forest City Ratner Companies, with the entire project completed as soon as 2011. The project will come before the Metropolitan Transportation Authority tomorrow as Mr. Ratner makes a formal proposal to buy and develop the Atlantic Avenue railyards.
Comment: We have to admit that these renderings are pretty exciting. Over the past several months, as the debate over the project has intensified, we found our sympathies leaning towards the anti-Ratner camp. We're extremely uncomfortable with the concept of eminent domain and if our brownstone happened to be directly affected by the plan we're sure we wouldn't be pleased. But it's hard to look at Gehry's renderings and not get swept up. We couldn't give a rat's ass about having a local basketball team, but being at the center of arguably the most significant urban development effort in a generation (or more) is starting to outweigh our earlier reservations. Let's hope that it's more than a giant P.R. stunt to close the deal. Enough people's lives are being uprooted that this better end up being something special. From the looks of it, it just may be.
Instant Skyline Added to Brooklyn Arena Plan [NY Times]
An Appraisal [NY Times]
Streetscapes: Henderson Place on the UES
By chance, two of our classmates growing up lived on Henderson Place, a private dead-end lane on East 86th Street between York and East End Avenues. What sticks out in our minds from 25 years ago is their diminutive scale (we weren't too concerned with architectural detail back then). Built in the early 1880's by the architects Lamb & Rich, the Queen-Anne style houses have the added bonus of being on a private alley that gives the owners an unheard of right in this city--reserved street parking.
A Small Enclave Survives [NY Times]
Tuesday Links
Colorful Window. Photo by Brownstoner.
A Room With No View [NY Times]
From Upper West Side to Brooklyn [NY Times]
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Just Sold! [NY Post]
Moving a House Not So Easy [Bankrate]
7 Train Expansion? [Gothamist]
Scarano Project in Park Slope [Set Speed]
Brutal Mugging in Sheepshead Bay [7 Online]
July 1, 2005
Happy Fourth of July
Well, folks, it doesn't look like there are a whole lot of open houses this weekend--apparently the brokers have done so well in this bull market that they'll all be at their beach houses. We're heading out for a few days of rustic living at Mrs. B's family's farm in Virginia and will be back in business on Tuesday. Enjoy.
Brownstoner
Luxury Conversion: 360 Furman, It Is Your Destiny
The 12-story, 960,000-square-foot industrial building at 360 Furman Street on the Brooklyn Heights waterfront is on its way to fulfilling its inevitable destiny as, you guessed it, luxury condos. In addition to its 14-foot ceilings, massive pillars and large windows, the building will offer its well-heeled residents a 500-space attended parking facility and 60,0000 square feet of retail to browse. The developer, R.A.L. Companies & Affiliates, has stated its intention to preserve the character of the building. Prices are expected to run from $500,000 for lower-floor units facing Furman up to $5.5 million for duplex pads overlooking the water.
Inside 360 Furman [Brooklyn Eagle] GMAP
Vermiculation Abounds on East 10th Street
On most of the brownstones on East 10th, including #128, are these designs which remind us of the vermiculation on the Williamsburg Art & Historical Society building which was built is 1867. Historians out there, does that help narrow down the date when 128 East 10th Street was built?
Close-Up on 128 East 10th Street
We found ourselves pushing a baby carriage with a few minutes to kill in the East Village last weekend--luckily we had our camera on us. The first block we strolled down was East 10th Street where we paused at the intersection of 10th and Stuyvesant just before Second Avenue. Fittingly, this house actually has two addresses--128 East 10th Street and 37 Stuyvesant Street. We've always loved this corner house with its ivy and bay windows. It truly feels out of another era--more so than most old brownstones. According to Property Shark, the building dates to 1900, though the chap emerging from the basement apartment while we were taking pictures thought it was built considerably earlier than that. We love The Shark, but it doesn't always get the date right. Anyone know for sure? GMAP
AT Tour of Fort Greene Studio
Apartment Therapy gave readers a tour yesterday of a woman named Rose's studio apartment in a Fort Greene brownstone. There's nothing particularly remarkable about the apartment or the interior design, but if you're as much of a voyeur as we are, you're sure to enjoy yourself.
A Studio Grows in Brooklyn [Apartment Therapy]
Friday Links
Vanderbilt Avenue (Prospect Heights). Photo by Frank Lynch.
Girls Just Want a Bargain Apartment [NY Times]
Buyouts Versus the Holdouts [NY Times]
Inspiring Chandeliers [NY Times]
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Manhattan Prices Continue to Rise [NY Post]
Landmark Status for Queens Bank Bldg [NY Daily News]
Rockaway Beach Boardwalk [NY Daily News]
Big Crime Drop in East New York [NY Newsday]
Toolbelt Diva Comes to Brooklyn [Brooklyn Eagle]
Lead Paint Dust 68 Montague Reno [Brooklyn Eagle]
Stalking Paul Auster [Curbed]
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Manna
added November 24, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Piattini Ristorante
added November 23, 2009 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Le Barricou
added November 20, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Der Schwarze Kölner
added November 19, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Oak Wine Bar & Café
added November 18, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Mr. Wonton
added November 17, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Casa Rosa
added November 16, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Cousin John's Café & Bakery
added November 13, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Elote
added November 12, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Miracle Grill
added November 11, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope