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February 1, 2007

Fourth Avenue Barnstorm: Sky's the Limit

mao
Fourth Avenue is poised to get another very large building that could rival the size of the ones Leviev Boymelgreen has been throwing up. The Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights have been playing Sherlock Holmes again and discovered that one developer, Gregory Rigas, has been quietly amassing a cluster of seven properties between Prospect and 16th Street, including an auto repair shop, a defunct gas station and and restaurant supply store. Some of these have already been, or are in the process of being, demolished. Rigas won't win any neighbor-of-the-year awards for the demo job at 570-572 Fourth Avenue, as this this YouTube video shows. Plans have already been filed for a nine-story, 120-foot-high building with a total of 49 units. All in, 111,451 square feet of — brace yourself — Bricolage design. Doh!
Wrap-Around Development [CCGH]




Posted by Brownstoner at 9:01 AM | Comments (17)
Categories: Brooklyn, Development, Real Estate, South Slope

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There is a building on 5th Ave betw 15th and 16th, next to Domino's Pizza, that was demo'd. Does anyone know how tall the new building will be?

Also the montrosity on 16th betw 4th and 5th is now getting a cornice. I am relieved about that, I'll take anything I can get from that ugly box, since I have to look at it every day.

Posted by: there goes my view at February 1, 2007 9:46 AM

That corner is in need of development and I can't imagine any sort of "out of context" arguments. The intersection of 4th and Prospect Expressway, is dirty, loud, busy, and just miserable. I used to live down the block on 4th between 19 and 20th and the noise from traffic lining up in the morning to turn into the highways (BQE and Prospect Expressway) made sleeping in virtually impossible. Then again i was paying less than a grand. I wonder who'd be interested in paying big money to live so close to all that grime and noise.

Posted by: Big D at February 1, 2007 10:44 AM

Agreed...LOUSY location. Another Highpoint Condos situation again, only larger?

More over, the worry is the players involved (Rigas and Radusky) and they sloppy start the dynamic duo has done with illegal mechanical demo, working against SWOs, working w/o permits, etc. Now, if only MMG were involved ;)

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at February 1, 2007 11:24 AM

The more midrise construction on 4th Ave, which is ideally suited to increased density, the cheaper apartments prices in Brooklyn will eventually be. I wish they would build these buildings to be more attractive, but I have no idea how one would legislate such thing without creating an impossible bureaucracy. You would think that developers would realize that decent design makes for more valuable properties, but apparently not.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 12:24 PM

Agree, what a horrible horrible location, right on the tangle of onramps to Gowanus/BQE...to cross the street out your own front door will involve taking your life in your hands...

Posted by: Brenda fromFlatbush at February 1, 2007 1:16 PM

"The more midrise construction on 4th Ave, which is ideally suited to increased density, the cheaper apartments prices in Brooklyn will eventually be."

Anon 12:24pm, can you explain this to me? How are MORE luxury condos (which these are slated to be, or if the market's shit, then luxury rentals) going to lower rents in the Boro?

With less affordable units out there, prices will go up, not down...not unless there's some mass exodus from the Boro I don't know about.

Please explain...

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at February 1, 2007 1:18 PM

expain--> more supply means landlords or developers have to be more competitive pricewise to rent or sell.

And Brenda - I think you're visualizing 3rd Avenue not 4th Avenue with the ramps to highway.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 2:01 PM

"more supply means landlords or developers have to be more competitive pricewise to rent or sell."

Not currently they aren't...and no sign of stopping.

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at February 1, 2007 2:11 PM

Yeah, I'm really going to miss the abandoned gas station, the restaurant supply store that always dragged its wares out on the sidewalk as if to attract impulse pizza oven buyers, and the creepy old men in the filthy old vacuum repair shop who are always there staring out at me when I pass by,

Posted by: dave at February 1, 2007 2:47 PM

No one said the site wasn't a sight...it's just what might be there...

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at February 1, 2007 3:42 PM

"what might be there..."

What, like a White Castle?

Count your blessings that it's not that bad, for those daydreams must, to be realistic, be a continuum of all things possible.

And, the less desireable the location, the less the likelihood that things would be anything other than the less desireable end of that possibilities continuum.

8/

Posted by: slopetangent at February 1, 2007 3:48 PM

Yes, a tall 12 story "white" castle.

Posted by: lostinbrooklyn at February 1, 2007 4:45 PM

"more supply means landlords or developers have to be more competitive pricewise to rent or sell."

"Not currently they aren't...and no sign of stopping."

Because the crunch has not come yet -- just wait. The history of Harlem in instructive:

With the construction of the els, urbanized development occurred very rapidly, with townhouses, apartments, and tenements springing up practically overnight. Developers anticipated that the planned Lexington Avenue subway would ease transportation to lower Manhattan, and feared that new housing regulations would be enacted in 1901, so they rushed to complete as many new buildings as possible before these came into force.[4] Early entrepreneurs had grandiose schemes for Harlem: Polo was actually played at the original Polo Grounds (later to become home of the New York Giants baseball team) and Oscar Hammerstein I opened the Harlem Opera House on East 125th Street in 1889. In 1893, Harlem Monthly Magazine wrote that "it is evident to the most superficial observer that the centre of fashion, wealth, culture, and intelligence, must, in the near future, be found in the ancient and honorable village of Harlem."

However, the construction glut and a delay in the building of the subway led to a fall in real estate prices which attracted Eastern European Jews to Harlem in large numbers, reaching a peak of 150,000 in 1917.

--Wikipedia

Posted by: Anonymous at February 1, 2007 5:01 PM

So as it is written, so shall it be done, sire:
http://www.cedmagic.com/featured/tolkien/rotk-1-1707-barad-dur.html

Hee. Couldn't resist.

Posted by: slopetangent at February 1, 2007 5:05 PM

I don't really hate development on 16th---it is still not the nicest street in the neighborhood but before, it was worse. It's actually not that as noizy as people whould think, but half of the houses on the street are very ugly and there are always garbages and people who search into other houses garbages on the street.

The thing is, because of the booming of the neighborhood, the landloads are already being too bullish about rent. People are started to pay almost $2000 for one bedroom on the street betwn 3rd and 4th av--I saw a newly renovated one bedroom condo are in market for mid-late $400K. I don't know what's gonna be build after the dimolition and how much they are planning to sell---believe me, the place is not luxe at all!!

Posted by: 16 duweller at February 2, 2007 5:55 PM

I don't really hate development on 16th---it is still not the nicest street in the neighborhood but before, it was worse. It's actually not that as noizy as people whould think, but half of the houses on the street are very ugly and there are always garbages and people who search into other houses garbages on the street.

The thing is, because of the booming of the neighborhood, the landloads are already being too bullish about rent. People are started to pay almost $2000 for one bedroom on the street betwn 3rd and 4th av--I saw a newly renovated one bedroom condo are in market for mid-late $400K. I don't know what's gonna be build after the dimolition and how much they are planning to sell---believe me, the place is not luxe at all!!

Posted by: 16 dweller at February 2, 2007 5:56 PM

For "There goes my view" and anyone else interested.
I spoke to the Developer at the site next to the Domino's.
He seemed nice enough and told me that he was building 5 story condo's with 1rst floor Retail.
10 like that would be better than 1 Katan shit box (16th street eye sore/Death trap)

Posted by: QuestionsMan at February 3, 2007 8:59 PM

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