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February 20, 2007

New Development: The Oddly-Named Lefferts South

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The developer of this new condo building really scored when he bought the 2,700-square-foot house that used to be sit at the corner of Caton and Bedford Avenues. He paid $575,000 in January 2005 and then proceeded to replace it with an 18,000-square-foot structure, putting his purchase price at about $32 per buildable square foot. Sweet! The Developers Group has the first six of the 15 units up for sale, all two bedrooms between 830 and 979 square feet with outdoor space for between $439,000 and $525,000. The building strikes us as a pretty good effort by the developer to deliver a solid product in an unglamorous area. Will it win any design awards? Probably not, but it's a relatively clean, simple structure without any silly affectations or architectural blunders. These days, outside of a few of the fanciest nabes, that's about all you can hope for in Brooklyn. The finishes look more like something that would show up in one of the many new Williamsburg buildings that The Developers Groups markets and look surprisingly fresh in an area where you're more likely to find developers opting for whatever's on sale at Home Depot.
Lefferts South [The Developers Group] GMAP P*Shark DOB
New Condo Development for (Not Really) PLG [Brownstoner]




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:01 AM | Comments (25)
Categories: Brooklyn, Development, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, Real Estate

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Comments

"Will it win any design awards? Probably not, but it's a relatively clean, simple structure without any silly affectations or architectural blunders."

I think that's exactly right. It's a better building than most because it's not trying to be fancy-pants. It's well proportioned (although probably not contextual), with a nice interplay of balconies and large windows, and the corner has some thought in it. In short, it's designed rather than slapped together.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 11:10 AM

I gotta ask if necessary to add 'in Brooklyn' to sentence 'These days, outside of a few of the fanciest nabes, that's about all you can hope for in Brooklyn'.
Seems like putdown of Brooklyn - when sentence would have been complete without.
As in besides fanciest nabes Anywhere - that's all can hope for?

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 11:26 AM

FYI, 11:26, this website is about real estate in BROOKLYN.

Posted by: z at February 20, 2007 11:39 AM

but it is not worth that price for the area...

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 11:42 AM

wait wait wait, who are we kidding here? this building does not get a pass simply because it doesn't have fedders boxes sticking out of it. (Oh wait, you can see the cutouts under the windows).

This building is bleak and tired at best. The colors are enough to bore you to not write a comment about it. It's not far off from some bland ski development you might find in unglamourous corners of Colorado or Vermont. Or hell, even the glamourous ones. Tell me again why we like it? Because it has balconies?

This should not be what passes for passable.

Posted by: No Way at February 20, 2007 11:50 AM

Don't think anyone loves it but it avoids many of the mistakes that are so common in new developments in non-Blue Chip nabes...

Posted by: brownstoner at February 20, 2007 11:54 AM

Yes, this 'Lefferts South' condo development is just two blocks south of the PLG border which ends at Clarkson Avenue. Personally I think this development is good for the area's growth whether its in Lefferts or not.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 11:57 AM

These neighborhoods used to be lined solid with wood-frame Victorian homes... Vanderveer Park it was called... It was the first, and largest, developement of it's type in Brooklyn, predating PPS, DP, etc... It was developed in 4 phases,extending all the way down to what is now Midwood. All that remains are a few isolated houses here and there. This was one of the last. I was sad to see it go.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 12:21 PM

Agree that it's sad that this passes for passable, but I still found myself cheered by some sign of perking up in this area. (I'd call it "faded glorious" rather than "unglamorous" based on the marvelous old prewar apartment houses that line Linden Blvd. a block away.) The last big thing in this direct vicinity was a hideous tin hanger at Flatbush and Caton to get vendors off the street. Now if only the prices weren't half-a-mill, so that they'd be within reach of some of the area's hard-working renters seeking to move up without winning the lottery first...

Posted by: Brenda from Flatbush at February 20, 2007 12:55 PM

i hate when these new developments refer to themselves as "pioneering" (see unit listings) - it is a total insult to the area's established residents.

hopefully this new building will motivate phat albert to sell at the other corner of PP

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 1:02 PM

In usually pass this building driving south on Bedford. It looks terrible from the back (which is covered with an ugly synthetic stucco). Normally, I drive back to PLG by going north on Rogers, but the other day I took Bedford and saw this building from the front for the first time. To my surprise, it's not too bad.

I get a kick out of the use of the "Lefferts" name, but it's only slightly below the PLG border. When I was looking for my house, years ago, PLG listings were usually under "Flatbush" (which is correct, but vague) or "Park Slope vicinity (which is, sort of, true, but silly). I guess PLG is coming up in the world when developers in nearby neighborhoods use the name--sort of like "Park Slope" being used to describe Sunset Park buildings :-)

Posted by: Bob Marvin at February 20, 2007 1:58 PM

i like francine

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 2:09 PM

The Phat Albert building is a beautiful building. It really would be great if it could be saved, but something interesting put inside. Anything that improves Flatbush also bodes well for saving the Loews King Theater as Marty Markowitz is promising to do. Speaking of big beautiful structures allowed to decay.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 2:19 PM

Anon 2:19, are you referring to Marty Markowitz as a big, beautiful, decaying structure? I think "beautiful" is a stretch. :)

Posted by: Bob999 at February 20, 2007 4:42 PM

lol, Bob999. What an image! Sure, I can say I was referring to old Marty M.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 20, 2007 5:43 PM

this monstrosity was popular in the early 1960's in eastern queens. the more things change the more they stay the same. even though the area isn't "glamourous" what's to prevent developers from using a little imagination and elegance? it doesn't have to cost millions.

Posted by: adriennui at February 20, 2007 7:25 PM

makes me think of student housing at a decent medical school. hooray.

Posted by: pfa at February 20, 2007 8:10 PM

Interested as to why my last comment wasn't posted. Are you benefiting by not posting my comments brownstoner? I was reffering to the fact that the developers group are the worst brokers around. They are unethical and sleezy and I'm curious as to how they get the projects they market. BUYER BEWARE!!

Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 5:46 AM

Sorry to disappoint your conspiracy theory but we do need to sleep, you know.

Posted by: brownstoner at February 21, 2007 7:05 AM

see-I was right how the adding 'in Brooklyn' gets read/inferred. See Curbed.com link to this item title ....'This Slab is all you can hope for in Brooklyn'.

Posted by: Anonymous at February 21, 2007 9:46 AM

I've watched this building come together from my apartment window - I live on Linden across the street. Its ugly compared to the awesome brick buildings all around it. Its also clearly a gentrifying effort, which is insulting and unnecessary in such a strong working class community as we have here in Flatbush or PLG South, whatever you want to call it. The prices are stupid.

Posted by: Adrock at February 21, 2007 10:23 AM

I also watched the building go up and was anticipating the end of it. I live down the street from the "Lefferts" building and I was disappointed with what was inside. First of all the price there are asking for these small condos are laughable. I went to the very first open house and the rooms were unfinished, you couldn't picture yourself living there. Let's not talk about the cheap use of materials that were made for this building. If I am going to spend half a million on a condo, I should at least have a living room and this building doesn't have it. I don't see how Brownstoner could approve if this building.

Posted by: Addie at February 23, 2007 6:31 PM

buyer beware, word on the street is that they are building a 12 story building right next to it...

Posted by: guest at November 28, 2007 9:47 PM

Caveat emptor...

...there is a reason these units have been on the market for close to a year. There is a reason the developer has had to change real estate brokers. There is a reason deals on units keep falling through...

Posted by: guest at February 5, 2008 6:37 PM

I've been very interested in this development and have been itching to get over and see the apartments for a while. I called the broker on their website, who never showed up, and left me stranded in one of the worst areas I've been in a while (I used to live on Eastern Parkway and never had a problem), but here I got harassed by three different groups of dudes, granted it was just after school let out. Also, the pouch on my bike was ravaged through in broad daylight when I went around the corner.

The subway is a serious walk away, the map on Google seems almost absurdly off-scale and I was on my bike. Granted, the layout, price and finished on these apartments are enough to give me the vapours, but you couldn't pay me to live here. There is no food around, you have to walk by broken down cars to get to the supermarket (which was big and seemed nice) but there is nothing to do in this area except to try and make it to prospect park.

If you're intrigued about this units but are at all squeamish about seedy areas, don't even bother. I spoke to the receptionist at the dentist's office at the bottom of the building for a while and he said that the area was pretty awful, that there was nowhere to eat and to just stay out.

Please rebuild this building in Gowanus. K thnx.

Posted by: guest at June 3, 2008 3:59 PM

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