A Couple of Cuts at Downtown's Bridgeview Tower

If that photo of the model apartment is any indication, the layouts are crappy. I'd like to be optimistic and say that they are still in the process of erecting walls, but I don't think that's the case. I shouldn't be able to look directly into the shower while in the kitchen. Who wants to look at someone's fanny being cleansed while in the kitchen chopping bell peppers?

Don't get me wrong, it could be quite entertaining if you're some sort of shut-in, but how does one entertain guests with bathroom like that?

And, am I mistaken, or isn't there a massive MAJOR housing project directly across the street from there?

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 1:28 PM

Those pictures make no sense. Is there a shower and a tub? why can you see the shower from the kitchen? Yet the floor plan does indicate a wall. Weird.

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 2:19 PM

Nothing like sitting out on your terrace overlooking the PJs and the wide glorious expanse of the BQE. I'd think you'd have to be on a higher floor than 4 or 5 to hope for any kind of a view from this pink monstrosity.

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 2:48 PM

I haven't actually been to an open house, but I remember reading that the photos are from a model "apartment" located off site, perhaps in a trailer that also houses the sales office. In any case, my biggest problem with the units is with the finishes they chose, which look fairly gaudy. And the location.

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 3:05 PM

I have actually purchased a unit in Bridgeview Tower and I have seen many other new developments in the neighborhood before I made my purchase. Have any of you even seen the inside of the building? It would be wise to do some objective research before you make any judgements. Also, are you referring to the "major housing project" next to Jay Condos on York Street or to the one adjacent to Oro Condos on Gold Street?

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 8:04 PM

Guest@1:28: The "MAJOR housing project" you refer to might be Concord Village, which is actually a giant coop that just so happens to look like a housing project. I went to check out a studio there a while back, and lemme tell ya, if the coop could scrounge up a mil or two to beautify the exteriors of those buildings, it was be the most popular coop down there.

It's banking too much on being relatively "cheap", and, unfortunately, it looks like it.

Posted by: guest at September 18, 2007 8:24 PM

There are gangster disciple tags on plywood by the site. Not a great sign for quality of life in the neighborhood.

Posted by: guest at September 19, 2007 1:09 PM

I went to the open house today. The picture is of the model kitchen and bathroom in the sales office. There a 4 units per floor and they have a model of each line. The units are very impressive. The workmanship appears to be quality. The developer didn't skimp on the materials and appliances. The layout's are extremely efficient. The unit's seem way bigger than they are. The only downside is the location... not much around there. DUMBO is a short walk away, but it's a very un-scenic walk. Otherwise, nice building (at least on the inside).

Posted by: guest at September 19, 2007 9:54 PM

I was coming out of the deli on Washington Street in DUMBO a few months ago when a poorly dressed person handed me a mimeographed flyer advertising Bridge View Tower. I decided to walk over there and it took me a good 15 minutes. I walked down Washington and turned right on Gold Street past about 3 blocks of projects. Very intimidating. As I approached Bridge View Tower, I was struck by the fact that the pinkish color of the individual cement plates used to construct the building did not match exactly, thus each plate was clearly visible. As I came closer, I could further see that the gap in the individual plates did not mesh together evenly. This is particularly evident, when you look at the edge of the building, where I would say the mis-match is as much as 1”. Besides the mis-matched prefabricated walls, the gaps on all of the plates were filled with some type of rubber caulking. I am sure that in the future, the caulking will start to leak, with all of the wind and elements. In general, the building design is dated and it looked cheaply constructed. At first the terraces seemed like a nice feature, but the fence around each terrace does not offer any privacy. The open nature of the terrace fence was a little intimidating and did not seem safe, though this is just my perception. I suspect that the people who do buy or rent an apartment in Bridge View Tower will use the terrace once or twice and then in the end, use it to store a bicycle or dry clothes.

Another thing that struck me is that none of the workers seemed to be American, but rather were Mexican or from other Central American countries. This in itself is not necessarily bad, but I would prefer if the workers were highly experienced, unionized Americans, who know exactly the technique of building a strong building. I did not get a sense of confidence or competence from the construction team. Using undocumented labor to sheet rock may be ok, but to construct a tall building is something else.

I would say that the Bridge View Tower was built on the cheap and should be avoided.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 9:19 PM

The windows are not multi paned and should be for that noisy area.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 9:20 PM

I live next to Bridgeview Tower.

First of all it has taken over three years to get where they are in the building of Bridgeview Tower. I have never seen it take that long to construct a condo building, Oro down the street has only take months and it is over twice the size.

Secondly, the pinkish exterior is already stained if you look closely, probably because they are power washing the building everyday lately. There are also cracks in the prefab, which have been fixed, but not well.

When digging the foundation of Bridgeview tower they must of got too close to the nieghtboring building (a warehouse structure) and half of the warehouse collapased ontop of the equipment. To be completley honest, after watching and listening to over three years of construction I would not trust the construction there one bit. I am not an expert by all means, but it is a instinct. My dad was a builder and I am sure he would agree with me.

Also at night, they have these huge spot light on the building, which are nearly blinding.

I feel bad for anyone that gets suckered into buying a place there. I live in the neighborhood, and let me tell you there is nothing around!!! (I have lived in the nieghborhood for 6 yrs, becuase i have a rent stabilized place.) Not to mention the asking prices on those places is ridiculous.

They are also advertising places on their website that are over a ten minute walk.

Good luck to the buyers!

Posted by: guest at October 8, 2007 4:41 PM

I went to view this building with the intent to sell, but after meeting with the owners, i decided to bail...These people are pushy and rude, think twice before doing any business with Bridgeview Tower!!...

Posted by: guest at October 18, 2007 9:39 AM

The area is very noisy in the mornings with all of the traffic and the inner city high school down the block. Not a pleasant area to be in. The area would do better for commercial or industrial buildings.

Posted by: guest at October 20, 2007 1:19 AM

Lets all be serious, if you are looking into moving downtown and are planning on selling in five to seven years this place is great. You talk about projects, every place in this area has a project next to it.(trust me the city is already thinking of changing this) one comment here is that the project next to oro is a coop? are you kidding?? go there at night an then tell me its a coop, its another dead end project with drugs,murder,prostitution. dont kid yourselves all you oro lovers. even beacon on adams is two blocks from the pjays and people living in those projects walk through dumbo every five minutes, bums and crackheads on every yuppie corner in dumbo.
bottom line bridgeview towers is 5 minutes from the city and is the cheapest price per square foot of any condo in a 5 mile radius(this is a fact ive done the open house research) you can buy a two bedroom two bath for around 625,000, yes it does not have a glass focade and doesnt have pool but it also isnt 800,000 for a two bedroom apartment. thats a huge difference in price i know i just bought an aprartment there two months ago. wait till this building is finished, and lets be even more realistic, how many people that posted a comment even have 90,000 to 150,000 to put down on one of these condos? all you haters are either local rent control cases and could never afford one and the other half are just window shoppers who will wind up moving into the under developed part of park slope.
later, apartment 4c

Posted by: guest at October 21, 2007 11:20 PM

I have also purchased a unit and I advise anyone that is interested in buying a condo in Brooklyn to check out BridgeView Tower; it is a must see property.

16B

Posted by: guest at October 29, 2007 9:31 PM

I would argue that those of you who have been knocking this building aren't simply uninformed, but unimaginative as well.

Design-wise, it's as unique as you can get in that area. The exterior is not stucco, but poured concrete that gives a distinct Floridian look in a city full of metal and glass. It's an oasis from monotony and I commend anyone who's got the guts to purchase a unit.

I must concede that some of the layout choices aren't great, but they've done the best to be as space efficient as possible. For instance, instead of leaving the corner cabinet area of the kitchen island as dead space, they incorporated a wine fridge that faces outward, into the living room. The materials used are extremely top notch, from the solid wood doors from Bali, to the generous use of marble and granite.

Additionally, If you take a look at the projected growth of that neighborhood, you'll find that it's following the same development trends as every other high-priced area in Brooklyn. My father saw that the technological growth in Alaska was 7 years behind the contiguous United State and decided to buy part of a telcom company. He's now a multi-millionaire. Real estate is a business based on potential and I know for a fact that this place has it.

Not everything I have to say about this building is praise. I originally purchased a 1 bed, 1.5 bath unit with a terrace and was disappointed to see that it affected the layout considerably. I was also concerned about the narrowness of the terrace itself. I decided to upgrade to a 2 bed, 2 bath with a much deeper balcony. Neither Oro or Jay Condos can say that they have balconies or terraces for every unit. Imagine the 4th of July firework parties!

The lot across the street will be converted to a private dog park, open to only residents and neighbors and shuttle buses are planned for commuting to and from Manhattan.

I realize that everyone wants that huge, beautiful loft that has both character and amenities, but it's not going to happen, especially not near DUMBO. It's shortsighted to think that you'll live in a place for more that 15 years. A smart, person would see this as an opportunity to earn considerable equity, live in a great building with great conveniences, and eventually buy a nicer, bigger place down the line.

Posted by: guest at November 1, 2007 5:59 PM

I certainly would not buy an apartment in Bridgeview Tower with the hope that perhaps in time, the area may improve. Actually my best guess is that after the hype being pushed by the developers and brokers fades away, the Flatbush Avenue area will decline in value, perhaps by 30 to 40%, over the next 5 years, and after that, prices will remain flat for many more years. This is further complicated by intense over building, very few buyers and the mortgage depression that we are now in. Even worse, Bridgeview Tower will always be perceived as a place people live in because they couldn't afford a better area, such as DUMBO and this perception will hound people when they try to sell their apartments in the future. The notion of buying an apartment in Bridgeview Tower as a temporary apartment to be used for a few years is filled with risks and with the area and economy the way it is, could well result in loss of your investment and destruction of your future dreams. Don't be swayed by the hype. Sometimes it is better to just walk away. Before signing on the dotted line, you may want to have a look at the current issue of Fortune magazine which predicts a citywide decline of 24%. Marginal areas such as the Bridgeview tower area will be much harder hit.

Park Slope is indeed a better choice. Park Slope, which is only an extra 6 minutes from Manhattan, is a far superior area to live in, is much safer and would be a much better investment. The buildings in Park Slope are all built in a grand and exclusive style and Park Slope is a real community. This is in sharp contrast to the noisy, industrial area, crisscrossed by highways around Bridgeview Tower.

Posted by: guest at November 9, 2007 11:22 PM

It sounds as if you (11:22 PM) are either a developer or a realtor who is trying to attract real estate into Park Slope. You might want to spend some money on advertising instead of using a free online blog. Also, how can you undermine and contradict youself by stating that real estate is going to decline by 24%, while suggesting that people should buy in Park Slope.

New York City has been and still is the most attractive location to buy real estate. In the past 20 years real estate in New York City has mainly gone up. In worst case, it went sideways.

My company has recently relocated me from overseas. For the past six months, I have been searching for condos in Downtown Manhattan, and I have not found anything comparable to what I have seen in BridgeView Tower. In Manhattan the prices range from $1,200- $1,400 per square foot, and I am only paying approximately $800 per square foot at BridgeView Tower.

Because the dollar has depreciated so low, I am able to purchase three units in BridgeView Tower for me and my family. It is a steal at this price. Furthermore, I work in Downtown Wall Street, so it is extremely convenient for me to live in BridgeView Tower since there is a public bus, the B51, that travels into Wall Street and City Hall, and stops directly in front of BridgeView Tower.

For anyone that is looking to buy real estate in Park Slope, you should absolutely consider BridgeView Tower first.

Posted by: guest at November 10, 2007 2:23 PM

I have recently purchased a 2 bedroom unit in BridgeView Tower. I have visited the Oro as well as the Jay Condo and in all honesty, although the Oro and Jay Condo are the results of much larger development companies, their units do not compare to the finishes and quality of the units at BridgeView Tower. The layouts of each apartment are done wonderfully considering the limited amount of space they have. The balconies are such a pleasant feature, something very unique to any building in NYC and by the way, the windows are multi-paned. The view from my apartment is gorgeous and I couldnt be happier with another purchase. Speaking of noise and traffic, what about the Oro?.... right on top of a gas station, a block away from the police station and a brisk walk from the projects, o yes, quite a quiet neighborhood around the Oro, and not to mention, what a very friendly sales staff they have, you'd think that their sales team all own million dollar apartments.

Posted by: guest at November 13, 2007 12:01 AM

hello all you oro lovers, here is some inside news thats gonna make your holidays, there is a one story showroom building located on flatbush and tillary which supports a large sign for advertising(everyone sees this sign). this piece of property happens to be on the same block as oro, located 1000 feet to the north of oro. There was a for rent sign on the building and may still be, a friend called because he was intrested, the gentleman who answered the phone told him that it was no longer for rent but was now for sale because of the high volume of calls from developers. my prediction is that a developer will bye this property and build up as high as possible in efforts to gain a city view, in result oro will become a shadow and all the people who bought apartments with views will not be happy. hey i guess theres always the pool, i know i always loved swimming in a pool with complete strangers.

Posted by: guest at December 15, 2007 4:07 PM

knowone at bridgeview has to worry about view obstruction, unless someone decides to build in the river??? lol.

Posted by: guest at December 15, 2007 4:09 PM

I read a discussion regarding getting out of a condo contract, prior to closing, in light of the new realities in the real estate market. My opinion would be that the buyer may have some leverage with the developer of an unfinished building since the one thing that every developer wants to avoid is litigation prior to final approval by the attorney generals office and prior to selling all of the apartments. The reason for this is that all law suits must be disclosed to the AG and this must be included in offering. Depending upon the nature of the litigation, such a disclosure can have an immense effect in the time it takes the AG to approve the plan and even greater effect on the ability for the other buyers to get a mortgage.

The worse type of litigation that a developer can face is issues regarding disputes of property boundary. In such cases, banks are often forced to back off from providing mortgages to buyers, regardless of the banks relationship with the developer, since boundary litigation places an substantial level of obstacles to sell and package the mortgage on the open market. Some examples that come to mind include the cases where entire walls had to be removed because of minimal infractions and in cases where cornices or overhangs infringed on the adjacent property. My advice to any developer in such a case is to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate and at all costs, avoid litigation. In cases where a person wants to back out of the deal, I recommend to the developer to sweeten the deal and again, avoid any litigation for the reasons mentioned above. It is important to also consider what other potential buyers would think of litigation against a contracted buyer. One method might be to reduce the price, offer free maintenance for a period of time or perhaps exchange the contracted apartment for a “better” or larger apartment. Settle such disputes. A developer must handle disputes with “silk gloves” and swallow their pride, with the end objective of sales in mind

Posted by: guest at January 8, 2008 2:39 AM

I almost got SUCKED into Oro and was about to sign my life away. The people over there are pushy and obnoxious. Quite honestly the building is not what it's cracked up to be. Big deal it has a swimming pool...how many times was I really going to make use of it. Also the exterior of the building is UGLY.

I have been to several other developments such as J Condo and Forte. When I first went to Brdigeview it was like looking at an empty space and having to visualize everything as it was with a couple of other places. Having gone back a couple of weeks ago I have fallen head over heels for the place. The interior and finish is impeccable. I have not one complaint about the development.
For all you haters talking about it's by the projects....hate to tell you ORO is right next to Fort Green Projects so what's your point. For some people moving into Oro their view will be pleasent especially if it's facing the project.....GOODMORNING!!
If you ask me Oro is OVERPRICED and not even worth it.
So before anyone wants to criticize Bridgeview they should at least go take a look so they can have some valid feedback.

Signed,
A Soon To Be Tenant of Bridgeview

Posted by: guest at January 24, 2008 11:20 AM

It has been three months since I have been to Bridgeview Tower. This past Saturday, I went to see how the building was doing, and to check on the unit that I had purchased. I was overwhelmed. When I walked into the lobby of the building, it seemed as if I was walking into a 5 star hotel. The developer of this project gives you more than what you pay for. Although, there are many projects going up in this area, none of them can compete with BVT. With the Fed lowering the interest rate, it is cheaper for me to buy a condo at BVT than to rent. The price per a square foot is very reasonable. I project that in five years, I will double my money.

Posted by: guest at January 29, 2008 7:36 PM

SHILL
SHILL
SHILL

Is everyone on this post a shill?

Posted by: guest at March 6, 2008 5:26 PM

I have to agree with the person who posted above about shills. As I read all of the glowing stories about Bridgeview Tower, I felt the same way.

We went to see the model apartment last year, and it looked just ok but we felt that we were being misled. First they told us that they were going to convert a city park to their own use (impossible). Then they told us that they had bought the air rights to all of the buildings around their building, but this is also not true. In fact, there is a huge building that is being planned for 168 Nassau Street, right next door to Bridgeview Tower. Information on the building that is going to be built is also on this website (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2007/09/nassau_tower.php). They told us a lot of other garbage that we now know is not true. Our feeling was that the Bridgeview Tower people are so desperate that they would tell us anything. The quality of the building and materials shows skimping. The floors are said to be hard wood, but they are very thin and glued down. The rooms are rather small and the terrace seemed to narrow. Apparently the developer has a reputation of having a hair pin temper. Who needs that?

All this is mute though, since we seem to be entering into a massive recession and I doubt that they will be able to sell many or any of the apartments. It will be very hard to rent them for a price that will equal the debt service. My suggestion, avoid it. You don't want to own something that will be in a situation that is partial condo, partial rental, and mostly empty.

Posted by: guest at March 18, 2008 8:13 PM

Stop speculating and just visit the site:
http://bridgeviewtower.com/

Need I say more?

- Apt, 3B

Posted by: guest at March 19, 2008 6:35 PM