« Spotlight on The Flea Development Watch: 307 Atlantic Avenue »
March 24, 2008
Bergen Street Brewery Off the Block
We noticed this beautiful building at the corner of Franklin and Bergen when we rode our bike past a couple of months ago and then swung by a couple of weeks ago for a second look. When we called the broker, Michael Silber, he informed us that the corner building was originally a brewery. He also informed us that it had recently sold—for somewhere just short of the asking price of $8 million. (The site, which includes two lots that run through the block from Bergen to Dean, has approximately 90,000 buildable square feet.) The developer who bought it will most likely do some kind of residential conversion. Hopefully, he won't make the same mistake as most of the developers over on 4th Avenue and fail to turn the ground floor into retail. This stretch of Franklin could really use it. GMAP P*Shark
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Comments
love the stars!
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 11:41 AM
What makes you think the developer won't knock it all down and build a new building with maximum floor area and minimum constrcution costs? The building is not landmarked. It could well be toast.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 12:16 PM
What an odd response 11:48...Do you really feel that strongly about Development at Franklin Ave?
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 12:34 PM
Seems the theatening posts were deleted.
It would be a shame if this was torn down but, given the price of the sale, looks like this building is gone.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 12:37 PM
i live right around the corner--that's a fascinating building/complex, and i hope they preserve it. what they've done with the old jewish hospital (preserving as apartments) has worked out well, as has the building on dean that seems to be connected with this brewery. much more attractive than a drab new building.
you might be surprised just how much development is going on in my area. two new buildings going up on bergen st near classon ave, a new building on park pl near classon, a new building on bedford up near st. marks, one on st marks near franklin, st marks near underhill, and the list goes on and on...
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:04 PM
When I moved to this neighborhood two years ago I fell in love with this building so much so that I spent an afternoon at the Brooklyn Historical Society's library reading up on it. I won't clutter this page with all the little factoids I uncovered, but this site was used as a brewery as early as 1849, and for a while they produced a beer under the name “Budweiser,” in reference to the delicious beer brewed in Cesky Budovic in the Czech Republic, until Anheuser Busch sued them and won. Here is a web site that gives a nice summary of the old brewery:
http://www.nyfoodmuseum.org/bkbeer.htm#Nassau
I would also mention that CPC Resources, the prior owner of this site, had plans prepared that preserved the existing façade and yielded 69 loft apartments (styled as “artist lofts”), no retail. I believe that the back lot is slightly overbuilt, which would give the developer some incentive to preserve the existing structure and utilize that extra floor area. On the other hand, it is a very old building and probably jammed fill of hazmats, making it cheaper and easier to just knock it down and start from scratch.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:25 PM
To the developer, Please, please, please keep at least part of this intact. They are beautiful examples 19th century industrial buildings, and there are next to none in the area. Here's a chance to do something truly edgy - work the buildings into a great architectural work. Tearing them down to build cinderblock and glass boring condos (practically all of the new construction in the area) would even cut back on potential sales. Why would anyone want just another new construction POS, when you could have a unique place in an historic building.
People here bitch that the area is worthless - not true. The Ice House green building is around the corner, the Jewish Hospital buildings are nearby, and this complex, if done right, could make Crow Hill a destination. Retail in the lower building facing Franklin. Mixed income, a bit of everything for everyone.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 24, 2008 1:30 PM
It looks like the buyer is Crow Hill Development LLC, a subsidiary of Fabian Friedland’s Montagu Square Development, LLC ( http://montagusd.com/ ), and the sale price was $7.5 million (all per ACRIS.)
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:44 PM
yes Crow Hill not Prospect Heights!
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 1:50 PM
Dream on, Montrose Morris.
Franklin Avenue is slowly gentrifying. To date, there is an Indian restaurant, a sushi place, and a cafe, and, according to brooklynian.com, a falafel place is due to open this summer. Crime is still a problem, but that will likely improve with time. All in all, things look good.
I knew it was only a matter of time before the border nazis came on and threw a tantrum!
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 2:10 PM
Hi All:
The intention is to preserve all the 19th Century brewery buildings along Bergen and Franklin Streets. Along with some new low-rise construction on Dean Street, we should be able to hit the maximum FAR without bringing down any of the amazing structures that are in your photo - the insides are even more amazing.
And yes, although the CPC plans call for all residential, we will be bringing retail to the majority of the ground floor. We are even contemplating putting a brew-pub in the basement, which has 15ft vaulted ceilings, as a nod to the early use.
This complex was purchased specifically because of the opportunity it provides to develop a truly remarkable group of buildings.
Crow Hill Development
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 2:47 PM
thats great!
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 3:08 PM
Hi Crow Hill Development folks,
That's great news! I'm glad to see this will be put to good use. Love the brew/pub idea.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 3:17 PM
Crow Hill Development Group,
What good news! Looking forward to seeing this come back to life. I'm so glad you realize what a gem you have. Well done.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 24, 2008 3:36 PM
Crow Hill Development Group,
What good news! Looking forward to seeing this come back to life. I'm so glad you realize what a gem you have. Well done.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at March 24, 2008 3:38 PM
Nicely done.
This under-the-radar section of Crown Heights (or Crow Hill if you like) will be very hot in the next up cycle. There are opportunities for developers in buildings that can be converted, as well as vacant lots and tear-downs. In fact it's already begun. It may be five years, or fifty, but it seems inevitable.
Montrose Morris: Keep dreaming! It seems to work!
Posted by: Hal at March 24, 2008 3:56 PM
hopefully this building will stay the way it is.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 3:57 PM
I agree that the next cycle will produce opportunities. Once things improve economically, Atlantic Yards will be built and push the gentrification eastward to help further improve this area. Projects like the one outlined in this thread will indeed help. I agree - dreaming works!
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 4:19 PM
Can someone provide a history of the Crow Hil name/area. Thanks.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 4:42 PM
From "daily heights"...
"Crow Hill was its pre-prohibition name. My book (The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn) tells me that when it was Dutch farmland, it was believed to have been called Crow Hill after its tallest hill, whose trees were always filled with crows.”
“The book also says that the name could have come from the mid-1800’s when there were African and African American settlements there, and the whites called them ‘crows’. A third story has it that the ‘crows’ were inmates in the Kings County Penitentiary that was there from 1846 to 1907.”
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 5:12 PM
"“The book also says that the name could have come from the mid-1800’s when there were African and African American settlements there, and the whites called them ‘crows’."
How interesting that African-Americans continue to make up the majority of residents (and owners) here, but today white people use a new code word - "sketchy" - to refer to the presence of black people in the area.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 5:28 PM
I'm pretty certain that this is the same building that back in 70s and early 80s housed the book wholesaler Golden Lee. It was famous among publishing types and generated many hoary anecdotes of the, "I parked my car on Franklin and 2 hours later came back to find it torched" variety. Ah, the good old days.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 6:19 PM
I believe the stars anchor the floor beams into the wall.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 6:40 PM
Thanks for the info on Crow Hill. AS a native New Yorker, I never knew about this. Great to learn something new.
Posted by: guest at March 24, 2008 6:59 PM
5.28 - right, because the residents you are talking about use the word 'crackers' which of course isn't a code word just plain rude.
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 8:28 AM
I would almost bet few Black people want to call this area Crow Hill. GTFOH!
How long ago was this area called Crow Hill? Seems like the gentrifyers are looking to distiguish themselves.
Crown Heights North, Prospect Heights East, Crow Hill,blah,blah,blah
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 9:07 AM
5.28 - right, because the residents you are talking about use the word 'crackers' which of course isn't a code word just plain rude.
Nice try, liar. A hateful black person in Brooklyn might call a white person in Brooklyn many things, "cracker" is easily one of the least likely. "Sketchy" on the other hand, is used on this site virtually every day.
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 11:34 AM
5.28 - right, because the residents you are talking about use the word 'crackers' which of course isn't a code word just plain rude.
Nice try, liar. A hateful black person in Brooklyn might call a white person in Brooklyn many things, "cracker" is easily one of the least likely. "Sketchy" on the other hand, is used on this site virtually every day.
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 11:35 AM
9:07...you would lose your bet....
You might want to contact the Crow Hill Community Association www.crowhillcommunity.org/ if you have a real issue with it.
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 1:24 PM
You're right, 11:35, so let me set you straight on more commonly used terms that many of the nice young black men in Crown Heights speak to white newcomers: white bitch, white boy, white motherfucker.
Thankfully, the term "cracker" is rarely used.
"Sketchy" is used regarding crime rates, not race.
Posted by: guest at March 25, 2008 3:30 PM
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