Court St. Blockbuster Changes Hands; Future Unclear

"it could either be redeveloped or leased to a retailer"

Or like the former Hollywood Video space on 5th Ave, it could sit vacant.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:00 AM

was the former hollywood video building just sold for 3.7M or are you just full of it

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:07 AM

I propose an organic grocery store be built there.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:14 AM

yes that is logical, selling brown rice will surely provide a good return on a 3.7M investment

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:26 AM

"MacDonalds is my spot." J.D (from J.D.'s Gafflin')

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:35 AM

And you might want to dispel the other McDonald's rumor that was perpetuated on this blog for Smith St(near Warren) also while your at it.
Where Army Navy type store was along with Hanten real estate office. Real estate office
still there and for rent sign at the retail shop.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:40 AM

Watch - It will probably end up being a Bank

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 11:45 AM

I think it should be a real estate office. Court Street needs a few more of those...

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:06 PM

With 4,500 sf floor plates you could easily build a condo with 6 to 8 (or more) apartments going at 1 mill a pop minimum and have one or two retail spots on the ground floor. It is a big floor plate in an area with few of them- a good buy. As a neighbor I am hopeful that something will happen there. Would prefer no more construction- but would certainly understand it.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:13 PM

Smith and Court Streets have really gone downhill in the past 2 years.

So many vacancies sitting there. Just heard another place yesterday (some men's stores) is also going out of business.

Is it because most people go to 5th now to shop/eat/drink?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:22 PM

how about a home depot?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:41 PM

I heard it was going to be a Burger King.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:44 PM

but there is something new opening on 5th avenue practically every week. to walk down 5th it just feels so much more thriving than smith.

it used to be the reverse, obviously so i'm guessing the same is in store for 5th at some point down the road...

5th has got to be the poster child for brooklyn gentrification. as early as 2000, 5th was literally the total opposite of what it is today. it still shocks me every time i walk over there...

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:52 PM

12:41

A Home Depot? Maybe you are joking but even with 2 floors, a Home Depot would never fit. Way too small a space. And no parking.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:53 PM

I'd be happy with Taco Bell or Baja Fresh.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 12:59 PM

BrooklynBear,

FYI, would be ironic if this place became a clothing store since that's what it once was. Before this place was vacant and before it was a Blocbuster it was sort of an Army Navy type clothing store, the old fashioned kind where people bought reasonably priced clothes. Think the place was called "Gold's".

FYI, #2, back then there was no place to go for a drink on Court St. You had Cousins on Amity, but the entire stretch from Amity to Carroll did not have another bar. There was a bar at Carroll, but if you weren;t Italian you were unlikley to get treated very well there. It was more of a social club.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:00 PM

How about something unique and child-centered, like a Gymboree?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 1:06 PM

omg, you mean in the olden days you had to walk blocks to get a drink. Geez, the hardship especially for elderly.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:07 PM

How about a casino or a brothel? Both would make a killing.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:13 PM

1:06- how can you use unique and Gymboree in the same sentance without a negative?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 2:25 PM

Word is it's going to be used as a location for a television show...

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 3:03 PM

"Is it because most people go to 5th now to shop/eat/drink?"

I doubt it considering that bococa still has the best restaurants Brooklyn according to Zagat. Lucali gets a 27 and so does Saul. Grocery gets a 26. Mario Batalli's Po gets a 25 and so does Ki Sushi. Frankie's gets a 24 and and so does Petit Crevette and the list goes on and on. I think Smith and Court are actually doing just fine.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 3:26 PM

wow, people are even dropping zagat reviews to prove a street's value....Sth has its share of good restaurants too. but whatever, I think 5th is over.....now Vanderbilt, that's where it's at.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 4:23 PM

Wow 3.7 million? Must be a pretty big lot?

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 4:38 PM

Grocery was just rated one of the most overrated restaurants in Brooklyn.

Po is fine, but nowhere near as good as Al Di La.

And I live in CG, btw...

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 5:33 PM

Come on... Park Slope is like the Upper West Side to Smith Street's Soho. Ok, well not exactly, but you get the point. They'll both have some nice restaurants, but people aren't flocking there... they want a place that has a little more of an edge. A dull edge though it may be.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 5:51 PM

i actually think people do flock to park slope. the huge influx in kids at ps. 321 making it now overcrowded, the fact that parking in park slope has become a huge challenge and the fact that a once nearly abandoned couple mile strip of 5th avenue, which 10 years ago was all but empty, is now one of the most thriving shopping drinking and eating areas in all of brooklyn.

i don't even live there, but i've noticed over the last 10 years how many people there seem to be in park slope.

carroll gardens has an awesome vibe, but in many more ways has stayed more stable than ps over the years. smith and court have certainly exploded, and more people have moved here, sure, but it doesn't have that same feeling of being invaded like park slope sometimes does.

i'm not saying any neighborhood is better or worse, i'm simply saying that i don't agree that people don't "flock" to park slope. i think the opposite is true.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 10:54 PM

To a certain extent, can't you just rank the brownstone neighborhoods by price to say which is technically "best" in the eyes of the overall market...?

In that case, it would be something like:

1. Brooklyn Heights
2. Cobble Hill
3. Park Slope
4. Carroll Gardens
5. Ft. Greene
6. Prospect Heights
7. Clinton Hill
8. PLG
9. Crown Heights
10. Bed Stuy
11. Jersey City

Please use this for future reference.

Posted by: guest at June 5, 2008 10:59 PM

As long as it isn't a Fast Food Place (which ALWAYS brings down R.E. Values) or another Box Store (we have Rite Aid & CVS, already) then I say good luck to however rents it.

We don't need another eatery - and if the owners aren't TOO GREEDY - the space can be split into 2 stores or even a multi-shared space where small LOCAL people can try their hand at the American Dream.

Posted by: guest at June 19, 2008 10:37 AM