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July 14, 2008

Development Watch: 19 Lefferts Place

19-Lefferts-Place-0708.jpg
At the end of last month, the DOB approved plans for a new four-story, four-family house at 19 Lefferts Place in Clinton Hill. (It's just the left half of the plywood frontage.) The developers managed to pick the site up for a song—$76,000—from an estate last year and have hired the architect Elena Kalman (of Newswalk fame) to do the design. It's R6-B zoning, so at least the facade and roofline will have to line up with the neighboring brownstone. They're skipping the stoop, we hear, and only putting in three floors in the allowable 40-foot height, and then setting back the 4th floor. We're also hearing that the plan is to use brownstone on the facade and have above-averages-sized windows. Only time will tell whether all this will cohere into an attractive design. The odds are against them but maybe this will surprise on the upside for a change. Wouldn't that be nice. GMAP P*Shark DOB




Posted by Brownstoner at 2:39 PM | Comments (16)
Categories: Clinton Hill, Development

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Comments

Don't get your hopes up. From the sound of it, this'll be a design nightmare...

Posted by: lowintheheights at July 14, 2008 3:11 PM

Any idea what happens to the right side of the lot?

Posted by: Lothar of the Clinton Hill People at July 14, 2008 3:23 PM

Everyone complains about new building design (for good reason largely), but are there any good examples to follow?

Posted by: slick at July 14, 2008 3:46 PM

You can't design a new four-family house with a stoop any more, it is against the law. Steps of any kind, even a single step to protect the entry a bit from meting snow or rain, is against the law.
If you are unsure about how modern building codes and laws effect modern design,the rule of thumb is that anything you may like about old brownstones is pretty much agaisnt the law today.
Fortunately hideous flat facades made of cheap materials and composed of mismatched elements with no realtion to one another are perfectly legal.



Posted by: sam at July 14, 2008 3:46 PM

slick: The design of a habitat for humanity building at Halsey and Marguc Garvey in Bed-Stuy actually looks nice and blends in well. And it was made with some green materials as well.

Lothar: Perhaps they are planning some parking on the side?

Posted by: 11233 at July 14, 2008 4:24 PM

Hey Dumbasses, I see the registration process is working, NOT! Oh well time will tell.

BTW The ass pounding isn't over yet, not by a longshot! The Fannie Mae and Frediie Mac stick save is wearing off. The financial sector git pounded today. The Big Boys smell blood in the water and without high stock prices the financials cannot raise capital. I say this whole thing implodes in 90 days. It been fun, RIP Mutant Real Estate Asset Bubble..

Now for you reading pleasure...

U.S. Stocks Fall, Led by Biggest Drop in Financials

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aEcJXyBsoVgI&refer=home

The declines pushed the Standard & Poor's 500 Financials Index of 89 companies down 6.1 percent, its steepest plunge since April 2000.

I remembered Friday the Asshats was talking smack that the Government will step in and help Fannie and Freddie. Yep and that move smells like desperation.

The What

Someday this war is gonna end...

Posted by: what at July 14, 2008 4:49 PM

Is that a handicapped thing, 3:46? Because I've seen a few new buildings with handicapped-accessible stoops (aka ones with elevators) on new construction.

Posted by: Heather at July 14, 2008 4:52 PM

Pretty s-l-ooooo-w and sleepy in here today, indeed.

Posted by: WonTon at July 14, 2008 4:59 PM

Does anyone know how much something like this will go for? My guess is that it will be extremely overpriced just because it's in Clinton Hill.

Posted by: Smatchums at July 14, 2008 5:27 PM

How did they buy the lot for $76000???

Posted by: Aussie at July 14, 2008 5:56 PM

Yea that doesn't seem right. If so that's a steal. They probably forgot to add an extra zero lol.

Posted by: Smatchums at July 14, 2008 7:05 PM

lots in this neighborhood were going for 30,000 range at auction in '05. i don't think 76,000 sounds that crazy, but i don't think they're easy to find any more.

Posted by: werner at July 14, 2008 7:12 PM

Werner,

Your right about that, but prices for condos and town houses already started increasing drastically from 2003 to 2004, so even then $30,000 is cheap. Statistics show that the rise in the combined prices for condos, co-ops and town houses, from 2003 to 2004, in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill averaged 35 percent. For town houses alone, the increase was 59 percent.

What do you think the asking price for this new housing development is going to be once it's built?

Posted by: Smatchums at July 14, 2008 7:48 PM

I'm glad they are developing it - its a damn vacant lot people!

there are some hideous new structures around, and there are plenty of interesting ones too. much of what is acclaimed on this blog was considered tacky and tasteless when it was built (like the cookie cutter brownstones lining the blocks.) I live in a brownstone, and love it - but I've also built new houses and love them too. its hard to deal with all the nostalgia around here, even when nothing is being lost!

one interesting new house, built on a vacant lot, exists in manhattan on 1st street between 1st/2nd aves. it was built green, and the owner/developer used all sorts of salvaged parts (wood from old water towers, etc) its modern and interesting and extremely eco-friendly.

Posted by: alku at July 14, 2008 11:09 PM

there are a couple of great looking buildings going up on Pacific and one on Dean that I really like. It looks like part of the facade is wood, and the exterior will be a really nice combination of wood surface, metal and glass. And I'm not fan of most new buildings but these do look great.

Posted by: bxgrl at July 15, 2008 9:27 AM

These are two adjacent vacant lots. This one (#19) was bought for $152,000 (there are two deeds on record for $76,000 for each co-owner of the lot). This lot had old unpaid tax liens and was owned by estates of the deceased co-owners. Still, a very cheap price for the area, which if looked at optimistically may allow for the development of a quality building.

The other lot (#21) is owned by another person and will not be developed. Residents of the block and street are happy with the idea of development, but just hope to have a high end, aesthetically complimentary design. R6B zone helps with height limits, reduced FAR, mandatory planted garden space in front, no curb cuts on a lot this wide (22.5 feet).

The developer has come to the local block association meeting and is saying the right things. We'll see. I for one am hoping for something akin to the State Street rowhouses. They are going to use real brownstone for the facade apparently. Landmarking of this street may occur in the next 6 months to a year, so they are getting in before that deadline.

A stoop would be permissible in a four family (which in this case will be four condos) building only if handicap access compliance can be met. Here with a 22.5 wide lot, it would probably not be too easy to do with a stoop.

Posted by: 1842 at July 15, 2008 10:17 AM

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