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January 30, 2009

Avalon and Toren Rising

avalon-013009.jpg toren-013009.jpg
A tipster sent in these photos of Avalon Fort Greene and The Toren, which sit across Myrtle Avenue from each other at the intersection with Flatbush Avenue Extension, with the brief note, "Both of these buildings are going up quick!" Indeed. As we noted earlier this month, Avalon is rising at a pace of close to two stories a week. Toren, meanwhile, is almost completely glassed over. It's cool to see some critical mass and density in the works here.




Posted by Brownstoner at 11:01 AM | Comments (27)
Categories: Development, Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene

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Comments

what about Catsimatidis on Myrtle and Ashland? Avalon and Toren rise while it naps.

Posted by: cb6 at January 30, 2009 11:08 AM

I absolutely love the look of Toren.

I was looking at their website the other day, and noticed a good majority of the units seem to have sold.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 11:10 AM

The Toren building is quite striking and beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before.

Posted by: ublackstock at January 30, 2009 11:10 AM

Nate Gray!

Posted by: YngPlnr at January 30, 2009 11:12 AM

I agree the Toren is a good looking building. Very different from most of the new residential high rises.

Posted by: jwald at January 30, 2009 11:18 AM

CB6 - I can see the Catsimatidis work site from my living room. There is a crew working today. the structure is still only up to the 1st floor, but it is getting bigger.

It's slow, but not asleep.

Posted by: Knickerbocker at January 30, 2009 12:26 PM

Toren is a good reason to live in Avalon, so you can see Toren, and not the other way round.

Posted by: bklynite at January 30, 2009 12:42 PM

Just fyi, Avalon is rental and Toren is condo.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 12:50 PM

Cue "Toren will be rental soon enough" haters in 3...2..1..

Posted by: Creature at January 30, 2009 1:11 PM

They can try, Creature, but looks like it's done well...

http://www.halstead.com/developments_other.aspx?numb=65857


I know I sound like a shill for Toren (I'm not!) but I do like to see that when something nice looking is built, that it still has the possibility to do well.

I think the terrible economy will help in the sense that our standards for new development will be increased greatly, because people simply aren't going to buy as much crap as they used to.

Hopefully.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 1:20 PM

Cats is too busy turning around defunct Oklahoma oil companies and stealing Trader Joe's brand to expend effort on a tower in BK. Boo.

Posted by: BrooklynLove at January 30, 2009 1:37 PM

I, too, love the look of the Toren. I'm sure it's polarizing, but aside from Richard Meier's On Prospect Park, this is probably the most ambitious new development I've seen in Brooklyn in the past decade.

I'm glad the developer of the Toren is being rewarded for his vision with brisk sales in a recession.

Another current favorite new construction building of mine is the future artist/formerly homeless high-rise going up on Schermerhorn in Boerum Hill, across from the whelming Be@Schermerhorn.

Posted by: lambretta76 at January 30, 2009 2:19 PM

funny how Toren seems to be selling in a crap location and yet the junk on 4th ave is moving more slowly. Maybe the nitwit developers of 4th ave should take a note of that, and by the way sweatsuit guy it ain't about the pool either.

Posted by: billyboomer at January 30, 2009 2:36 PM

"Another current favorite new construction building of mine is the future artist/formerly homeless high-rise going up on Schermerhorn in Boerum Hill"


I agree...I think that place is a great one too.

Nice to see a few interesting developments popping up around this area.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 2:54 PM

crap location? I disagree. I live in the area - Fort Greene Park is 2 blocks away, in addition to Q, R, B, M, F, A, C, in very close proximity and 2, 3, 4, 5 three long blocks away...DeKalb in Fort Greene is a walk away and Downtown Brooklyn is turning around. This location is perfect for 1st time buyers just starting out + I'm curious to see how the interior of Toren will look. It's a great development.

Posted by: katiebk at January 30, 2009 3:04 PM

remember, they were marketing the toren hard in europe when the euro was much stronger against the dollar. i haven't checked the stats, but i believe many of the sales came before the true market meltdown of late 08. that being said, i think it's a great building and it will probably sell completely at some point. only at further reduced prices. but let's face it, that area is nothing to get excited over at this point.

Posted by: jingle mail at January 30, 2009 3:25 PM

I think the location holds a lot of promise.

I'd certainly rather have bought into a location like Toren's which is only going to improve than to have bought something in one of the absolutely hideous new construction buildings going up in Williamsburg, a neighborhood which is already peaking or peaked.

In terms of price appreciation for the future, Toren owners will reap the benefits 10 years from now when all these buildings fill up and Downtown BK becomes more thriving.

Or you could have overpaid for a place at Northside Piers, etc.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 3:33 PM

And jingle mail,

I believe that the article about Toren you are referencing was about a lot of Asian people in New York buying at the Toren, not Europeans. Apparently a number of Asian 20 and 30 somethings who have family in other parts of NYC bought places here.

Maybe Europeans too, but I don't recall seeing anything about that.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 3:34 PM

"Both of these buildings are going up quick!"

Hurry up! The Asshats are catching on to the collapsing Conzi scheme! Build, pump and dump!

***Bid half off peak comps***

Posted by: Brownstones Half Off at January 30, 2009 3:37 PM

I really like the look of Toren, but they're pricing it as if the neighborhood has already arrived.

Posted by: SnarkSlope at January 30, 2009 4:13 PM

Sorry flatbush ave is a crap location, it will always be full of traffic. And to say this is better than living on North 7th and Berry in Williamsburg is laughable, no matter what you think of Williamsburg, but good for the developer to have people like you to think that this is a good location, cause it is not. Yea it is closer to Manhattan than bayside queens and yea it is a short walk to Ft greene but come on you are still living on Flatbush next to a car wash that backs up traffic on the weekend and a gas station on the other side. But then again when you walk outside you will probably not be going for groceries as the Toren and Oro residents will have Fresh Direct, Gym and Pool all within their building, in otherwords to make this location work you will live in a gated community.good luck walking across Flatbush to get to Downtown Brooklyn and have fun walking down the Fulton Mall at 12 midnight cause you won't.

Posted by: billyboomer at January 30, 2009 4:53 PM

josh guttman bought that car wash last year and owns almost all of the square block now.

fulton mall is fine unless you're a herb from williamsburg.

Posted by: BrooklynLove at January 30, 2009 4:57 PM

I've never understood the "crap location" comments regarding Flatbush Avenue. I used to live at University Towers (at FlatBush and Willoughby) and my favorite thing about living there was the location. Short (less than 5 minute) walk to Ft. Greene Park...manageable walk to Brooklyn Heights, Smith Street and Dumbo and GREAT access to public transportation (right at the Q,B,R, train and less than 10 minutes to the 2,3,4,5,A and C trains...you CANNOT beat that). I work in Midtown and if I took a cab home from work was less than a 20 minute (and $15) ride. In a nutshell, Flatbush, Downtown Brooklyn is not in and off itself located within the best of Brooklyn, but is close to EVERYTHING that represents the best of Brooklyn.

Posted by: FtGreeneCorey at January 30, 2009 5:04 PM

My point was not in a comparison of Williamsburg to this part of Flatbush, billyboomer...my point is that here you are buying in an "up and coming" location and in Williamsburg you are buying in a location which already came.

So for those interested in price appreciation moving forward, it is probably better to buy at the Toren than a place like 7th and Berry, which starts at prices quite a bit higher than here.

For someone who doesn't mind this location, they will probably see returns on their investment greater than those of people who bought in more prime locales.

With that being said, I love the idea of Downtown Brooklyn. If I ever wanted new construction, I'd buy at Toren.

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 5:17 PM

And for the record, I'd put my own neighborhood in the category of one that has already seen its period of highest price appreciation come and go similar to Williamsburg...

But there are people who don't mind putting up with a slightly more rough around the edges neighborhood and buy something relatively inexpensive (these are by PS and Williamsburg standards) and watch the neighborhood improve as the years go by...

360K for a studio (Toren) is definitely cheaper than other luxury developments in Park Slope or Williamsburg...

Posted by: 11217 at January 30, 2009 5:21 PM

Being a proud owner of a Toren one bedroom, I was relieved to see in Brownstoner that the City has completed its purchases of the necessary lots to build Willoughby Square Park. With the economic disaster, it crossed my mind that they would renege.

This park along with City Point will go a long way into making this immediate area a 24/7 community.

http://www.citypointnyc.com/

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/dwnbklyn2/dwnbklynplan12.shtml

The large residential building at 111 Lawrence is a real shocker. I believe it will be over 50 stories. If the quote from Field of Dreams is correct, "build it and they will come" then this area will eventually be a thriving, populated area with individuals of decent net worth. That has to make Marty M. feel pretty good.

Posted by: Junkman at January 30, 2009 7:46 PM

williamsburg is the absolute definition of a real estate deck of cards. the place's soul driver of growth was speculation of further growth - this is what we call the hot potato investment strategy. if you bought there in 2007 you got stuck with the hot potato. and if you're a developer there now you got stuck with steaming hot potato. the real test is when credit is tight and capital is limited and investors must make more choices - watch where the money goes then - as you can see it's coming to downtown brooklyn.

junkman - stick to your guns.

Posted by: BrooklynLove at January 30, 2009 9:43 PM

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