Brooklyn Heights
April 30, 2008
Development Watch: Love Lane Mews with Skylight Views
Construction seems to be moving forward at Love Lane Mews, five former parking garages that are being converted into 38 apartments and two townhouses in the Brooklyn Heights historic district. This building, the only one on the east side of the street, would be two townhouses (with skylights?), according to an older Brooklyn Eagle article. And we just like the hand-painted sign at the construction site to the right. As one of the few new construction projects (aside from the outer shell) in this quiet, landmarked neighborhood, which do you think will come easier: sales, or finding a parking space in the Heights on weekdays?
Love Lane Mews Floorplans Revealed [Brownstoner]
Parking Crunch Worsens as Garage Closes [Brooklyn Eagle]
Heights Conversion to be Called Love Lane Mews [Brooklyn Eagle]
April 29, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 1 Pierrepont Street
Co-op apartments don't come much finer than this. This south-facing unit at 1 Pierrepont Street in Brooklyn Heights has four bedrooms, two fireplaces and killer Manhattan views from the common terrace. It looks to be in pristine condition (though we coulda used some photos of the kitchen and bathrooms) and on a fairly high floor. The listing ain't for the faint of pocket book however: The asking price is $3,450,000 and the monthly maintenance is $3,518. Anyone know what percentage down is required at this building?
1 Pierrepont Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
From Mints to Condos at 20 Henry Street
It's been a long time coming, but now that the conversion of the former Peakes Mason Mints building at 20 Henry Street is coming to market, we suspect there will be plenty of pent-up demand. Signs announcing the launch of 20Henry.com recently went up on the scaffolding. The only useful information to be gleaned from the site at this stage (it's just a place to register your interest) is the list of pricing tiers. The cheapest apartments will start in the $400,000 to $600,000 range; there will also, not surprisingly, be units that are north of $1,250,000. According to DOB filings, there are 22 apartments in the building. A comment on a Brownstoner thread last year said 43 and the Eagle said 14. Which one is it? GMAP
April 28, 2008
Court OKs Housing at Brooklyn Bridge Park
Last week the State Supreme Court ruled against the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, according to an article in the Brooklyn Paper, striking down a lawsuit that sought to halt the creation of the 85-acre park because of the condos and hotel planned for the site. Private development is slated to take up 10 percent of the park and include "approximately 1,210 units of housing, 225 hotel rooms, 151,200 square feet of retail uses, 86,400 square feet of restaurants, cafes and other eateries, 30,000 of meeting space, 36,000 square feet of offices, 128,400 square feet for research and development or education uses, and 1,283 parking spaces," according to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy. In response to the main thrust of the lawsuit, which claimed that the private housing will violate the “Public Trust Doctrine,” which disallows private encroachment on public spaces, the justices who heard the case wrote that "the public trust doctrine does not prohibit residential uses that are merely adjacent to public parkland." "They're missing the truth," said Judi Francis, the president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund. “The condos are up against places where people normally would have been sunbathing or playing ball or listening to the radios. They're missing the forest, if you will, for the condos."
Brooklyn Bridge Park Goes Forward [Brooklyn Paper]
Myer Has 'Hope' for Brooklyn Bridge Park [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Bridge Park Demo Begins [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Bridge Park: It’s a Go! [Brownstoner]
Rendering of a section of the future park from the BBP Conservancy.
April 22, 2008
House of the Day: 30 Orange Street
After 10 weeks on the market, the four-story brick house at 30 Orange Street in Brooklyn Heights just had its price reduced from $3,100,000 to $2,900,000. At first glance, this appears cheap for the neighborhood, until you realize that the house is only 30 feet deep. As a result, the square-foot count is only 2,400, putting the price-per-square-foot at about $1,200. We just posted a decent comp yesterday: The 2,344-square-foot brick house at 38 Cranberry recently closed for $2,700,000.
30 Orange Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
April 21, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 9 Pierrepont Street Amended
How much is the ground floor of a prime Brooklyn Heights brownstone worth? Only $600,000 judging by the latest wrinkle in sales strategy at 9 Pierrepont Street. Early last week the listing hit the market (with no interior photos) as a duplex asking $2,995,000. The duplex listing is still up, but there's a rather similar triplex listing for $3,5995,000 that just came to our attention. (Interior photos are now up on both listings.) The difference? The ground floor doctor's office. Seems like a relatively small amount for a floor of a brownstone on Pierrepont!
9 Pierrepont Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Co-op of the Day: 9 Pierrepont Street [Brownstoner]
April 16, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 9 Pierrepont Street
Almost $3 million for less than half of a brownstone? Only in Brooklyn Heights, kids. The owners of this lower duplex at 9 Pierrepont Street, one of The Heights' most desirable streets, are betting that the combination of the parlor floor grandeur, 27-foot width and landscaped garden will justify the asking price of $2,995,000. As far as we can guess, the total square footage on the apartment is somewhere close to 3,000 square feet. If the interior is top-notch, $1,000 a foot's not a crazy place to start; the maintenance of $1,252 is pretty reasonable for the space. Of course, they have to compete against entire houses in the neighborhood that are asking the same price.
9 Pierrepont Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Commercial Sales in Brooklyn, Heights Edition
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $7,500,000
54-66 Livingston Street GMAP
A Brooklyn-based management company paid $2,250,000 for 64-66 Livingston and $5,250,000 for 54-62 Livingston, adjoining rent-stabilized buildings. 64 and 66 Livingston each have nine units, according to Property Shark, while 54-62 Livingston has a total of 32 units.
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $10,890,000
82 Pierrepont Street GMAP
As reported in the Brooklyn Eagle, the Herman Behr mansion on the corner of Henry and Pierrepont was sold after being listed on the market for $12 million. The building has 26 rental units and was designed by Frank Freeman in the late 19th century. The landmark was purchased by a Manhattan-based firm called Fine Times, a developer that specializes in restoring townhouses and brownstones, according to an article in the Times.
Photos from Property Shark.
April 2, 2008
Closing Bell: The Aftermath of Gristedes Blaze
Workers were still clearing out debris this afternoon from yesterday's fire at Gristedes supermarket, on Henry and Clark streets in Brooklyn Heights. Local 338 union representative James Dennis said the matter is still under investigation, but they believe the fire started because of an electrical malfunction in the deli. No one was hurt. Brooklyn Heights Blog has been posting images of the fire, and The Brooklyn Daily Eagle has a more detailed account of the incident.
Fire at Gristedes in Brooklyn Heights [Brooklyn Eagle]
Additional Images From Gristedes Blaze [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
April 1, 2008
What Will Become of the Remsen Wallflower?
Despite its prime location, 186 Remsen Street in Brooklyn Heights has been available for lease since its last tenant, an adoption agency, moved out more than five years ago. Locals say it's because "the building is a wreck" and is priced too high. Robert Oliver of the Joseph P. Day Realty Corporation said owner Larry Wohl is looking to lease the 35,000-square-foot, late-19th-Century building to a single tenant for $1 million annually. At $28 per square foot, that would place the building in the Class B market if it were well-maintained, but people who have been inside called it "raw space" and "garbage-looking." One real estate insider said 35,000 square feet is "stretching it," and that "the economics for renting it as office is very bad." Indeed, Property Shark said the building is 25,000 square feet.
The insider said neighboring St. Francis College unsuccessfully offered to buy the building. And another Heights resident thinks the building would be an ideal annex for P.S. 8, which recently cut its Pre-K program and is still overflowing with students. New condo development nearby such as One Brooklyn Bridge Park would only increase demand on the school, the worst-case scenario being trailers in the playground, said the resident. But the insider doubted bringing the building up to the strict elementary school code standards would be economically feasible at Day's price.
The Franklin Building [An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn]
186 Remsen Street [Joseph P. Day] GMAP