Clinton Hill
May 9, 2008
Small Fire at 380 Clinton Avenue
According to a tipster, there was a small fire at the gorgeous mansion at 380 Clinton Avenue on Wednesday night; we stopped by yesterday and snapped this photo of this second-floor window, which appears to be the only spot of damage. Currently home to the Teen Challenge, the 1909 house is known as the Julius Liebman residence. It is one of the few houses designed by the prominent architecture firm of Herts & Tallant for the grandson of Samuel Liebman, founder of the brewery that later became Rheingold. Did any readers pass by while the fire was being contained? GMAP
May 8, 2008
Clinton Hill, Fort Greene Street Cleaning Days Reduced
The Department of Sanitation has agreed to reduce street cleaning days in Commuinty District 2, most notably Fort Greene and Clinton Hill. Other parts of the district, like Brooklyn Heights, already have street cleaning only once a week on each side. "As a general rule, the commercial streets will continue to have street cleaning six days a week and most of the residential streets will go down to once a week [on each side]," said District Manager Robert Perris. "We have brought this subject up a few times a year for the past several years and when [the Department of] Sanitation changed their operational schedule for CD6, we reiterated our prior requests, and have now received reduced frequency and reduced duration of street cleaning." Councilwoman Letitia James told us about the change earlier this week. Some residents in her district previously had to move their cars four times a week. Sanitation spokeswoman Kathy Dawkins said the department agreed to the change because the district achieved a 90 percent cleanliness score for several years in a row. Perris said the affected streets will be announced at the June 11 monthly board meeting, and changes would happen this fall.
May 6, 2008
420 Classon Avenue: Waiting for the Lottery Results
The castle-like trio of buildings that was saved from imminent peril and combined in a heroic conversion by the Pratt Area Community Council is almost ready for occupancy. As the photo shows, the building is good to go. PACC received over 700 applications for the 12 affordable condominiums in the building. The lottery has been held and the non-profit is currently checking applicants' credit records and confirming their eligibility. No word on exactly when the winning envelopes will go in the mail.
Lottery for 420 Classon Avenue Kicks Off [Brownstoner] GMAP
Development Watch: Windows for 420 Classon Avenue [Brownstoner]
Present from PACC: 420 Classon Rendering [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: PACC on Classon [Brownstoner]
The Future of 418-422 Classon? [Brownstoner]
May 5, 2008
Development Watch: 541 Washington Comes Into Focus
The Stephen B. Jacobs design for 541 Washington is now at the point where it's fair to weigh in. Our take? Unexciting but inoffensive. Points for facade alignment, scale and decent-size windows. What do you think?
Development Watch: 541 Washington Avenue [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 541 Washington Avenue—Rats! [Brownstoner] GMAP
541 Washington Ave: Stalled, Sold or Both? [Brownstoner] P*Shark
Washington Avenue: This Could Be Huge [Brownstoner] DOB
May 2, 2008
Development Watch: 131 Emerson Place Demo
The demolition phase at 131 Emerson Place kicked into high gear this week. The two-story industrial building is being razed by developer (and blogger) Hudson Companies to make way for a planned 16-story building that will run through the block to Classon Avenue. Demolition and excavation is expected to be complete by sometime in October; the entire project is targeted to be finished by the end of 2009.
Hudson Aiming High on Emerson Place [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
May 1, 2008
Development Watch: Grand Plans on Grand Avenue
Despite the economic downturn and news of stalled or abandoned projects, there's still tons of residential construction happening all over Brooklyn. Assuming people actually move into all these new apartments (unlike dozens of other cities filled with near-vacant or unfinished projects), within a few years new residential enclaves will sprout up in places where people used to only work. For example, on one industrial block of Grand Avenue, snuggled between the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway and Myrtle Avenue, we counted five new projects totaling 119 apartments. On one side, two Scarano projects would add 8 units each; a conversion called The Retro Loft is almost done with 28 units; and a 35-unit project is planned, although only a fence stands at the site. On the other side is 74 Grand Avenue, which is 40 units. Despite its proximity to the much-maligned expressway, the block is actually quite pleasant, with the steady hum of industry to one direction (some find that sound soothing) and the residential neighborhood at the other end. All the basic food groups are conveniently within walking distance—Pizza, Thai, Indian, Mexican, Sushi, Mediterranean, Diner and Bodega—but the only nearby train is the... G. Fortunately the expressway is close! How do you think this block will fare?
Development Watch: 74 Grand Avenue [Brownstoner]
525 Clinton Avenue One Step Closer To Sales
Pity the poor marketing people who have to come up with a new condo name at this point in the real estate cycle! The creative team behind 525 Clinton Avenue (the site of an unfortunate accident earlier this year) has decided on "The Collection" as a moniker for the 13-story glass development off Atlantic Avenue in Clinton Hill. The signage is up on the sidewalk scaffolding and a website has gone live. Right now it consists pretty much of a sales pitch on the high-tech insulated glass used on the building and a place to leave your name. We also noticed that the lowest price range one could express interest for is $600,000 to $750,000. Given that most floors are split up into just two or three units, we guess that's not too surprising.
Development Watch: 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner] GMAP
525 Clinton Avenue Looking Good [Brownstoner] P*Shark
525 Clinton Gets Its Glass On [Brownstoner] DOB
Tower Rising at 525 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
April 30, 2008
Clinton Ave. Curb Cutter Takes 20% Haircut
When it comes to curb cutting—and now price cutting—the owner of 174 Clinton Avenue doesn't mess around. Taking advantage of the 100-foot commercial overlay from nearby Myrtle Avenue and the fact that the house falls just outside the Clinton Hill Historic District, the owner (who's also developing the lot behind this house) was able to get permits to butcher convert the front of the ground floor of the historic brownstone into a garage and to cut the curb for a driveway entrance. The theory was that the addition of the parking space would enhance the value on resale, we presume. Well, it couldn't have helped that much: The asking price was axed last week from $2,500,000 to $1,990,000. Karma?
174 Clinton Avenue [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Cut and Run at 174 Clinton Avenue [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 175 Vanderbilt Avenue [Brownstoner]
Continue reading "Clinton Ave. Curb Cutter Takes 20% Haircut"
April 29, 2008
Streetlevel: Speakeasy Could Get Huge Patio
Clinton Hill restaurant The Speakeasy could get one of the largest patio cafes in Community Board 2, District Manager Rob Perris told us yesterday. He said the week voted last week to approve the bar and restaurant's application for outdoor seating at 132 Greene Avenue with around 18 tables. That could be a pretty awesome thing for Clinton Hill, unless the food really is that "subpar," then it's only kinda awesome. According to their menu, the cheapest entree is a $10.50 burger, and the most expensive is a ribeye and loaded baked potato for $22. Most of the online reviews said the food wasn't worth the price, but this multi-national restaurant has only been open for a few months. And there's a bar and wide selection of appetizers, so cheers to that!
Reviews of The Speakeasy [Menu Pages]
Reviews of The Speakeasy [City Search]
Reviews of The Speakeasy [Yelp]