Cobble Hill
May 13, 2008
House of the Day: 468 Henry Street
Despite having been chopped up into four units, the brownstone at 468 Henry Street in Cobble Hill appears to have retained much of its original detail (or at least the parlor floor, which is all that's shown in the photos, has.) Given the configuration, however, and the potential expense involved in turning it into a two-family, we suspect that the $2,600,000 asking price is a bit of a stretch for the 3,000-square-foot building. Interestingly, the house did change hands just four months ago; unfortunately, public records do not reveal the price. Thoughts?
468 Henry Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
May 7, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round Up
Photo by Eating in Translation
Tasteworthy: Blue Marble's Organic Ice Cream
420 Atlantic Avenue (between Bond and Nevins), Boerum Hill
Ice cream season is upon us, and Brooklyn Based is raving about the fresh flavors at Blue Marble: "a Strawberry that actually tastes a little tart (just like in real life!!), a Mocha made with rich cocoa and studded with fat chocolate-covered almonds, and Blackberries and Cream that no one should ever share." This Sunday, they'll be setting up shop at the Flea and offering a rotating selection of four flavors.
Loads of Openings
The NY Times reports that Abigail Abigail Café & Wine Bar (807 Classon Avenue at St. Johns Place, Prospect Heights) will open this Friday, South Brooklyn Pizza (451 Court Street at Fourth Place, Carroll Gardens) opens tomorrow, and the owners of Fatty Crab are getting ready for a summertime opening of a Southeast Asian barbecue spot called Fatty'Cue (91 South Sixth Street, Williamsburg). Time Out New York says that Plan B, a "sports den that boasts an 800-square-foot garden," has opened at 626 Vanderbilt Avenue (between Park and Prospect Place) in Prospect Heights, and Organic Heights, an "organic bakery and takeout spot, featuring 30 varieties of tea and fair-trade, shade-grown coffees," has opened at 460 Bergen Street (between Flatbush and Fifth Avenue).
Now Closed: Chicory Brooklyn
243 DeGraw Street (between Clinton and Court), Cobble Hill
"Just taking a moment to mourn the neighborhood's best fried chicken, greens and various roasted veggies. Also, I'll miss the burger." [A Brooklyn Life]
After the jump: Prices rise at Sweet Melissa and — you knew it would happen eventually — somebody's opening a burger joint called "Williamsburger"...
April 30, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Photo by roboppy
Bars in Battle with Neighbors
Park Slope's Union Hall (pictured above) is up for their liquor license renewal next week, and according to Eater, community members issued a 1200-word press release railing against this stroller-free establishment. Meanwhile, Gothamist reports that Greenpoint's Studio B has received a stop work order from neighbors who are hoping that the club's proposed tropical rooftop oasis will be nipped in the bud.
New Brooklyn Openings
Looks like there's nothing but love for the recently opened Root Hill Cafe on 4th Avenue an Carroll Street. Ed Levine describes their Clover-brewed coffee as "pretty amazing" and Slice loves the cafe's outdoor canine accomodations. Eater reports that a new bar and burger joint called Brooklyn Ice House is slated to open in the old Pioneer Bar-B-Q space on Van Brunt Street in Red Hook. And according to Time Out, Appertivo (279 Fifth Avenue at 1st Street) — part of Sotto Voce's mini-empire in Park Slope— is now offering a menu of "pastas like linguine with a chicken liver, sage, white wine and cream sauce," but their liquor license is still pending.
Best Outdoor Bites
Brooklyn Based shares a list of all their favorite restaurants and bars with outdoor seating, calling Rocky Sullivan's "the only rooftop bar in the city that can actually be called serene" and describing the table for two beside the fountain in Palo Santo's tiny backyard as the most romantic outdoor table in Brooklyn.
After the jump: Fresh Direct expands delivery range, the Voice says Barrio is overpriced, Gothamist hits Shachis and the Times visits Jake Walk...
Big Bucks for Downtown's Big House?
Here's an interesting solution for the House of Detention on Atlantic that doesn't involve supersizing the facility: Comptroller Bill Thompson says the city should sell the property, according to an article in today's Daily News. Thompson wrote a letter to Mayor Bloomberg that says selling the facility, which has been closed since '03, will bring cash to the city and prevent a reopened jail from damaging Downtown Brooklyn's economy. "Because our City has already begun to experience economic weakness, communities such as Downtown Brooklyn remain at risk of reversing their economic gains," wrote Thompson, saying that reopening the jail "would ... directly impact the revitalization of the surrounding area." Right now community members who oppose the Department of Corrections' plan to double the House of Detention's size are considering suing the city. We wonder how much a property like this might fetch, and what sort of developer would be interested in taking it on. Guesses?
Sell Shut Downtown Brooklyn Jail to Raise Cash, Bloomberg Urged [NY Daily News]
City Looks to Supersize the House of D [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo by Funtime Ben.
April 28, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 430 Clinton Street
This 25-foot-wide floor-through co-op at 430 Clinton Street has three bedrooms and some nice old details to recommend it. (It's also been stripped of original details in some places.) We're not wild about the kitchen or the cheap-looking bi-fold closet doors either, but those are easily changed. The maintenance is pretty low too: $774 a month. The asking price of $1,450,000 seems a little nutso though. After all, no square footage is provided in the listing, but it's hard to see how this is more than 1,200 square feet, and could be as small as 1,000 square feet. Nice building and nice location and all, but come on. There's mention of an open house on the listing but no time specified.
430 Clinton Street [Brooklyn Bridge] GMAP P*Shark
April 23, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Angry Wade's Gets a Makeover
224 Smith Street (at Butler Street); (718) 488-7253
Haven't been inside in a while, but doesn't this place look better in red?
Five Guys Burgers in Park Slope: Hot or Not?
Says one Chowhound: "I was walking past the corner of 7th Ave and 6th street (where that ugly Bank of America is going in) and I saw a work permit on the space next door (the old D'Agostino's) that says a Five Guys is going in. Yea!"
But another replies: "Or is it another nail in the coffin for the charm of Park Slope?"
Opening and Closing Report
According to Eater, Jesse's Brooklyn Kitchen will be closing shop on Smith Street, and Manhattan's Cheyenne Diner will reopen in Red Hook, but Red Hook's 360 is officially gone for good.
After the jump: Luz turns out the lights for Earth Day (and today), bargains at Barrio, and Andrea Strong's move to Brooklyn...
April 22, 2008
110 Amity: Mews Out, Bigger Townhouses (Probably) In
We did a double take when we saw 110 Amity Street, under its Henry Street address, listed at an undisclosed price on Massey Knakal's website. The Landmarks Preservation Commission earlier this year rebuffed Lucky Boy Development and Time Equities' proposal for the property, which most controversially created a gated walkway fronting a row of townhouses behind the Lamm Institute, formerly a nurses' quarters. Locals, politicians and preservation groups lined up at the hearing to oppose the plan, saying it was too different from the surrounding Cobble Hill historic district. “The local community is vehemently opposed to this development that changes the block structure around to create a gated community, shoe-horned into the block only to maximize profit," said an email from a resident opposed to the project.
Lucky Boy principal Jonathan Wachtel said the Massey Knakal listing is old, from when the property was first purchased last year for $6.125 million. "Technically it may still be for sale. We're not in negotiations with anybody, and at this point our intention is to build the project ourselves...But of course, at the right price anything is for sale." He said they'll return to Landmarks within the next few months with some major adjustments. The eight condos inside the early 1900s building will likely remain in the plan, as well as the expanded rooftop bulkhead to accomodate penthouses. But the mews will mostly likely be replaced by much larger, street-facing townhouses with backyards and gardens. "I still think it was a very interesting, very good design, but the community spoke and landmarks listened, so we've moved on. Most likely, it would be a more traditional townhouse configuration." Because the townhouses would be bigger than the mews houses, they would cost more. A new firm, BKSK Architects, would design the townhouses, said Wachtel. RKT&B would still do the Lamm conversion from medical offices to residential.
110 Amity Proposal Takes a Drubbing at LPC Hearing [Brownstoner]
Opposition to 110 Amity Plans Grows [Brownstoner]
Yowza! The Lamm Institute's For Sale [Brownstoner]
April 21, 2008
Closing Bell: Two Trees Bulking Up on Atlantic
A few months ago the city refused to green light Two Trees Management's application to build their new rental on Atlantic Avenue to 60 feet, or 10 feet higher than allowed in the historic district. While Two Trees will conform to the area's 50 foot height limit, the firm is going to build bulkheads on top of the building that are rubbing some locals the wrong way, according to an article in last week's Brooklyn Paper. "Each [top floor] apartment has a staircase in its living room up to a ‘bulkhead’ with enough room for a workspace on the sixth floor,” says Jeff Strabone of the Cobble Hill Association. “That’s residential space and it extends to 60 feet." Jed Walentas says everything about the building, which is directly next door to the future Trader Joe's, conforms to the area's zoning. Think the bulkheads are kosher?
Walentas to Keep ‘Cabanas’ [BP] GMAP
Out-of-date rendering of the project from the Brooklyn Paper.
April 10, 2008
House of the Day: 274 Clinton Street
The owner of 274 Clinton Street must be kicking herself for overpricing her four-story brownstone when she first put it on the market more than a year ago. The listing started out in March 2007 at $2,900,000 before being reduced to $2,775,000 a month later. In January of this year, it went down another $100,000. On Monday, it got whacked to $2,300,000. For some reason, there are still no interior photos available, which seems like an unwise move; the house is also on a shallow lot (68 feet). This is a sweet location, but without more info to work with, it's impossible to say whether this falling knife has reached the ground.
274 Clinton Street [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
Head-to-Head on Clinton Street [Brownstoner]
Photo by Kate Leonova for Property Shark
March 27, 2008
StreetLevel: Sweet-Tooth War on Court Street
Which biz will best satisfy the insatiable cravings of Cobble Hill residents? In one corner we have Sweet Melissa, which, per A Brooklyn Life, is expanding its operations on Court near Butler to include the next-door storefront. The new space (top photo), which is supposed to open in the next month, will serve beer and the backyard garden will run the length of both buildings. In the other corner—and directly across the street—we have a young upstart in the neighborhood, The Chocolate Room. The Room's second location after Park Slope has been on tap for a long time now, but serious construction is finally getting under way inside the space (bottom photo). According to the contractor on the job, Chocolate Room's owner is hoping to have it up and running within the next few weeks. Sugar rush to the finish line on these two, it seems.
Sweet Melissa Expanding [A Brooklyn Life]
StreetLevel: Room for Chocolate on Court Street [Brownstoner] GMAP