Construction Sites
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 23, 2008
Caton Avenue Condo Plans For Sale: Flatbush Edition
Yet another Caton Avenue property is for sale with approved plans for condos, this one in Prospect Lefferts Gardens. Last week, we wrote about 417 Caton Avenue, on the market for $1.35 million, and Caton On the Park (technically on Caton Place, which is really close to Caton Avenue), where construction on 107 apartments abruptly stopped with 40 percent of the work done. This newest property has plans to build 27 apartments and 24,400 square feet, only a few blocks away from Prospect Park. Asking price is $1.83 million, not much more than the $1.2 million purchase price two years ago. Think this one will be able to find a buyer?
Work Stops At Caton On the Park [Brownstoner]
417 Caton Avenue Going For Another Flip [Brownstoner]
April 14, 2008
Welcome to the Wild, Wild West
The Daily News had an article yesterday about how many Brooklynites are terrified of safety conditions (or lack thereof) at construction sites. Some choice takeaways:
-Last month the DOB inspected conditions at 305 construction sites in Brooklyn, finding violations at 87 of them and putting stop work orders on 43 of them.
-Last year Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster told the Daily News that she crosses the street to avoid walking under scaffolding.
-Many of the sites shut down in last month's sweep were in Williamsburg and Greenpoint.
The quote of the article belongs to Assemblyman Jim Brennan, who's been pushing for DOB reform for a long time now: "It's a reactive response. Of course it's good for them to do a sweep like this, but the current process of supervision and enforcement is broken."
Yup.
Residents Nervous Over Building Sites [NY Daily News]
Brennan on the Frontlines of DOB Reform Fight [Brownstoner]
Photo by Daniel A. Norman.