Navy Yard
June 24, 2008
Closing Bell: A New Wall for the Navy Yard
Coinciding with the imminent completion of the new NYPD building at the Navy Yard tow pound, the brick wall along Navy Street was finished up last week as well.
June 9, 2008
Closing Bell: NYPD Puts Its Mark on the Navy Yard
After the completion of exterior work at this new building at the Navy Yard, there's no doubt about who the top dogs are at the tow pound!
Navy Yard Watch: Men In Blue's Building All Yellow [Brownstoner] GMAP
Navy Yard Watch: New Tow Pound Building Rising [Brownstoner]
May 8, 2008
Bridge Street Cleaners Moves to Navy Yard, Livingston St.
Bridge Street Cleaners is moving into new space at the Brooklyn Navy Yard and 204 Livingston Street, part of the BE@Schermerhorn complex by developer SDS Procida Development Group. This would be the second move as a result of new development for the 79-year-old cleaners, which is currently located at 401 Bridge Street between Willoughby and Fulton Streets, a block almost entirely under development. Bridge Street Cleaner's store is part of the United American Land air rights deal we've previously reported on. Ingram & Hebron Realty, which negotiated the lease, said the Livingston rent is $80 per square foot, "a new high rent for this portion of the Livingston Street corridor." According to the brokerage's press release, Bridge Street Cleaners has also leased Building 74 at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where owner Victoria Aviles is relocating her entire cleaning plant. In addition to dry cleaning, the business does alterations; wedding and evening gown cleaning; museum-quality preservation; and fire, flood and smoke damage restoration.
Massive Bridge Street Tower In The Works? [Brownstoner]
Glassy New Retail-Condo in the Works Downtown [Brownstoner]
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]
Navy Yard Watch: SurroundArt Building Rising
We were able to check in last week on the progress of the new 89,000-square-foot being built for the art handling company SurroundArt in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. The company will be paying about $20 a foot, according to a Sun article from last fall. Pretty Slick.
April 16, 2008
Guard Starts Talks 'To Come Up With Alternatives' For Row
The Army National Guard held its first consulting meeting yesterday on the transfer of the Admiral's Row houses to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. National Guard spokesman Rick Breitenfeldt said more than 30 groups were represented. "We have groups that want to save the buildings and we have groups that want to demolish the buildings and build a supermarket," he said. Four or five meetings are expected to follow "to really come up with a list of alternatives ... like things that can be done with the property." He declined to elaborate on each group's stance, but said, unsurprisingly, "I did hear in the meeting from a lot of city [officials] that, 'If we're required to restore and fix up these buildings, the city isn't prepared to put any money behind doing that, nor is the State of New York ... so please look at funding it through private sources." The city expected to obtain the properties under a previous agreement that allowed them to tear the homes down. A parking lot and light industrial space is also planned.
But alas, it looks like the National Guard's sentiments have a decent chance of changing since that 1996 agreement. They released a report last year estimating the 10 quarters, some more dilapidated than others, could be restored for (an amended) $19.6 million or rebuilt for $24.9 million, acknowledging those estimates still assumed the buildings would be reused as homes, and excluded the cost of abatement and conversion to commercial use. The long report—now available on the National Guard's new Admiral's Row website—determined the quarters retained enough structural integrity to make them eligible for the state and national registers of historic places. The state's preservation specialist issued a letter of concurrence; that the old agreement fails to address the new findings, basically rendering it moot. "We hope that appropriate alternatives will be considered including adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of the historic building and the site (including walls, fences and landscape features). We are not opposed to the redevelopment of the site," it read, "but it is critical that the alternatives analysis seriously consider how these nationally significant buildings can be creatively incorporated into the overall plan." Conveniently, nearby Pratt architecture students came up with just that. Some have suggested Fairway Market in Red Hook, which occupies the ground floor of a large old industrial building, is proof that these homes could also be refashioned into a market. Navy Yard Development Corporation president Andrew Kimball has said he'd like to bring something like Fairway to this supermarket-starved end of town—in the ground floor of a new industrial building—but he's not willing to budget stringing together a bunch of loose, dilapidated houses. As a side note, the quaint six-acre property also has tennis courts and a tennis house with rules still posted, a park, and a timber shed.
As the cliche goes, beauty (and worth) is in the eye of the beholder. So, here's one particularly amazing photo set to judge for yourself.
Admiral's Row website [National Guard]
Pratt Professors Seek To Reconcile Competing Plans for Admiral's Row [Brooklyn Eagle]
Officers’ Row Supermarket Not Happening Anytime Soon [Brownstoner]
Admiral's Row fixup to cost $20M [Daily News]
Photo by incandenza.
March 25, 2008
Another Big New Development on Tap for the Navy Yard
At 98 percent occupancy, the Brooklyn Navy Yard is booming, according to an article in the Daily News. Space at the industrial zone is in such high demand that a portion of it near Sands Street will be offered to private developers. The Navy Yard is seeking developers to construct a four-story, 135,000-square-foot building on the site of an NYPD tow lot. (The photo of the Sands Street entrance above, from the Navy Yard's archives, was taken in the early 1900's.) The police lot will be reduced in size, and the developer will get a 40-year lease. The news of the new development follows recent announcements that Steiner Studios is undertaking a massive expansion at the yard and B&H Photo is also in the midst of a huge, $50 million expansion there. "I think the significance here is that we're so confident in the quality of space at the Navy Yard now that if we build it they will come," says Navy Yard Development Corp. President Andrew Kimball. "We couldn't have said that 15 years ago."
Navy Yard Renaissance in Full Swing [NY Daily News]
Naval Hospital to Go Hollywood (East) [Brownstoner] GMAP
Boom Times at the Navy Yard [Brownstoner]
Boom Times at the Navy Yard [Brownstoner]
Video: Inside the Brooklyn Navy Yard [Brownstoner]
Photo courtesy of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp.
March 13, 2008
Inside Admirals' Row
Urban guerilla photographer Nathan Kensinger recently found his way into the Admirals Row houses and came out with some interesting photos and observations:
However, some of the buildings are in remarkably good condition. Their staircases, light fixtures, plasterwork, shelves, mantlepieces and wood floors are only in need of polish and paint. The beauty of these architectural details, when compared to the complete devastation in other buildings, is a stunning indictment of the Navy's neglect.
Lots more photos on the link. Enjoy.
Brooklyn Navy Yard: Admirals Row [Nathan Kensinger]
Pratties Develop Alternative Plans for Admirals' Row [Brownstoner]
Admirals’ Row: Debate Still Framed as Either/Or Decision [Brownstoner]
March 10, 2008
Closing Bell: Repaving That Will Have to Be Repaved
Biking past the construction work on Flushing Avenue last week, it occurred to us that the sidewalk that was being rebuilt was not being widened to accommodate the Brooklyn Greenway that is planned to run around the outside of the Navy Yard. Seems kinda silly. GMAP
March 5, 2008
Pratties Develop Alternative Plans for Admiral's Row
Finally, an article in the mainstream media about Admiral's Row that considers the possibility that the decision over the future of the site isn't an all-or-nothing one, something that the blogs have been saying for some time now. Per this morning's Brooklyn Eagle:
The debate pits more well-off residents of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, who support preserving the houses, against the 12,000 residents of nearby public housing, who want a place to buy fresh food as well as the jobs that a supermarket could provide. But the controversy is not so simple, and many preservationists believe that both sides can have what they want.
A team of architecture and city planning professors and students at Pratt have come up with alternative designs for the site (one of which, from Prof. Brent Porter is shown above) that include the preservation of the 10 navy officer mansions (complete with green bells and whistles like solar panels and the construction of big-box retail). At least one of the proposals involves using the dilapidated houses for small businesses like a daycare center and a bookstore. The Navy Yard Development Corporation, however, says that ideas to preserve the houses simply aren't feasible, citing independent studies that show it would cost between $30 and $50 million. (A study released by the National Guard in January pegged preservation costs at $18 million.) “It’s just not economically viable, period,” said Andrew Kimball, president and CEO of the corporation. “It would basically involve rebuilding them from the ground up. These things are soaked and rotted.”
Pratt Profs Seek To Reconcile Competing Plans for ‘Admirals’ Row’ [Brooklyn Eagle]
FGA Pushes Preservation Plus Market for Admirals' Row [Brownstoner]
Admirals’ Row: Debate Still Framed as Either/Or Decision [Brownstoner]
Officers’ Row Supermarket Not Happening Anytime Soon [Brownstoner]