Prospect Heights
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"...
May 6, 2008
Foreclosure of the Week: 136 Underhill Avenue
This is one of the most—if not the most—valuable townhouses we've seen fall into the foreclosure hole in this market cycle. The four-story, two-family house has a lien of $990,000 on it and, depending on the condition of the interiors are in, would fetch over $1,500,000 on the open market. Kinda makes you wonder why the owner doesn't just sell it quickly at a small discount, pay off the lien and keep the difference.
136Underhill Avenue [PropertyShark ] GMAP
Photo by Christopher Bride for Property Shark
April 24, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 175 Eastern Parkway
We've always had a thing for this six-story, 78-unit limestone co-op at 175 Eastern Parkway, whose facade is set at a 45-degree angle to Eastern Parkway right across from the Brooklyn Museum. Apartment 4J, which just came on the market as an FSBO, is a 1,000-square-foot two-bedroom that is attractive in a classic, understated kind of way. All things considered, we think the asking price of $595,000 seems pretty reasonable.
175 Eastern Parkway [Craigslist/FSBO] GMAP P*Shark
April 21, 2008
House of the Day: 58 6th Avenue
Character matters (as does the Atlantic Yards Effect). By all statistical measures, the four-story brick house at 58 6th Avenue should have found a buyer by now. After buying the house for $250,000 (typo? family transaction?) a year ago, the new owner put it back on the market for $1,850,000 last July, where it sat for eight months. In early March the price was cut to $1,795,000 and in late March again to $1,695,000. More than a proximity to Ratner-land, the problem in our opinion is the renovation. It's got a bad case of personality disorder. As we've harped on again and again, a renovation that goes half-way to modern is likely to result in a house with no soul. No one (or at least anyone with any taste) wants to live in a mish-mash of architectural vernaculars. The seller better hope there's someone out there looking to relocate from a McMansion in the burbs.
58 6th Avenue [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
April 17, 2008
Condos of the Day: Price Cuts at 543 Dean Street
As it approaches the six-month mark of sales, the four-unit brownstone condo conversion at 543 Dean Street is only one-quarter sold. So it should come as no surprise that the remaining three apartments just received another price cut: Apartment 1 from $999,000 to $965,000; 543 Dean Street, Apartment 2 from $799,000 to $765,000; 543 Dean Street, Apartment 4 from $975,000 to $939,000. None of these are exactly dramatic reductions so we'll be surprised if they generate a new wave of interest. Much more important to the project's prospects: Clarification on what the future holds for Atlantic Yards.
543 Dean Street [Street Easy] GMAP
543 Condos of the Day: 543 Dean Street [Brownstoner]
April 16, 2008
On Prospect Park: Ready For its Close-Up
Yesterday we had the distinct pleasure of touring On Prospect Park, the Richard Meier-designed condo next to Grand Army Plaza. The building's on-site sales office opened last week, and it consists of a model four-bedroom unit on the second floor. Details in the unit are legion: The kitchen, for example, has integrated appliances like a microwave "garage" and a Sub-Zero fridge, both of which completely blend into the white cabinetry; high-end finishes abound, with Zuma soaking tubs in the bathrooms, Gaggenau gas cooktops with integrated electric ovens in the kitchens, and walk-in showers in the master baths with Dornbracht rain heads. Unsurprisingly, though, the real star of the show at OPP are the views from the floor-to-ceiling glass walls. The view from the most expensive unit, a 16th-floor duplex penthouse that costs $6 million, includes Prospect Park on one end and both the Downtown Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan skylines on the other. The building is now around 40 percent sold—its sales director, Cheryl Nielsen-Saaf of Corcoran Sunshine, said two more units went into contract on Monday—and move-ins should happen by September.
On Prospect Park [Official Site]
Brooklyn Can Finally Get Down With OPP [Brownstoner]
April 15, 2008
ProHi Historic District Could Include Almost 800 Homes
Yesterday Atlantic Yards Report had a detailed post on the proposed Prospect Heights Historic District, which was the subject of a neighborhood meeting that representatives from the Landmarks Preservation Commission attended last week. According to the representatives, historic district designation could take up to two years. “This is a neighborhood long of interest to the commission,” said Kate Daly, the LPC’s executive director, at the meeting. The boundaries of the proposed district (which are not yet set in stone) are shown above in a map the LPC sent us. It runs as far north as Pacific and Carlton, with a large section bordering Flatbush Ave and running approximately all the way down to Grand Army Plaza and almost as far east in one section as Washington Avenue. "So far the district would include approximately 776 buildings, and the next step is to get feedback from homeowners about the meeting we attended last week," says LPC spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon. After that, the Commission will hold a public hearing on the designation that should happen before the end of the year.
The Prospect Heights Historic District Nudges Forward [AY Report]
April 14, 2008
Co-op of the Day: 415 St. John's Place
What's a garden worth? That question will be implicitly answered by the sales process of this ground-floor unit at 415 St. John's Place in Prospect Heights. The apartment itself—a two-bedroom, one-bath affair—is quite nice, but it's asking $645,000 and is only about 900 square feet. The twist, however, is the private yard that comes with the apartment. This outdoor space is over 800 square feet. The maintenance is an entirely reasonable $750 per month. Think they'll get their price?
415 Saint Johns Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
April 10, 2008
Hello Living, Hello Gentrification?
An article in the Sun this morning takes a look at Hello Living, Eli Karp's eight building, 106-unit condo development on the Prospect Heights-Crown Heights border and focuses on whether the project will spur gentrification in the surrounding area. Unsurprisingly, Karp and the real estate brokers interviewed for the piece definitely think it's a marked change for the better. "I had to create my own neighborhood," says Karp, who also opines that "everything is going to double within the next few years" in terms of the value of his product. Brendan Aguayo, a broker for the project, which is mostly clustered off Washington on Pacific and Dean, says buying there is tantamount to "investing in the ground floor of a neighborhood." Units in two of Hello Living's eight buildings have been on the market for almost a year, and 20 of the 25 condos have been sold for prices ranging between around $350,000 and $550,000; prices on four of the remaining units, which cost between $700,000 and $1.3 million, were reduced. In other words, the higher-priced units are taking longer to sell. Do you believe the broker and developer hype on this one? Obviously, the fate (or non-fate) of Atlantic Yards, which is right next door, will have a lot to do with shaping this area, and it's tough to guess how big an effect eight mid-rise condos will have on the neighborhood's fabric.
Developer Pushes New Vision for Prospect Heights [NY Sun]
Development Watch: Hello Living Complex Continues to Rise [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Pacific Blue Spreads to Dean Street [Brownstoner]
Photo by threecee.
April 9, 2008
Wednesday Food & Drink Round-Up
Coming Soon: Barrio
7th Avenue at 3rd Street, Park Slope
An OTBKB reader snapped this photo of the new Mexican restaurant's colorful interiror, and according to Gowanus Lounge, it should be opening "around April 16."
Now Open: Eurotrip
667 Fifth Ave between 19th and 20th Streets; (718) 285-9425
"This Central European spot from Czech owners Otto and Maria Zizak is a far cry from the youth hostels its name evokes. The pair promises a refined menu that includes duck Wien (duck confit with buckwheat stuffing and riesling sauce) and mussels steamed in tocai. Thanks to a strong selection of Czech spirits and beers, you don’t need to hit Williamsburg’s Radegast for your becherovka fix." [Time Out NY]
Celebrity Spotting at Lucali
575 Henry Street, Carroll Gardens; (718) 858-4086
"These days, it’s not unusual to encounter a wait of well over an hour for one of the ten tables [at Lucali]. So it was hardly surprising, last week, when a Presidential-calibre motorcade pulled up out front. Beyoncé Knowles and Jay-Z emerged, and were quickly ushered to a table near the chef. Their bodyguard, a man roughly the size of the three-hundred-and-fifty-thousand-dollar Maybach sedan idling at the curb, settled into a chair on the sidewalk, where he enjoyed rounds of gratis espresso and pizza delivered by a giddy waitress." [The New Yorker]
After the jump: Expanded hours at Franny's, top "artisanal" cocktails, and Brooklyn's own rent-able commercial kitchen...