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Energy-Neutral Test House in Carroll Gardens Nears Completion, Park Slope Rental to Follow
Last month we showed you some renderings of a renovation underway on a brownstone at 367 Fifth Avenue in Park Slope. The eco-friendly project by developer Voltaic Solaire will be entirely solar-powered, with the cost of all utilities included in the rent for all six rental units in the building. While it’ll be some time still until the 5th Avenue building is complete, the New York Times reports that the developer is putting the finishing touches on a “test house” on a small triangular plot at the corner of Hamilton Avenue and Ninth Street in Carroll Gardens. “If we can obtain sustainability at this location, it can be obtained anywhere,” Ronald F. Faia, Voltaic Solaire’s CFO, said of the site’s location in the shadows of the BQE. To get to energy-neutral from just plain old green, the developer is installing LED lighting and insulated pipes along with energy-efficient appliances and windows. (The windows cost 15 percent more than regular ones.)
Off-the-Grid Living in Brooklyn [NY Times]
Visions of Park Slope’s Green Machine [Brownstoner]
Building Powered by Sun and Wind Will Rise in Park Slope [Brownstoner]
05/25/2012 10:30 AM
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Signs of Pre-Construction at Gowanus Whole Foods Site
A reader just sent in this photo along with the following email: “Was riding my bike past the 3rd and 3rd site this morning and noticed a trailer and mobile office in the Whole Foods lot. Could it be that construction might actually begin?” After eight years of planning and three months since the project was officially green-lighted, that appears to be the case. Big stuff!
05/25/2012 9:30 AM
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Progress at New Hello Living Development
Work picked up at 618 Washington Avenue, the newest (and ninth) Hello Living building for the neighborhood, at the corner of Dean Street. Plans call for a a six-story, eleven-unit building. A sign on the fence promised a completion date of this summer, but that seems unlikely.
Hello There: Another Washington Avenue Condo Coming [Brownstoner] GMAP DOB
05/24/2012 2:39 PM
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Walkabout: Trashing Atlantic Avenue, part 2
(Atlantic Avenue, near Nostrand. 1920. Photo: Brooklyn Public Library)
In March of 1912, the Real Estate Record and Builder’s Guide, the bible of late 19th and early 20th century building in New York City, published a long article about the future of Atlantic Avenue, that great east-west corridor that joins the East River to Queens. In our first chapter, we saw that development of Atlantic Avenue depended greatly on the operations and machinations of the Long Island Railroad. For more on this, please read chapter one. Due to the railroads path, on or above the avenue, it seemed, even in 1912, that the avenue would never be more than garages and factories. Going on from there, the article stated that “It is a significant and a lamentable fact that a majority of the sales of real estate on Atlantic Avenue have been in foreclosure.” (more…)
05/24/2012 10:30 AM
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75 Columbia Street Development Gaining Height
A tipster sent along this photo of 75 Columbia Street, the new development on the corner of Columbia and Warren streets. The lot was once part of a larger development plan around Columbia and Warren but public records show the site sold since those plans. Current DOB plans call for six stories and 12 units. As our tipster says: “It will surely have nice views, until high-rises come at least.” A well-known Brooklyn developer is building the project. GMAP
05/23/2012 2:40 PM
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Associated Supermarket Addition Tops Off
Here’s the status of the Waverly Avenue supermarket addition, two months since construction began. And here’s the rendering back from 2010, which may or may not be outdated by now. It doesn’t look like any work is happening at the Associated itself, although the rendering would lead you to believe it’s getting a slightly fancier facade.
Addition to Clinton Hill’s Associated Rising Quickly [Brownstoner]
Waverly Associated Build-Out Revealed [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/22/2012 2:40 PM
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Aerial Shot of 29 Flatbush Construction Site
A reader sent in a photograph of the progress at 29 Flatbush Avenue. Not much to see, especially considering Dermot broke ground here very recently, in December 2010. One day this will be a 42-story tower with 327 rental units, 200 parking spaces, and 7,600 square feet of retail space on Flatbush Avenue and Fulton Street. GMAP DOB
05/22/2012 12:00 PM
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Walkabout: Trashing Atlantic Avenue, part 1
(Railroad crossing at Atlantic and Bedford Avenues, 1905. Photo: New York Public Library)
Atlantic Avenue is one of Brooklyn’s great thoroughfares, today stretching from the East River waterfront to Jamaica, Queens. It is Brooklyn’s only east-west truck route, and serves a vital purpose in getting goods and people from Long Island to the East River and beyond. Like much of Brooklyn, its origins lie with Dutch settlement, and in fact it began as a private road, ending at Ralph Patchen’s farm on the East River, in the early 1700s.
As Brooklyn grew, that road became District Street, the southernmost boundary of the Village of Brooklyn, which was incorporated in 1816. That’s certainly hard to imagine now, and it didn’t take long for that to be obsolete. By 1855, as the street grid developed, District Street became Atlantic Street, running parallel to Pacific Street next door. In the 1870’s the street, already a busy thoroughfare, became an Avenue, running all the way to Nassau County. (more…)
05/22/2012 10:30 AM
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The Big Reveal: 110 Amity + 314 Hicks
Two townhouse projects in Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill recently lost scaffolding. The first is 110 Amity Street, the single family, Cobble Hiill townhouse already under ownership. (It is next door to the larger townhouse project under construction at the old Lamm Institute.) It pretty much turned out like the rendering. The second is Brooklyn Heights’ 314 Hicks Street, on the corner of State Street. It’s a “modern reinterpretation” of a single-family townhouse, but this one’s still on the market. According to the developer’s website, it’s still asking $6.4 million. Like the way they turned out?
The New Build Next to 110 Amity Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
Townhouse Going Up at 314 Hicks Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/21/2012 11:30 AM
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Good News! 538 Washington Avenue Has a New Owner
The vacant lot at 538 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill, close to the corner of Fulton, has found a buyer. Here’s the word on the deal from brokerage TerraCRG, which handled the transaction: “TerraCRG, Brooklyn’s commercial brokerage and advisory firm announced today the sale of the development site at 538 Washington Avenue in Clinton Hill. The approx. 25 ft x 129 ft vacant lot is located on Washington Avenue between Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue and has a mixed zoning of C2-4/R6B/R7A. The development site has approved plans for a five story, eight unit residential building with plans by Scarano Architects. The footing on the site was installed to qualify for 421-A tax abatement. The plans call for an approx. 9,767 Sq. Ft. building (12,943 Sq. Ft. including the basement) with 1 studio, 3 one bedrooms, 2 two bedrooms and 2 three bedroom apartments, all with outdoor space. The property was sold for $860,000 or $88 per buildable Sq. Ft. (based on the approved plans Sq. Ft.) to a developer who plans to continue the project. TerraCRG represented both the seller and buyer in the transaction.” It’s always good news to hear that a vacant lot will soon be home to a building. GMAP
05/21/2012 10:30 AM
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Green Manufacturing Center to be Built in the Navy Yard
On Friday news dropped that the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation will invest $46 million to build a green manufacturing center in the Navy Yard, primarily in the massive glass-shingled Building 128 just inside the Clermont entrance. Job creation is being stressed as a certainty. Here are the full details from the press release:
Crye Precision – a premier designer and manufacturer of body armor and apparel for the U.S. military as well as federal and state law enforcement agencies – which was awarded $1 million through the New York State Consolidated Funding Application (CFA) process, has agreed to become one of two lead tenants at the new Green Manufacturing Center. Crye currently operates in four separate spaces at the Navy Yard, with 110 employees, and will now lease 80,000 square feet, consolidating multiple sites into one central location. Crye decided to expand in the Navy Yard after considering numerous options for consolidation and expansion, including New Jersey. The company’s expansion into the Green Manufacturing Center will create 100 new jobs over the next five years. Crye also has several commercial product lines under development; one uses locally recycled materials that are converted into fabrics. Crye Precision Executive Director Caleb Crye, said, “The Navy Yard has been exactly what our business needed to grow and we are thrilled that our future will remain here. We started here a decade ago with 4,500 square feet, today we’re up to 45,000 square feet with more than 100 employees and when the new facility is complete we’ll have a more efficient operation with room to grow and add at least 100 new jobs.” A second anchor tenant, Macro Sea, will lease more than 50,000 square feet for New Lab, a cutting-edge facility that will promote design and manufacturing innovation using the latest in environmentally-conscious processes and machinery. Through traditional tenancies and co-working spaces, New Lab will encourage the collaboration between design and fabrication by hosting a dynamic mix of designers, digital manufacturers, architects, graduate research facilities, and others in a hive of sustainable design and innovation.
As for the time line? “Major construction begins this summer and will take approximately 18 months to complete.” State and city subsidies will help the project come to fruition.
Rendering credit: Macro Sea
05/21/2012 9:00 AM
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Growth Spurt for 270 St. Marks Avenue
The three-story, six-unit building at 270 St. Marks Avenue between Vanderbilt and Underhill really shot up since construction began in March. According to DOB permits, the development will be separated into two three-story buildings, each with three units.
Work Starts on Small New Prospect Heights Development [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/18/2012 2:40 PM
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192 Water St. Developers Will Take on 185 Plymouth St.
Looks like the developers of Dumbo condo build 192 Water Street are behind the planned renovation of 185 Plymouth Street, a major conversion job heading to the LPC next Tuesday. (192 Water Street update: it’s fully closed and occupied, less than a year after the sales launch.) AJ Pires from Alloy Development says 185 Plymouth in the very early stages, but the project will be very similar to 192 Water Street. In his words: “At 185 there will be 9 or 10 large, family units and we’ll do a similar treatment of the existing warehouse building. Some differences at 185 are that most units will have outdoor space, and there’s an interior courtyard that all units will have views to. 185 also has 13-14 foot ceiling heights which are a couple of feet taller than 192 Water. Half of the units also have water views.” Earlier this week the CB2 Landuse Committee approved facade changes, including a rooftop addition for two penthouse units. Here are a few more cool facts from the architect: since there’s no real sidewalk on Plymouth (it’s mostly cobblestone), they plan to continue the cobblestone into the lobby to create the feeling of a continuing street. And the building, previously a brillo pad factory, had a bridge opening across to 205 Water Street, also part of the factory. The indentation for the old bridge remains (at right), so the architects plan to install a projecting bay window there made of a sheer plate of glass.
Dumbo’s 185 Plymouth Heading to the LPC [Brownstoner] GMAP DOB
05/18/2012 9:30 AM
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Municipal Building Heading to Landmarks Soon
Community Board 2′s Landuse Committee gave it’s blessing to the exterior changes on the first and second floor of the Municipal Building, soon to be cleared out for several retail tenants. Developer Al Laboz and his architect presented plans pretty similar to that of the rendering above: on the first floor, the bases of the windows will be cut to make space for doors and display windows. There will be five entryways along Joralemon and Court Street and all the grates on Court Street will be covered over. Not pictures are the three kinds of signage proposed: illuminated signage on the ground-floor, awnings over the five different entrances on the first floor with lettering on the skirt, and awnings on the second floor with no signage. (They pulled inspiration from multi-story retail lining Manhattan’s 5th Avenue.) They are considering illumination behind the glass on the second floor but, that, as well as the second floor awnings, require special permission from the Public Design Commission. As for those retail tenants: still no word beyond that “upscale restaurant” but CB2 was promised no bank, pharmacy, drug store, or fast food joint. The development’s date with LPC is June 5th.
City Picks Al Laboz to Develop Municipal Building [Brownstoner]
05/18/2012 9:00 AM
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Section of Eastern Pkwy Mural Gone at Development Site
Yesterday morning DNAinfo reported that the section of the mural surrounding the development site on Eastern Parkway and Franklin Avenue was in the process of being taken down. The photo above shows what the Eastern Parkway section of the site looked like as of around 2:30 p.m. yesterday. The mural was supposed to come down starting Tuesday, but that did not happen. The latest rendering for the 62-unit project, which was recently purchased by new investors and may see the beginning of construction in earnest sometime soon, can be seen here, though it’s possible that it is out of date. The section of the mural on the Franklin Avenue side of the site is still intact. While some in the community no doubt feel sad about the mural being removed, it is terribly exciting that a long-stalled hole in the ground will one day—hopefully sooner rather than later—be the site of new construction in which families can live.
Weeks After $8.2 Million Sale, Franklin Avenue Bob Marley Mural Comes Down [DNAinfo]
Mural to Make Way for Building on Franklin Ave? [Brownstoner]
The Latest Look for the Big Eastern Pkwy/Franklin Ave Site [Brownstoner] GMAP
Big Lot at Eastern Pkwy/Franklin Finally Sells for $8M [Brownstoner]
05/17/2012 10:00 AM
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New Building, and Cinema, for 70 Henry Street
After some controversy, it looks like the Brooklyn Heights Cinema building at 70 Henry Street will make way for a new five-story rental build. Last night the architects Gerner Kronick + Valcarcel presented plans to the CB2 Landuse Committee for a five-story, 17-unit build with a movie theater on the first floor and in a section of the basement. The theater will still run under the ownership of the Brooklyn Heights Cinema with a lobby on the first floor and the theater in the basement. There will also be commercial space along Henry Street. Architect Randolph Gerner immediately addressed preservationists’ concerns that the building was “an integral part of the Brooklyn Heights Landmark District and should not be demolished.” He said the lot originally housed a five-story tenement with a one-story attached building for the proprietor of the site. A commissioned historical report of 70 Henry deemed that the one-story building (now the theater) underwent enough change that it “no longer retains its historical significance.” And so the replacement is decidedly modern; as Gerner said, “We’re borrowing from historic materials in a modern fashion.” The proposal involves a brick facade and massive steel windows that feel reminiscent of the look at the 20 Henry Street addition, sans balconies. The committee approved the design and seemed pleased that the movie theater would be retained. It wasn’t brought up, but it looks like there will only be a single screen. The lease for the Brooklyn Heights Cinema is up in June. If you’ll excuse a very blurry photo of the rendering from last night, click through to the jump. The architect told us he’d rather wait to release an official image after the vote from the LPC.
Preservationists: Heights Cinema Shouldn’t be Demolished [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Heights Cinema Owner on 70 Henry Development [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo via PropertyShark (more…)
05/17/2012 9:30 AM
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More Rooms and a Restaurant for the Bossert Hotel
Last night more details were revealed about the Bossert’s conversion back to a hotel at a Community Board 2′s Landuse Committee meeting. Architect Gene Kaufman, in the first formal presentation for the development, asked CB2 to change the use from an existing community facility to a transient hotel. The well-known back-story: The Jehovah’s Witnesses bought this building, known as the “Waldorf Astoria of Brooklyn” in the 80s, and got a variance to use the building as a free hotel to visiting Jehovah’s Witnesses. On the exterior, very little about the building will change under new ownership. Repair and restoration will go where needed; the historic entrance on Montague Street will remain; and only some flagpoles and signage will be added. Here are the interesting plans: The current 224-room configuration will be upped to 302 rooms; there will be a small restaurant open to the public with an entrance on Montague; and the rooftop lounge will be restored (!!!!), most likely with public access. The few residents who lived, and continue to live, at the hotel before the Jehovah’s Witnesses bought it will remain. Otherwise, the majority of the spectacular interior will be kept as is. The biggest issue voiced in the public hearing concerned parking and traffic. There will be no parking lot at the hotel, but a valet service for the hotel will work with commercial garages in the neighborhood. Nearby residents worried taxis would clog up Montague Street. Other residents voiced concern that no notice was given of the public hearing, and the board had some unanswered questions about the management plans for the hotel. Due to these issues, the Landuse Committee voted to table the motion until they had more information. Also still no word on the final price of the building (rumored to be around $90 million); word at the public hearing is that it’s still under contract.
Bistricer to Buy Bossert Hotel, Kaufman to Renovate [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Heights’ The Bossert Will Be a Hotel Again [Brownstoner]
05/17/2012 9:00 AM
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Development Instead of Proposed Columbia St. Garden
It’s been a bad week for public gardens in Brooklyn. Following the news of the demise of the Crow Hill Community Garden, the initiator of the South Brooklyn Children’s Garden (slated for construction on Columbia Street soon) shared this news:
HPD has retracted their agreement to lease us the vacant lots. Despite me being in communication with HPD about access to this lot for over 4 months now, I was told for the first time today that previously (before our proposal to lease the lot) an RFP for the lots was issued and the vacant lots were awarded to a contractor. The contractor just confirmed they have the financing for the building and is now being scheduled for the coming year.
After Columbia Street resident Shannon Mulholland presented a proposal for a children’s garden on the corner of Columbia and Sackett to Community Board 6, HPD told her there were no plans for the lot in the coming two to three years and that the agency would lease it on an annual basis. The South Brooklyn Children’s Garden is now looking for new places and will even consider leasing a rooftop. If you have any ideas for them, be in touch at info.sbcg@gmail.com.
Construction to Begin Soon on Columbia Street Garden [Brownstoner]
Columbia Street Residents Looks to Transform Lot [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/16/2012 9:30 AM
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Mural to Make Way for Building on Franklin Ave?
On Sunday, the Crow Hill Community Association sent out the following message: “After over 2 and a half years, our beloved neighborhood mural is being partially dismantled. We have just been informed by the developer of the site that they are taking down the Mural on the EASTERN PARKWAY side of the site. If you want your panel- you must come tomorrow morning at 8am to get it. Talk to Tom on the construction crew- by the way- he was nice enough to give us a heads up that they were coming down. If you are there they will do their best to take the panel down with out damaging it too much…. If you want a panel that is not yours- Ithat may be ok too….but check with the artist….If you can’t come at 8am- you can come later- the panels will be set aside for the day- they just might not be in great shape.” We stopped by the site yesterday afternoon, which is on Eastern Parkway and Franklin, and although a couple of the panels on the Eastern Parkway side had been removed, the contractors on the job said they would be put back into place because “we need to hide the site.” Murals are always wonderful displays of community creativity, particularly so at stalled construction sites, but when the mural does eventually come down for the 62-unit project that is in the works, a building with people living in it is always better than a neglected hole in the ground. Click through for a couple more photos of the mural as it was looking yesterday at 3:30 p.m.
The Latest Look for the Big Eastern Pkwy/Franklin Ave Site [Brownstoner] GMAP
Big Lot at Eastern Pkwy/Franklin Finally Sells for $8M [Brownstoner] (more…)
05/15/2012 9:30 AM
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Building Permits Increase in Brooklyn
There’s a story in today’s Post that suggests the purse strings are loosening on lending for new construction: “The city’s Buildings Department issued 112 permits for new Brooklyn construction projects from January through April, compared with 69 in the same period last year. Much of the spike is due to more than 350 new units of housing in neighborhoods like Williamsburg and Bedford-Stuyvesant.” The story notes that a lot of the housing planned is one- to three-family residences rather than a number of of big condos, and some of what we’re seeing is financing coming through for formerly stalled projects. However, a quote from developer Abby Hamlin, who is working on the second phase of the State Street townhouse project in Boerum Hill, gives insight into what’s going on in the field: “‘The market is definitely getting much better for securing construction financing, but it’s not totally back,’ said Hamlin, adding that lenders financed 80 percent of her construction costs for phase one but only agreed to finance 65 percent for phase two.’” So is it time, perhaps, for cautious optimism?
‘Building’ up Brooklyn’s Economy [NY Post]
Photo by Alex R.
05/14/2012 10:00 AM
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cara
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM