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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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Corner of 3rd Ave and Bergen May One Day Look Like This
On Friday, Crain’s brought word (and the new rendering above!) of plans for the long-stalled site at 3rd Avenue and Bergen Street, which had been on the market for $7 million. According to the story, the site has new owners—the Naftali Group and AEW Capital Management—who intend to build an 85-unit, luxury rental. Here’s the scoop:
The new development is near the long-awaited Whole Foods market that was recently approved for construction at Third Street and Third Avenue, next to the Gowanus Canal. It will include a health club, a resident lounge, a courtyard and roof deck with views of both Brooklyn and Manhattan. The Park Slope area has attracted a number of institutional investors in recent months. In December, Invesco paid a reported $57.5 million for a 95-unit residential building called Arias Park Slope., which was conceived as a condo but was later converted into a rental. Currently apartments in the area are fetching per-square-foot rents close to $54—almost $10 more than the prices they commanded a year ago.
It’s true that the building will only be .7 miles from the coming Whole Foods. It will also be .3 miles away from the Barclays Center.
85-Unit Apartment Building Slated for Brooklyn [Crain's]
Stalled Third Avenue Site on the Market [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 316 Bergen Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
Rendering c/o ODA Architecture, via Crain’s
05/07/2012 9:00 AM
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Gowanus Dance Parties Get Legit
The Brooklyn Paper reports that the once-illegal Gowanus dance parties at The Brooklyn Yard now have the blessing of Community Board Six. CB6 recommended a liquor licence for the outdoor parties, now called the Gowanus Grove, held every Sunday with local food vendors and music. Last year the parties stayed open until 8pm and beer was served, but the owners never went before the Community Board. The year before that, the dance parties were operating without liquor or sound licences and were shut down by the landlord. This year, the Gowanus Grove has new promoters, will hold dance parties until 9pm on Sundays, and serve food and beer. No word yet on the website when Sunday parties pick back up.
Gowanus-Side Dance Parties will Return this Summer [Brooklyn Paper]
Photo via
05/02/2012 2:00 PM
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Commercial Klutch: Tenants Face Atypical Space Crunch
Our masked and anonymous soldier in the Brooklyn commercial real estate trenches files this month’s report on what he/she is seeing in the field. The latest column is particularly timely given yesterday’s Crain’s article about Dumbo’s continued status as a “tech hotbed.”
Is the unthinkable happening? Are tenants moving to or returning to the small island across the east river, leaving our big island behind, as commercial space in Dumbo becomes nearly impossible to find?
Tenants seeking space from 500 to 1500 RSF are the bulk of the booming demand around here. Most can’t find decent space this spring. The main “supplier,” Two Trees in Dumbo, is supply short and using most ‘smalls’ for their own internal demand. Even Court Street, historically slow moving, saw 32 Court lease three 900 RSF spaces within a few weeks this year.
Reflecting the rapid decline retail and apartment inventory, commercial offices had been plentiful until last year’s steady draw down. While there is usually something out there, and owners building out new footage as fast as they can, at any given moment the game of musical chairs finds tenants competing for limited seating, festival style. Gowanus, Fourth Avenue and even Sunset are bubbling, with few options even in these edge markets.
One wrinkle – generally creatives decline DTB space.They prefer to herd. That may slowly change as other options sell-out and DTB evolves further.
The new 1000 Dean Street should help out in 2013, drawing from new businesses in Prospect Heights, Bed-Stuy, Crown Heights, Park Slope and beyond, as well as relieving some pressure on Dumbo.
Vinegar Hill, a block from the Manhattan Bridge overpass, has the newly restored 231 Front Street, with a dozen tiny spaces and more smalls coming on line this summer.
Office rents in the great Willie-B approach $40 a foot, when they can be found. Not for the faint of ‘cart’ – $$ that is. The top Gowanus multi-story buildings can get $20 a foot if they ask – where Dumbo was at several years ago.
Previous editions of Commercial Klutch can be read here.
04/23/2012 12:00 PM
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City Poo-Poos Demands to Stop Gowanus Sewage Dump
According to an article in today’s Daily News, the city and the government are duking it out over the city’s practice of dumping raw sewage into the Gowanus Canal amidst the federal government-led Superfund cleanup of the canal. Here’s the crux, according to the story: “The feds say the city will have to crack down on the sewer overflows – which spew almost 400 million gallons of sewage into the canal every year – as part of an upcoming Superfund cleanup or else the ambitious cleanup will be ruined because the waterway will quickly get dirty again. But city officials say the sewage isn’t responsible for the toxic sludge at the bottom of the canal, which comes from decades of industrialchemical pollution.” The city has its own plans for reducing sewage dumping, but the federal government says it’s not good enough. Here’s their side: “EPA spokeswoman Mary Mears said sewer overflow controls – beyond those to which the city is currently committed – …are necessary in order to ensure the long-term integrity of a Superfund remedy for the Canal. ‘Of course, as a general matter, it is very important that we reduce the flow of raw sewage into urban waterways,’ she said. Through the Superfund law, the EPA can move to legally force the city to stop the overflows.” Translation: The city is not going to win this fight.
City Balks at Demands From the Feds to Stop Raw Sewage Overflows into Gowanus Canal [NY Daily News]
Photo by juliandunn
04/20/2012 9:30 AM
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Lotsa Old Stuff on Ninth Street
Build It Green opened its first Brooklyn location last year (the original is in Astoria) but for whatever reason we had not had a chance to visit the salvage store yet. So, Saturday morning, with a rare weekend to ourselves, we headed down to 9th Street in Gowanus, between 2nd Avenue and the canal to check it out. There was lots of old stuff (doors, windows, sinks, tubs) as well as a bunch of complete kitchen cabinet sets. Very cool. Unfortunately, the salvage yard in the Lowe’s park lot that we reported on three years ago wasn’t open for some reason, but we took a couple of photos through the fence. Lastly, we popped into another nice store called Find, which is located right next door to Build It Green. Based upon the prices alone, it’s fair to say that this is definitely more of an antiques shop than salvage place, but lots of nice couches, lights, tables, etc. nevertheless.
04/10/2012 11:00 AM
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Closing Bell: Sign-Ups Available for Slope/Gowanus CSA
The deadline is fast approaching to sign up for a CSA in Park Slope/Gowanus that delivers organic produce, eggs, meat and cheese from Farmer Phil at Barefoot Organics Farm in Pennsylvania. The pick-up location is the first floor of Triomph Gym, at 540 President Street (between 3rd and 4th avenues), on the first floor on Tuesday evenings. Shares range from $670-$820, and the sign-up deadline is April 30th and can be done via this website. Pick-ups will start in early June.
Brooklyn CSA Membership [Official Site]
Photo via Bare Foot Organics
04/04/2012 4:00 PM
Comment
Vid: ‘Will Whole Foods Destroy Brooklyn?’
Yeah, they make the trip to the Park Slope Food Co-op to ask the folks there about what they think of Whole Foods coming to 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue. Also, one neighborhood activist quoted at the end who is against the grocer says she believes Whole Foods has some unspecified “hoops to go through” before they can actually build.
Will Whole Foods Destroy Brooklyn? [Reason.TV/YouTube]
04/03/2012 11:00 AM
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Winners of Park Slope Funding Contest Announced
Today Councilmember Brad Lander’s office sent out a release saying that the votes from this weekend have been tallied, and that seven projects garnered the most votes to receive the $1 million earmarked for them in the FY 2013 budget via participatory budgeting. There were 20 projects on the ballot. Without further ado:
1. Bathroom Renovation for the Children of PS 124 – $150,000 (Renovate two dysfunctional bathrooms that serve over 136 of the youngest students daily in a high-needs elementary school. 958 votes)
2. Brooklyn Neighbors Composting – $165,000 (Pest-free, smell-free compost system near Gowanus Canal uses 1 ton/day of kitchen food scraps collected at local greenmarkets and schools to create rich soil for our gardens, parks, and trees. 919 votes)
3. District 39 Tree Planting – $100,000 (Plant 100 new trees and install tree guards on blocks with few or no trees Parks Department will contribute an additional $85,000 to this effort for tree planting. 767 votes)
4. Technology: A Better Future for PS 154 / PS 130 Students – $140,000 (Installation of 15 Smartboards (PS 130), 45 13″ Macbook computers with 2 carts and 2 wireless printers (PS 154 grades 1, 3, & 4). 758 votes)
5. Prospect Park Pedestrian Pathway Rehabilitation – $205,000 (Repair Prospect Park pedestrian paths near Park Circle and Long Meadow to prevent flooding, add 10 trash cans in park. 648 votes)
6. Pedestrian Hazards at the Prospect Expressway – $200,000 (Repairs & additions to badly damaged and dangerous 9 lane Prospect Expressway pedestrian crossing at Church Avenue, area and landscape. 606 votes)
7. Kensington Library Resources and Community Space – $80,000 (New books/DVDs for library, equipment for meetings, storytelling, rehearsals, and small performances promoting Kensington’s cultural diversity. 582 votes)
The release also notes the following: “Lander also committed to push forward on several other projects on the ballot that did not receive enough votes to qualify for a share of the $1 million, but around which community residents have coalesced: Getting ‘bus countdown clocks’ at bus shelters; Working with Kensington’s Bangladeshi community to create an “International Mother Language” monument as part of the renovation of Dome Playground; Address flooding and other improvements at the Ft. Hamilton F/G subway station.; Getting DOT to repave 50th Street between Ft. Hamilton Parkway & 13th Avenue; and Facilitating more community access, WiFi, and amenities at the Carroll Gardens library.” How cool would bus countdown clocks be?
Vote for Participatory Budgeting Projects [Brownstoner]
Photo of PS 124 from PropertyShark
04/02/2012 10:00 AM
Comment
Lot Reduction of Whole Foods Landmark Still Needs OK
Well, we really thought we’d settled the drawn-out business of Whole Foods getting approval to build a store at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue inn Gowanus after the Board of Standards and Appeals approved a variance request last month, but, according to a story in the Journal, the City Council still needs to vote to approve the reduction of the lot size of the landmark building sitting on the grocer’s site. The LPC already approved the lot reduction of the Coignet Stone Company Building in January, so the Council vote is probably 100% pro forma, but the article gives a nice primer on the history of the landmark as well as why some preservationists aren’t pleased about the Whole Foods store wrapping around the building very tightly. The article talks about how the building was constructed in 1872, landmarked in 2006, and how the “elegant Italianite mansion provided office space for Coignet and subsequent companies, including its longest-running tenant, the Brooklyn Improvement Co., from which Coignet leased the land for its stone works.” We’re going to block quote more about the building’s history, since it’s so interesting:
Designed by William Field & Son, the curious building was a showcase for Beton Coignet, a new concrete developed in France by François Coignet in the 1850s. The Brooklyn mansion was built of the very material it championed and displayed various architectural features and ornament cast from molds, showing that concrete could replicate the stone-and-chisel method of old. ‘It was definitely an advertisement [for the company]. They put it on the most visible position on the lot,’ said Matthew Postal, a landmarks commission researcher who studied the Coignet building, ‘This is a building that was testing a new technology; it would be an engineering landmark.’ Noteworthy commissions using the new building material included portions of St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Cleft Ridge Span in Prospect Park, the oldest such arch in the country. Coignet also supplied concrete for new residential developments, simultaneously rising to prominence with the Brooklyn Improvement Co., founded by Edwin Clark Litchfield.
While Whole Foods has pledged to give the building a facelift, some preservationists fear that by reducing the lot size, the building’s distinctiveness will get lost in the sauce compared to the big store next to it.
Market Nears A Landmark [WSJ]
After 8 Years, Brooklyn’s First Whole Foods is Finally a Go! [Brownstoner]
LPC Approves Reduction of Coignet Stone Lot [Brownstoner]
Preservationists: Don’t Shrink Gowanus Landmark’s Lot [Brownstoner]
LPC Hearing on Reduction of Gowanus Building’s Lot [Brownstoner] GMAP
03/29/2012 9:30 AM
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BBQ, Not Cocktails, at Gowanus Rental Building
Earlier this week Community Board 6 approved a liquor license for BBQ Billy’s LLC to open a BBQ spot in the commercial space at rental building 433 3rd Avenue, between 7th and 8th Streets. A whiskey bar called Whiskey Tango Foxtrot was previously planned for the space. Local blog Gowanus Your Face Off shared more details last week: ” If you are not familiar with BBQ Billy’s work then you have no idea what kinda crazy BBQ enthused person the Gowanus community is getting. One look at his website and you’ll know he lives and breathes meat!” The place will be called Fletcher’s, seat about 50, and serve beer, wine, and bourbon. This is the owner’s first restaurant.
New Place on 3rd Ave btw 7th & 8th St [Gowanus Your Face Off]
Whiskey Bar Coming to New 3rd Ave Rental [Brownstoner] GMAP
03/28/2012 2:00 PM
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Building of the Day: 227 Fourth Avenue
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: Brooklyn Lyceum, formerly NYC Public Bath # 7
Address: 227 Fourth Avenue
Cross Streets: Corner President Street
Neighborhood: Gowanus
Year Built: 1906-1910
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival
Architect: Raymond F. Almirall
Other buildings by architect: Bklyn Public Libraries: Park Slope , Pacific, & Eastern Parkway Branches, St. Michael’s RC Church, Sunset Park, Seaview Hospital, Staten Island
Landmarked: Individual landmark, 1982. National Register of Historic Places, 1985.
The story: This building represents one of New York City’s great public health experiments: the public bath. Even by the end of the 1800′s, the city’s millions of tenement apartments were not required by law to have indoor toilet facilities or any kind of bath facilities. Late 19th century immigration, as well as city growth, caused an overflow of people in crowded, unsanitary living conditions. By the end of the 19th century, public health advocates had finally convinced the powers that be that the public health of the entire city was in danger. This was not just a poor or immigrant problem, it was everyone’s problem, and something had to be done by the city. The public bath was one of the results of this health reform. If you are interested in more information on this topic, please see my Walkabout piece on “Taking the Waters.” (more…)
03/09/2012 3:00 PM
Comment
Open House Picks
Park Slope
374 Douglass Street
Warren Lewis
Sunday, 1:00-3:00
$2,355,000
GMAP P*Shark
Williamsburg
104 Roebling Street
Corcoran
Sunday, 1:45-3:00
$2,100,000
GMAP P*Shark
Midwood
676 East 18th Street
Brooklyn Hearth
Sunday, 11:30-1:30
$1,249,000
GMAP P*Shark
Gowanus
473 Union Street
Fillmore Real Estate
Sunday, 2:30-4:00
$799,000
GMAP P*Shark
03/02/2012 1:04 PM
Comment
After 8 Years, Brooklyn’s First Whole Foods is Finally a Go!
The Board of Standards and Appeals voted unanimously moments ago to grant Whole Foods Market a variance to build its long-planned supermarket in Gowanus on 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue. The store has been in the works for 8 years, and the variance request represented the company’s last regulatory hurdle to building its first supermarket in Brooklyn. The BSA’s decision follows years of will-they-or-won’t-they uncertainty about Whole Foods’ designs on the formerly industrial property, which the company cleaned and remediated. In recent months there has been some opposition to the project from people who live and work nearby on the grounds that the supermarket might drive small businesses out of the area. The store will be 56,000 square feet and we’re guessing the grocer is looking to start building soon! When asked how soon Whole Foods would get shovels in the ground, a rep said, “as soon as possible.”
02/28/2012 1:38 PM
Comment
A Different Vision for the Gowanus Whole Foods Site
With a decision looming from the Board of Standards and Appeals’ on the variance Whole Foods Market applied for to build a store larger than zoning allows at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue, neighborhood think tank the Gowanus Institute released an “alternative development plan” for the site. The blog Gowanus Your Face Off dissected the plan, which calls for building a couple large new buildings that would offer “vocational training, business incubation and support services for entrepreneurs in the culinary and creative industries.” As the blog notes, the space “would be like a Foodie version of the Old Can Factory combined with the Brooklyn Creative league and the 3rd Ward.” Meanwhile, Whole Foods would get 75,000 square feet of space to have a food production space and a storefront, and the little brick landmark on 3rd Avenue would be turned into a “‘Museum of Industry’ to highlight industrial innovation.” Of course, Whole Foods Market owns the site and might not be all that keen on adopting these plans.
The Whole Foods War: Alternative Building Proposal [Gowanus Your Face Off]
02/27/2012 9:00 AM
Comment
Last Week’s Biggest Sales
1. SHEEPSHEAD BAY $3,500,000
400 Avenue U, #PH5B GMAP P*Shark
We cannot find a Streeteasy listing for this development, not to mention a picture. But, ACRIS lists this as the sale of a condo unit. Entered into contract on 4/8/11; closed on 12/20/11; deed recorded on 2/8/2012.
2. BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $3,327,613.28
9 College Place, #4D GMAP P*Shark
Sales at the Love Lane Mews have really picked up steam. Streeteasy shows four units sold and six in contract. This particular unit had its listing pulled. Entered into contract on 12/2/11; closed on 1/17/12; deed recorded on 2/7/2012.
3. SHEEPSHEAD BAY $2,650,000
400 Avenue U, #402 GMAP P*Shark
Another big condo sale at the mysterious condo building 400 Avenue U. Entered into contract on 10/7/11; closed on 1/17/12; deed recorded on 2/7/2012.
4. CARROLL GARDENS $2,010,000
534 Clinton Street GMAP P*Shark
The listing says: “Completely renovated three story single family townhouse in the heart of Carroll Gardens provides the ideal combination of a modern aesthetic with traditional neighborhood architecture and charm.” Ask: $2.2 million. Entered into contract on 11/16/11; closed on 1/12/12; deed recorded on 2/6/2012.
5. GOWANUS $1,320,000
158 14th Street Street GMAP P*Shark
A cute, circa-1864, four-story home. Here’s the listing. It was asking $1,495,000 then dropped to $1,295,000 before entering contract. Entered into contract on 11/15/11; closed on 1/11/12; deed recorded on 2/6/2012.
02/14/2012 11:30 AM
Comment
Critics Fight Whole Foods as BSA Decision Looms
Crain’s has a story about the opposition to Whole Foods’ plans to build a supermarket at 3rd Street and 3rd Avenue that covers the by-now-familiar criticisms from some in the neighborhood that the store would harm area artists and small businesses. An example: “Some residents and small businesses would like to keep the vacant lot, nestled between Carroll Gardens and Park Slope, zoned for small- and medium-scale manufacturing—a dwindling asset they want to protect. A recent report by the Gowanus Institute claims the site could be developed to create three times the 300 retail jobs Whole Foods promises.” There’s also a quote from someone who says that if the Board of Standards and Appeals decides to grant Whole Foods a variance to build a store on the property larger than zoning allows—the BSA is supposed to announce its decision before the month is out—it could open “the floodgates” to other “retail and residential developers looking to take bites out of the industrial neighborhood.” OK, but what do you think?
02/13/2012 11:00 AM
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HDC Pushes Against Coignet Stone Lot Reduction
The Landmarks Preservation Commission may have voted to approve a request to reduce the lot around the Coignet Stone building on the Whole Foods site in Gowanus, but a prominent preservation organization is protesting the decision. The Historic Districts Council had the following to say about the matter in an email blast that went out yesterday: “This proposal is an effort [for Whole Foods] to avoid the normal Landmarks Preservation Commission review process. The owners of the Coignet Building should be required to present plans at a public hearing to show how their proposal relates to the designated property. Otherwise, this will point the way for all who want to build upon a landmarked site and avoid LPC oversight.” The proposal still has to be approved by the City Planning Commission and then the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, which should happen within the next couple months. Meanwhile, HDC started a petition asking for “proper protection” for the Coignet Stone building and a public hearing about the request to reduce the lot size.
LPC Approves Reduction of Coignet Stone Lot [Brownstoner]
Preservationists: Don’t Shrink Gowanus Landmark’s Lot [Brownstoner]
LPC Hearing on Reduction of Gowanus Building’s Lot [Brownstoner] GMAP
02/02/2012 9:30 AM
Comment
Jewish Press Building Will Soon Be Blue
Here’s a shot of back of the former Jewish Press building at 323 3rd Avenue, which Storage Deluxe bought last year. It’s starting to sport the company’s familiar blue-and-orange facade. Here’s how the building looked before.
Jewish Press Building Going Storage [Brownstoner]
Jewish Press Building Hits Market for $10 Million [Brownstoner] GMAP
01/25/2012 2:40 PM
Comment
LPC Approves Reduction of Coignet Stone Lot
Yesterday the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted unanimously to reduce the size of the landmark Coignet Stone Company Building’s lot on 3rd Avenue and 3rd Street. The proposal was to reduce the lot from approximately 125 feet to 55 feet on the 3rd Avenue side, and from 55 feet to 40 feet on the 3rd Street side to allow more room for the construction of the planned Whole Foods. At the public hearing last month, preservationists spoke out against shrinking the lot, with the Historic Districts Council saying, “It is troublesome that after years of planning by Whole Foods, the company is now only dealing with the fact that it owns a designated site and is asking the landmark to bear the brunt of the project.” Whole Foods does not own the building but promised to restore it and began some renovation work last year. It sounds as though the BSA was waiting for this LPC decision to come through before voting on Whole Foods’ variance request, so this clears the way for that to happen next month.
Preservationists: Don’t Shrink Gowanus Landmark’s Lot [Brownstoner]
LPC Hearing on Reduction of Gowanus Building’s Lot [Brownstoner] GMAP
01/25/2012 10:30 AM
Comment
adam_dahill
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM