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Fort Greene Park Changes Hands in Latest Redistricting
The redistricting action in North Brooklyn may not be as kooky as some other parts of the state (see today’s Observer post for some rich examples) but there were some changes to Joe Lentol’s turf worth mentioning. Most notable, is the loss of Fort Greene Park (as well as a strip of several blocks between Dekalb and Willoughby). Joe Lentol’s loss is Hakeem Jeffries’ gain, but only for a little while, since the 57th District leader now has his sights set on a run for congress. Check out a larger version of the new District 50 map here. And, for comparison’s sake, here’s the old map.
01/27/2012 3:06 PM
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New Building Planned for Northern Tip of Greenpoint
A large new building is in the works in Greenpoint on Manhattan Avenue between Box and Clay streets. The owners of the property—the warehouse above, which has yet to be demolished—filed plans with the DOB to construct a 7-story building with 209 units and some retail space. A website for a firm called Domain Companies says the development will have a mix of market-rate, middle-income and affordable apartments, but it’s unclear whether the description is out of date. GMAP
Photo via PropertyShark
01/09/2012 10:30 AM
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The Hot Seat: Laura Treciokas
Welcome to The Hot Seat, where we interview folks involved in Brooklyn real estate, architecture, development and the like. Introducing Laura Treciokas, Co-Chair of Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park. FBIP is a community group championing the creation of the 28-acre waterfront park along the East River that was promised to residents after the Williamsburg rezoning in 2005.
Brownstoner: What neighborhood do you live in and how did you end up there?
Laura Treciokas: I live in Greenpoint about four blocks from the Bushwick Inlet. My first exposure to the neighborhood was about a decade ago when I did the Five Boro Bike Tour. Biking through here I thought what a great waterfront community it was. When my husband and I started looking for a home in 2007 to start our family this is one of the first places we started to look. We bought an old house – it dates back to 1872 – and have been renovating it ever since. It’s really a labor of love and I’m not sure if we’ll ever finish!
BS: Can you talk about the beginnings of FBIP and your involvement with it?
LT: A while back a neighbor of mine who is a founding member of Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning asked if I’d be willing to help get a Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park group up and running. The goal was to educate folks – especially new residents – about the promise made during the 2005 rezoning to build a 28-acre waterfront park around the Bushwick Inlet for our community. That mission has taken on new urgency as the clock ticks down on the Bloomberg Administration who made that promise to us in the first place. So this past fall, a coalition of groups joined with Friends of Bushwick Inlet Park, including Neighbors Allied for Good Growth and tenant leaders from the Edge, Northside Piers and 184 Kent to launch the Where’s Our Park campaign.
BS: The massive rezoning of Williamsburg has changed the neighborhood aesthetically and culturally. What was your opinion of the rezoning at the time, and how do you view it in retrospect?
LT: The rezoning in 2005 took place before I moved to the neighborhood. But once I did arrive I realized – as do many of the folks who were involved in the rezoning fight – that the bulk of work to transform our community is going to be an ongoing fight. With tens of thousands of new residents moving in, but very little new infrastructure to support them, we are faced with a cart before the horse situation and now we have to figure out how to fix it. We must insure the city adds all the services needed to meet the demands of these new residents – especially open space. This community was already underserved by parks and open space and that is only getting worse as new residents join us.
After the jump, why North Brooklyn suffers from underfunded parks, what’s next for the campaign, and what’s great about Greenpoint…
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01/06/2012 11:28 AM
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Rental of the Day: 140 Calyer Street
This is a sweet little two bedroom at 140 Calyer Street, in Greenpoint. Besides being very white, there are high ceilings and a decent amount of space. It’s asking $2,300/month. We’ve definitely seen more expensive pads in Greenpoint, so we’re guessing this one won’t take too long to rent.
140 Calyer Street [Citiburg Realty] GMAP P*Shark
12/21/2011 12:30 PM
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City’s Fuzzy Math on Bushwick Inlet Park
The latest story about the city’s abrogation of duty when it comes to the construction of Bushwick Inlet Park—the public waterfront park in Williamsburg and Greenpoint that was supposed to be built following the rezoning of the area to allow for residential development—is reported by the New York World, which looks into whether the city underestimated how much it would cost to buy the necessary land. As it turns out, it seems like the city really missed the mark when it was calculating how much the properties would cost. The city engaged in a three-year legal battle with the owners of 50 and 86 Kent Avenue that was predicated on the notion that the properties should be valued as industrial, and thus worth $6.4 million and $13.6 million, respectively. The owners of the properties argued that the parcels should be valued much higher since, in a rezoned Williamsburg, they were worth a lot more as residential development sites. The city ended up paying $28.7 million for 50 Kent Avenue and $93.4 million for 86 Kent and is now saying it doesn’t have anymore money to buy the 12 remaining acres of the planned 28-acre park. (Around $200 million has been spent or earmarked so far for acquiring land for the park.) Ryan Kuonen, a member of Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, is quoted as saying the following about the way the city’s handled the situation: “Why didn’t the city acquire this land before rezoning? They really rushed this through without thinking it out.”
Did City Miscalculation Sideline North Brooklyn’s New Waterfront Park? [NYW]
Outrage Over City’s Lack of Action on Bushwick Inlet Park [Brownstoner]
Photo by ryanlachica
12/20/2011 9:00 AM
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Rental of the Day: 144 Franklin Street, #2
It seems this co-op unit at landmarked beauty 144 Franklin Street never sold, because now it’s up for rent. It’s the full second floor, and it would be great to work with the simple, lofty space. However, the state of the bathroom and kitchen are anybody’s guess. The unit was asking $995,000 when it was on the market, and the price to rent is $5,200/month. Would you pay that kinda money for this kind of space in Greenpoint?
144 Franklin Street, #2 [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark
12/15/2011 12:30 PM
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Market Snapshot: Greenpoint
PropertyShark has provided us with another batch of numbers showing real estate trends in a Brooklyn neighborhood, this time focusing on Greenpoint. What we’re seeing is a market that doesn’t read like most others following the 2008 bust, with substantial price increases in mid-to-late 2009. Sales volume, on the other hand, looks more typical, with big dips in 2009 and through the middle of last year, followed by more deals since then. The finer points:
Condos and co-ops: There have been 803 apartment sales since the beginning of 2005 in Greenpoint. The peak of the market in terms of number of sales was the second quarter of 2008, when there were 81 closings, while the second quarter of 2006 had the highest median sales price, $687,319. This year there were 26 sales in the third quarter and the median price was $596,356.
Houses: There have been 381 house sales in the neighborhood since the beginning of 2005, and the median price from then until now is $736,000. Prices were at their highest in late 2007, when the median was $900,000. The most sales, 28, were recorded in the third quarter of 2006. The median sales price last quarter was $702,500 and there were 14 closings.
Biggest sale ever: 30 Bayard Street #PHA, sold for $2,224,876 in June ’07.
Most expensive street: Milton Street, which has a median sales price of $981,000.
Click through for more graphs with price trends since ’05, as well as a map showing how Greenpoint prices compare to neighboring areas.
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11/23/2011 10:30 AM
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Greenpoint’s Pencil Factory Condo Almost Sold Out
The listings for the remaining units at the Pencil Factory on West Street are saying that the Greenpoint condo is now 95 percent sold. The three listings remaining on StreetEasy are for a $269,000 studio, a $571,000 one-bedroom and a $831,000 three-bedroom penthouse. Prices were lowered at the 93-unit condo last April and since then it’s sold pretty briskly.
Closings, Move-Ins at the Pencil Factory [Brownstoner]
Pencil Factory Halfway There [Brownstoner]
Pencil Factory 25 Percent Sold [Brownstoner]
Pencil Factory Back in Business [Brownstoner] GMAP
11/22/2011 11:00 AM
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Rental of the Day: 162 Newton Street
If you don’t mind exposed brick (or living near the BQE) this Greenpoint one-and-a-half bedroom at 162 Newton Street may be worth checking out. The apartment has its charms and the kitchen is surprisingly nice. Absent pictures of the bedrooms, we’ll assume they’re small. The rent is $2,300/month, which is still a pretty penny for an area of Greenpoint not all that close to the G train.
162 Newton Street [Miron Properties] GMAP P*Shark
11/21/2011 12:32 PM
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Just Add Water: Hipster Swimming Hole Coming Along
The renovated McCarren Park pool is scheduled to reopen to the public in about 8 months, and at this point there’s plenty of visible progress on the $50 million overhaul of the massive WPA-era facility. Ladders have been installed, and new canopies have been put on the bath house. Workers are also landscaping the area around the pool. Click through for a rendering of how it’s supposed to look once all’s said and done.
Presenting the New McCarren Pool [Brownstoner] (more…)
11/10/2011 12:00 PM
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4,000-Unit Greenpoint Project Poised to Break Ground?
The Observer has intriguing news about a massive Greenpoint development that’s been in the works for years: According to a source, construction is likely to begin next year on the first of 10 buildings planned for the waterfront. The project is supposed to result in 4,000 units of housing all told. The developer is the Park Tower Group, which amassed 20 acres of land next to the Newtown Creek almost a decade ago. A source involved with the project tells The Observer that “the market is finally there for us,” though the developer is now planning to build rentals rather than condos.
Greenpoint Colossus: Massive 10-Tower Complex Could Rise Next Year [NYO]
11/02/2011 10:00 AM
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A Castle Grows in Greenpoint
In case you were worried that the financial problems of recent years had put a stop to self-important building names, fear no more. New York Shitty chronicles the tale of a new building on Green Street in Greenpoint that’s been christened the Osho Castle by developers. Neuschwanstein it is not!
10/21/2011 10:10 AM
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Co-op of the Day: 144 Franklin Street, #2
We’re loving this lofty new listing at 144 Franklin Street in Greenpoint, and that’s not just because its cornice is featured in the Brownstoner header or that Montrose Morris made it the Building of the Day a couple of weeks ago! This apartment is the entire second floor of the landmarked Mechanics and Traders Bank building at the corner of Greenpoint Avenue. It’s fairly unadorned–and there are no photos of bathrooms or kitchen–so we suspect there will be some work a buyer will want to do, but it’s a pretty great blank canvas to work with.
144 Franklin Street, #2 [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
10/20/2011 12:54 PM
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Rental of the Day: 305 McGuinness Blvd.
There’s a decent amount of space at this one-and-a-half bedroom loft at 305 McGuinness Boulevard in Greenpoint. Plenty of windows, too, although the views fall short of breathtaking. Going rate for a shiny, new(ish) unit in the middle of Greenpoint: $2,975/month. Sounds alright to you?
305 McGuinness Boulevard [Aptsandlofts.com] GMAP P*Shark
10/18/2011 12:32 PM
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Building of the Day: 144 Franklin Street
Brooklyn, one building at a time.
Name: Mechanics and Traders Bank of Brooklyn Building
Address: 144 Franklin Street
Cross Streets: Corner of Greenpoint Avenue
Neighborhood: Greenpoint
Year Built: 1895
Architectural Style: Renaissance Revival, with Romanesque Revival arches
Architect: Unknown
Landmarked: Yes, part of Greenpoint HD (1982)
The story: Today’s Franklin Street was once a turnpike connecting Williamsburg to Astoria, Queens, opening up Greenpoint to commercial traffic. Franklin was the main commercial street in the neighborhood until the 1880’s, when Manhattan Avenue took its place. Consequently, there were many important commercial buildings on Franklin, and the Mechanics and Traders Bank of Brooklyn was one of the most important. It’s also one of the most interesting.
The bank itself also has a very colorful history. It was established in 1867, and operated out of a small brick office on this site. As their business grew, they decided to build this much more impressive building to replace it. The bank had originally bought the site from the Sparrow family, local manufacturers, merchants, and real estate developers who helped develop much of Greenpoint and Williamsburg. A Sparrow was on the board of the bank, as were members of the Meserole, Roland and Wyckoff families, all old Eastern District and/or Brooklyn families. (more…)
10/12/2011 3:30 PM
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More Holdups for the Greenpoint Avenue Bike Lane
Plans for new bike lanes near the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge have been in the works for awhile, but now they’re being held up because Community Board 1 isn’t thrilled about the loss of parking they’ll involve. The current Greenpoint Avenue bike lane begins at West Street and stops just short of the bridge. The DOT plans to continue the lane onto the bridge, creating two bike lanes and a buffer zone on the bridge itself. (Streetsblog’s got an image of the proposal.) The bike lanes planned for the Greenpoint Avenue Bridge itself are a done deal, says Karen Nieves of CB1′s Transportation Committee, but the lanes leading to and from the bridge are the ones that the community has problems with.
Click through to get the specifics on the plans, including the controversial loss of 50 parking spaces near the bridge… (more…)
10/07/2011 12:00 PM
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Rental of the Day: 196 Monitor Street
This two bedroom plus office at 196 Monitor Street in Greenpoint is going for $2,495/month. There’s nothing overly fancy about it, but the fireplace and stained glass are certainly nice. Otherwise, it looks spacious and clean. What do you think?
196 Monitor Street [Miron Properties] GMAP P*Shark
10/06/2011 12:32 PM
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Foreclosure Auction Scheduled for 55 Eckford
There hasn’t been news about 55 Eckford Street, the long-stalled Greenpoint development, for a long time. Back in 2009, it was scheduled to come up for auction, and now it’s once again slated to hit the block. Per Property Shark, a foreclosure auction is scheduled for later this month, and the lien amount is $6,766,950. According to a Greenpoint Gazette article from early last year, a new firm acquired the property in late ’09, planning to finish construction and turn it into a rental. It’s unclear what became of the firm’s plans. DOB records show a standing stop work order and an impressive number of unresolved violations.
55 Eckford St [PropertyShark]
Foreclosure Looming at 55 Eckford Street? [Brownstoner] GMAP
10/05/2011 10:30 AM
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Nostalgia for a Brooklyn of Yore
The Times has a story about a bunch of Facebook groups that memorialize Brooklyn back in the day, including “The Neighborhood: Who Says You Can’t Go Home?” (for Williamsburg natives); “I Loved Being a Kid in Flatbush”; I Lived in Carroll Gardens When We Still Called it Red Hook; and Greenpoint Natives. Many of the pages have thousands of members. Mitchell Moss, a professor of urban policy and planning at New York University, tells The Times that they point back to a time when there was “real social cohesion” in city neighborhoods and that while “new trends in urbanism try to recapture those old communal feelings, you can never recreate what emerged organically.” They’re also clearinghouses for stuff like complaints about gentrification and changes in real estate values: “Patrick Drexler, 51, who left Williamsburg for New Jersey after he and his wife divorced in 2001, said he longed to live again near Lorimer Street, where his grandfather made his home after emigrating from Germany in 1892. Mr. Drexler recently asked his ex-wife, who still lives there, what kind of place he could get for about $1,200 a month. ‘She told me: What are you, crazy? You couldn’t get a parking place for that now,’ he said.”
On Facebook, Neighborhoods as They Once Were [NY Times]
Photo from I Loved Being a Kid in Flatbush
10/03/2011 9:30 AM
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Open House Picks
Boerum Hill
298 State Street
Douglas Elliman
Saturday, 1-3 and Sunday, by appointment
$2,675,000
GMAP P*Shark
Williamsburg
135 Bedford Avenue
Halstead
Sunday, 1-2
$2,100,000
GMAP P*Shark
Ditmas Park
674 East 22nd Street
Fillmore
Sunday, 12-2
$899,000
GMAP P*Shark
Greenpoint
220 Eagle Street
Aptsandlofts.com
Sunday, 2-3
$699,000
GMAP P*Shark
09/30/2011 1:07 PM
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panyl
May 21, 2012 | 02:16 PM