Brownstoner is Brooklyn's most read
website about real estate, renovation
and neighborhood news. Read More»
Stalled Bed Stuy Build Finds Buyer
There is an end in sight for the long-stalled Bed Stuy build at 339 Greene Avenue. The building has been sold to Bonjour Capital for $16,000,000, reported The Real Deal. The firm plans to finish construction on the 57-unit, 12-story rental building. The project was delayed for years by a foreclosure and bankruptcy filing.
Bonjour Capital Takes Over Bed-Stuy Rental Building Stalled for Last Six Years [TRD]
Vultures Circling 339 Greene Avenue? [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/24/2013 11:45 AM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 517 2nd Street
Sure, it costs to live in a Victorian brick townhouse two blocks from the park. And that’s what you’re getting at this six-bedroom, three-and-a-half-bathroom home at 517 2nd Street in Park Slope. The rental includes both the upper triplex and ground-floor apartment. But for $16,000 a month, we were expecting something with a little more pizzazz. What do you think?
517 2nd Street [Citi Habitats] GMAP P*Shark
05/23/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 320 Washington Avenue
This three-bedroom, two-bathroom rental unit comes from one of our favorite buildings in Clinton Hill, the Graham Home for Old Ladies. This condo-unit-for-rent is quite lovely, even if it might be a tad cozy. One bedroom is set up as an office and the other one pictured doesn’t look very large, although there is lot of closet space. The asking rent comes in at $3,750 a month.
320 Washington Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
05/22/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
818 Dean Street Rentals on the Market
Earlier in May Halstead began leasing units at 818 Dean Street, a Scarano-designed building in Crown Heights that has been under construction for many years. (Aguayo Real Estate Group had the listing, and was acquired by Halstead last month.) Seven of the 14 apartments are on the market. Prices range from $3,000 a month for a one-bedroom to $4,500 a month for a two-bedroom. Here’s what the listing says about the spaces: “Many units have soaring double height windows with 14-foot ceilings, tremendous natural light, and private rooftop terraces, balconies, or landscaped backyards… Throughout each apartment you will notice condo quality finishes including washer/dryer units, designer lighting, bathroom and kitchen fixtures, beautiful hardwood floors, central heating and cooling, and a video intercom system.” The units are no fee with one month free. Like what you see?
818 Dean Street Is Going Rental [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark
05/22/2013 10:30 AM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 7825 4th Avenue
Here’s a two-bedroom with a convertible third bedroom in the Bay Ridge co-op building 7825 4th Avenue. It’s nice enough but that is a whole lot of carpet. The rent is what tempted us: only $1,795 a month.
7825 4th Avenue [Nest Seekers] GMAP P*Shark
05/21/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 386 Pacific Street
This Boerum Hill rental at 386 Pacific Street is definitely unusual for a brownstone, with a split-level dining-living area and an open loft space over looking the living room, which has a 20-foot ceiling. Since it’s a corner building, there are three sides of windows too. Upstairs is the one bedroom plus office space, and downstairs is the living room, kitchen and dining area. There’s some exposed brick, and the finishes look fairly new. The asking rent: $6,800 a month.
386 Pacific Street [City Connections Realty] GMAP P*Shark
05/20/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 1141 Park Place
This floor-through, two-bedroom apartment at 1141 Park Place does have some charms, although renovations make the unit feel a little underwhelming. It looks spacious enough, and the unit’s on the parlor floor, but we’ve still got to ask: Who’s paying $2,500 a month to live out by Albany Avenue?
1141 Park Place [Staying in NYC Inc.] GMAP P*Shark
05/16/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rent Vs. Buy: In Brooklyn, Both Are Difficult
If you’ve got Brooklyn property to sell, fantastic. It’s a seller’s market. People are clamoring for Brooklyn property. Your listing may even ignite a bidding war. You will probably be sitting on a lot of cash after you sell. But then what do you do? Hopefully you’ve got plans to move to, say, Kansas, because buying another place or even finding a rental in Brooklyn is going to be very, very, very difficult, according to DNAinfo. ”Right now is a horrible time to be a buyer or a renter,” said Catherine Witherwax, director of sales for Stribling’s first Brooklyn office. ”There’s very little on the market. We’re seeing unprecedented interest in Brooklyn and people staying in Brooklyn. And we’re seeing a large international component. The borough’s popularity goes beyond New York City and the metropolitan area.” Buyers will need perfect credit and enough funds to win a bidding war with all cash. The story gives an overview of the market in four neighborhoods with tips and deets on prices in each: Crown Heights, Bushwick, Bed Stuy, Dumbo. Crown Heights, for example, “is really starting to boom” with prices for renovated homes in the $1.2 to $1.5 million range. Rents are 10 to 30 percent cheaper than in Manhattan, with studios going for $1,200 to $1,500. Depressed yet? The article has some advice: If you’re priced out, try Queens.
Rent vs. Buy: Navigating Brooklyn’s Tight Real Estate Market [DNAinfo]
05/16/2013 9:00 AM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 524 Manhattan Avenue
This two-bedroom, two-bathroom at new building 524 Manhattan Avenue is asking $5,500 a month. Here’s what it comes with: 1,069 interior square feet, an outdoor patio, a loft space, direct elevator entry, and really big windows. Lots of perks, but do you think a unit at the north end of the park can command the asking rent?
524 Manhattan Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
05/15/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 49 Montgomery Place
Not much to complain about when it comes to this fully furnished townhouse rental at 49 Montgomery Place, in Park Slope. It’s a beautiful house a half block from the park. Along with many well-kept historic details, it also comes with a restored antique billiards table. The home is available this August and only available to rent for a year. The monthly cost is $13,500.
49 Montgomery Place [Brown Harris Stevens] GMAP P*Shark
05/14/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 398 Bond Street
Here’s a floor-through apartment at 398 Bond Street, the glassy Gowanus building that sold for $3 million back in 2011. The two-bedroom, two-bathroom unit is pretty big: 1,000 square feet with a 500-square-foot private deck. The finishes are new and the windows are from floor to ceiling. The rent is a hefty $5,000 a month. Think they’ll get it?
398 Bond Street [Warren Lewis] GMAP P*Shark
05/13/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Cobble Hill Rentals Debut
Aptsandlofts.com launched four two- and three-bedroom rental units at the shiny new building 11 Wyckoff Street in Cobble Hill. Each floor-through unit comes with private elevator access and a washer/dryer; some come with private balconies. The prices range from $5,900 a month for a two-bedroom to $7,400 per month for a three-bedroom. A sales rep tells us that one unit, the three-bedroom asking $7,400 a month, has already been spoken for. GMAP
05/13/2013 10:00 AM
Comment
Renters Seek Space, Bargains Deeper in Brooklyn
The borders of “emerging” Brooklyn neighborhoods are moving further out as prices rise across the borough. DNAinfo profiles one couple who recently moved to the border of Crown Heights and Brownsville in search of more space and reasonable rents.
As pricey “Williamsburg” rents trickle deeper into Bushwick and the once affordable blocks ringing Crown Heights’ booming Franklin Avenue fill up with renters eager to shell out $1,500 and up for studios, people like the Davidsons are looking south to Prospect-Lefferts Gardens and east to the stretch of avenues between the Crown Heights’ Hasidic enclave and its border with Brownsville.
The drawbacks: No dry cleaner, no Seamless Web delivery, no Thai, and no sushi. But there is one restaurant that delivers and plenty of shopping on Utica Avenue.
Bigger Spaces, Smaller Rents Lure New Faces Eastward in Crown Heights [DNAinfo]
05/13/2013 9:30 AM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 158 Hicks Street
This Brooklyn Heights studio at 158 Hicks Street may catch the eye of a renter who puts a premium on location rather than actual living space. The apartment is tiny, with a lofted bedroom and a kitchenette that can only fit a mini-fridge and hot plate. At least there are windows! It costs $1,125 a month with a 15 percent brokers fee.
158 Hicks Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
05/09/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
New Rendering, Rentals for 204 Wythe Avenue
Things are getting serious at 204 Wythe, the former Western Carpet site now under-construction. The developers just released the above rendering with lots of juicy details of what’s to come for the large rental project. Here’s a snippet from the press release:
The development consists of 229 residential units and 7,500 sf of ground floor retail with dedicated parking spaces. The project is seven stories and totals 248,000 gross sf. The retail component features 275 feet of wrap-around glass frontage with 13 foot ceilings; reasonable divisions will be considered. Mack Real Estate Capital and Urban Development Partners are the Developers.
The plan, and the rendering, has changed quite a bit since 2011. Back then, plans called for 5 stories and 157 units. The developers also ditched the old brick design for something much sleeker, and more typical of new Williamsburg developments. AREA Property Partners is still associated with the development, although they’ve since teamed up with Urban Development Partners according to the press release. We don’t have a recent shot of the construction site but the word is that construction is moving along with the retail temporary certificate of occupancy expected this summer and one for the building expected in the third quarter of this year. Zelnik & Company is in charge of marketing the retail. Curbed noticed that construction started up late last summer, after the Western Carpet building was demolished in early 2012.
Demolition of Burg’s Western Carpet Warehouse Begins [Brownstoner]
Big New Development in the Works in Prime Williamsburg [Brownstoner]
Western Carpet Warehouse in W’burg Sells for $27.5 Mil [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/09/2013 11:30 AM
Comment
Closing Bell: Do Not Rent This Room
Just in case you weren’t already discouraged by the state of the Brooklyn rental market, cue The Worst Room, a new Tumblr chronicling one New Yorker’s attempt to find an affordable apartment off Craigslist. So far, the best picks come from North Brooklyn and Park Slope. Above, a room for rent in Prospect Lefferts Gardens with a listing that reads “Looking for two roommates… Top bunk is $500 per month, bottom bunk is $600 per month.”
The Worst Room [Tumblr]
05/08/2013 4:00 PM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 153 23rd Street
The listing describes this one-bedroom railroad apartment in Greenwood Heights as “shabby chic.” While there are a few charming details to be found, what stands out most is how narrow this unit is. And the bedroom’s stuck right between the kitchen and living room. Since it’s only 550 square feet, we’d be surprised to see this unit get its monthly rent of $1,900.
153 23rd Street [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
05/08/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
Rental Listings Pop up for 50 North 1st Street
Six rental units just showed up on Streeteasy for the troubled Williamsburg development at 50 North 1st Street, under construction for at least five years. (In 2009, a partial building collapse at the construction site caused an evacuation at the building next door.) One- and two-bedroom units are priced at $3,175 to $4,325 a month. Amenities include a parking garage, fitness room, courtyard and roof deck. Units have plank flooring, floor-to-ceiling windows, a dishwasher, and a washer/dryer unit; some apartments also have private outdoor space. Check out floor plans at the building website. It looks like the first open house will be held this weekend. When we checked on this building last spring, after work had restarted, DOB plans called for 41 units. The listing does not specify if that’s the total number of rentals available.
50 North 1st Street Website [50 North 1st Street]
Progress Being Made at 50 North 1st Street [Brownstoner]
Stalled Burg Site Sells, Restart Coming? [Brownstoner]
Frozen at 50 North 1st Street [Brownstoner]
Partial Building Collapse, Evacuation at North 1st Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/08/2013 10:00 AM
Comment
Group Alleges Broadway Triangle Buildings Favor Hasadim
Two as-yet-unbuilt private apartment buildings in the contentious Broadway Triangle area are illegally discriminating against blacks and Hispanics, according to a group called Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, The New York Daily News reported. Hispanics and African Americans who inquired about apartments at 70 Union Avenue and 246 Lynch Street were told there were no applications and turned away, said the group, which sent the applicants. The buildings have already been filled with Hasidim, they said. The buildings are slated to rise in now-empty, privately owned lots in a 31-acre area called Broadway Triangle on the border of Williamsburg, Bushwick and Bed Stuy. Previous plans to build public housing in the area were halted last year by a federal judge on the grounds that the plans “illegally favored Hasidim over blacks and Latinos.” The Broadway Triangle Community Coalition alleges a rezoning of the area in 2009 from industrial to residential use favored the Hasadim, according to the story. A City spokeswoman scoffed at that notion and said, “if private landlords are acting in a discriminatory manner, as is alleged, that is not to be tolerated, and concerned citizens should make a report to the authorities responsible for enforcing laws against discrimination.”
Critics: Two Apartment Buildings Unfairly Filled With Hasidic Families [NY Daily News]
Photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark
05/08/2013 9:30 AM
Comment
Rental of the Day: 197 Clifton Place
Huge: that’s the word that comes to mind when looking at this two-bedroom at 197 Clifton Place in Bed Stuy. There’s plenty of room to stretch out in the kitchen and living room, and each bedroom comes with a walk-in closet. Those 15-foot ceilings don’t hurt, either. Overall it’s a great space but asking a lot considering the Bed Stuy location. How realistic do you think the monthly rent of $3,750 is?
197 Clifton Place [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark
05/07/2013 12:30 PM
Comment
askhakim329
May 21, 2013 | 09:56 AM