Big Plans for Red Hook's 'Graffiti Park'?

Adjacent to IKEA is a vacant, four-acre property that looks as if its been serving as the local graffiti park, a place to practice burners without fear of getting caught. But there might be bigger plans in the works for this suddenly prime piece of land, now listed with Greiner-Maltz for an undisclosed amount. The property was purchased by Cammemby’s International, which has a huge portfolio in the region, two years ago for $20.7 million. Broker David Junik said of the owner, “They have certain plans for it but at the moment we can’t talk about it,” basically explaining that they could build there or make a quick chunk of change flipping it to another developer. “We’re talking to different people; we have a good amount of activity on it,” he said. The owner could not be reached. Junik said a developer could build certain big box retail as-of-right, such as a hardware store (although there’s a Home Depot and Lowe’s relatively nearby) or a strip mall with stores under 10,000 square feet, in total up to 351,732 square feet. No plans have been filed so far, only demolition permits in 2004 that opened the area up to its current use. Steve Rubinstien, who did the demolition, said the previous owner basically just wanted the small buildings and cranes removed to prep the property for sale. “The guy that I did it for had no intention of doing anything with it,” said Rubinstien. Until someone comes along who does, it looks like it’ll remain Graffiti Park.