Columbia Street Faces Fading Prospects
Long-held plans to transform Columbia Street into Brooklyn’s next hot retail destination appear to be faltering, according to an article in today’s Times. Shopkeepers on the waterfront strip say continued construction projects, a remote location, and an absence of the hard-to-pin-down alchemy that has transformed drags like Smith Street into shopping destinations have conspired to…
Long-held plans to transform Columbia Street into Brooklyn’s next hot retail destination appear to be faltering, according to an article in today’s Times. Shopkeepers on the waterfront strip say continued construction projects, a remote location, and an absence of the hard-to-pin-down alchemy that has transformed drags like Smith Street into shopping destinations have conspired to keep Columbia Street from living up to its potential. Smith Street has everything, said Freddy Saint-Aignan, who opened up Sugar Lounge on Columbia Street a couple years ago. With all the construction, there is no place for parking. We have no access, no subway, no buses. At night we have no lights. At some point, one hopes, the construction on Columbia Street will end—think it’s possible it’ll yet become Brooklyn’s next Smith Street when that happens?
Two Years Later, a Street Still Waits for Its Promised Gentrification [NY Times]
Columbia Street photo by mr.seymour.
Rehab, all the worse because I speak French pretty well (but cachet is one of the words I never heard used in France…)
Weird article. I can’t really remember Columbia St. ever being hyped as “Brooklyn’s next hot retail destination.” And while the street repairs do seem to be taking forever, the owners of Sugar Lounge (which seemed like an odd fit for that particular stretch of the street when it opened) were being awfully optimistic if they expected the park to be completed by now.
Anyway, as far as nighttime entertainment goes, I would expect the following area bars/restaurants to be open late-ish: Alma, Pit Stop, Sugar Lounge, B61, Lido, Mazat, Kotobuki, Teeda, and Moonshine on Columbia. Schnack and Bouillabaisse 126 on Union. Petite Crevette on Hicks.
I think the main reason Columbia street is doomed is that there are so few available store fronts. They built all these mixed income apartment buildings south of union street and none have commercial spaces along the street. So there will never be a critical mass of stores to make it an interesting street to walk down. That being said, we regularly go to Pit Stop (best place ever for eating out with kids) and Kotobuki. Everyday Athlete on Union has best exercise classes ever, and the coffee at that coffee shop on Union and Hicks is sublime. Plus my son likes to sit at the meat pie shop and watch the construction!
It’s funny, but more people seem to get this wrong than get it right:
“cache” = stash (and rhymes with it), as in Saddam did not have a cache of WMDs after all…
“cachet” = prestige, and has a T on the end.
Well, maybe now the commercial rents will come down more? I wonder if this is happening. There are some empty storefronts that have been that way for a LONG time, including the pharmacy space at Union and Columbia.
This area has a ton of potential. There are only two major issues to overcome – inadequate transportation and restrictive zoning. If those shipping piers fail, that’s a lot of new space for housing development.
If they ever cover the BQE…otherwise, nah, probably not, esp. when Smith Street is on a subway line…
..it’s also a shame that the food and service at ALMA has slipped so badly.
Dear Carol,
On a recent friday night, after a trip to Fairway, I decided to wander down to Columbia for some dinner. Yes, Alma was open, but I wasn’t feelin’ that place. But not a single other place was open, they had all closed their kitchens early, by 9:45, after walking up and down Columbia street twice, I decided just to drive over to Smith street, where I was able to find a delicious dinner, a cold beer, and other people.