Concord Village Giving Associated the Boot?
The Tillary Street Associated’s days may be numbered. The supermarket’s lease is up soon and, according to a tipster, the Concord Village Co-operative Board is looking for a replacement. This news adds another layer of uncertainty to the Downtown supermarket scene. With the future of 162 Myrtle up in the air and resolution on Admiral’s…
The Tillary Street Associated’s days may be numbered. The supermarket’s lease is up soon and, according to a tipster, the Concord Village Co-operative Board is looking for a replacement. This news adds another layer of uncertainty to the Downtown supermarket scene. With the future of 162 Myrtle up in the air and resolution on Admiral’s Row “delayed indefinitely”, the area could certainly benefit from something a step up from the Associated. Given that the upscale markets tend to favor larger spaces, however, we wouldn’t be holding our breath for a Whole Foods or Fairway in this location. GMAP
For the CV residents who have renovated:
Who did you use as your architect and contractor? I’m currently looking and would love to work with someone who has dealt with CV before.
yes
the buildings are ugly but the grounds are great and the apartments when renovated are dynamite and its very very close to the subway… eat your heart out..
if everyone including sharedholders agree that the buildings are ugly INSIST that the board and management resurface the brick…just as they did at Stuyvesant / Peter Cooper Village…strange that this has not been thought out.the problem with CV is that they lack the proper improvement committee and foresight they are all living in the past.
I just purchased a one bedroom on a very high floor in one of the CV buildings. I must say, I was a bit apprehensive when I first saw the buildings as well, but after living here for about 6 months now (after a lengthy renovation) I am so ecstatic about my purchase. The comment from Feb 15th posted by the Cv resident who speaks of hearing the crickets and birds is so right on. After living in Hell’s Kitchen in a beautiful high rise on the Hudson for 4 years, I decided to stop burning money and purchase. What luck I had – my one-bedroom is 3 times the size as my old apartment, and I was able to gut renovate and completely change the layout. I have a gorgeous, huge kitchen with stainless steel appliances, limestone floors and backsplash and an island that is open to my living room. All of this is lined by a wall of windows which overlooks the city skyline. And even better yet, it is true that I leave my windows open at night and on the weekends, and I feel as though I am in the suburbs, you can actually hear nature and there is not a drop of city noise, yet I look out my window, and have million dollar city views. Everyone who renovates here is sublimely happy. I have so much room, my quality of life has just drastically changed since moving here. ANd the very best is our rooftops – they were recently renovated and we have the most perfect sundecks for sunning in the summer. Our doormen are all so attentive, they know every resident’s name and apt by heart and look out for us every step of the way.
My friends who come over are in absolute awe that I was able to do this – but I must warn, if you plan on buying, move quickly, in the past year alone, I’ve watched CV prices shoot up so dramatically, and it’s mostly because a younger, fresher crowd is catching on to the same thing I did – from a value standpoint, this is the BEST location in all of Brooklyn if you spend most of your time in the city. I literally walk out of my apartment and grab a taxi on the service road of the Brooklyn Bridge, and in less than 2 minutes, I’m in downtown. Or catching a cab home at night, when I give the option of the Manhattan Bridge as well and the exit literally puts you in front of the CV buildings, the cab driver always thanks me! THey generally do not like going too far into Brooklyn because they do not get a fare back, but this is the easiest location to get to and from.
Seeing as how with Real Estate, specifically, NYC real estate, location is everything, CV is unbeatable. Walking into my apartment is like walking into a spacious loft that happens to have trees outside, manicured gardens, no noise, and yet space and beautiful city views. The co-op board has become much more difficult to pass, but that having been said, they have recently changed management and things are flowing very smoothly.
I urge anyone with a doubt in their mind to come and see an open house one day..it certainly changed my mind!
I am also a concord village resident currently living in a studio in the 225 Adams Building. While I am considering moving from here this year, Concord Village has been a wonderful place to not only live but to have plunked down money. The place is well maintained, people are friendly, I have always felt safe, and aside from it being a bit isolated from retail, it’s located in what I consider the perfect location: at the foot of the brooklyn and manhattan bridges, near every major train and busline and convenient to Brooklyn Heights, Dumbo, Fort Greene and Boerum Hill. It’s time to sell and buy something a bit larger but CV has been a great place to live.
What a strange thread. The Internet is a marvelous creature, allowing Smarts and Not-so-smarts alike their say. No matter what blog I read, whether about politics or real estate or cities, there always seems to be someone who posts for no other reason than to rile people up. It’s probably fun for them, and while they’re sometimes fun to read, they ahve the net effect of lowering the quality of public dialogue that the Internet is supposed to inspire. It takes everyone off topic and people take the obvious bait and respond to offenses. I’m all for free speech, so you’ll never see me suggest a post be taken down. But it’s a shame people don’t respect the responsibilities that come with their free speech. Oh well. I guess that’s part of what makes our beautiful country so intriguing.
My wife and I, professionals both, recently moved into Concord Village and have been extremely impressed. We knew someone who lived here before so we weren’t surprised, but the value seems hard to beat if you want to stay in the city, have good schools, be in a safe neighborhood, close to subways, beautiful walks, etc. The buildings’ exterior, to my eyes, are neither hideous nor beautiful, certainly nothing to brag about, but the overall atmosphere is great. And the apartments are fantastic for NYC. How odd that someone would joke repeatedly about demolishing/burning them down. I suspect, given their high placement on the blog responses, that these people are so bored at work all they do is troll blogs looking for new opportunities to bless us masses with their brilliance.
As for Associated, I wouldn’t mourn the loss. All it’s really good for are last-minute packaged items. Peas and Pickles, Gristedes and Garden of Eden are 4 to 6 minute walks away.
I am a Concord Village resident, and reading the above comments has been really entertaining. Amazing how mean-spirited some people can be in expressing their opinions, and how resolutely the ignorant make sweeping statements about something they clearly don’t know much about. The buildings ARE ugly from the outside, but to hope they are burned down? Get a grip! So here is my two cents: Concord Village was all rental units until the coop conversion in 1978-1980. The rents were rather high at that time, not high end, but certainly not lower middle income, either. The buildings are indeed very ugly, city-planning utalitarian, project-boxy, ugly. They look like projects, and as others have pointed out, that is exactly what Stuyvesant Town looks like from the FDR drive. So when someone suggested I look there for an apartment I wasn’t thrilled at the idea.
However, I still went to look at the apartments and found that they had great layouts, some had fantastic views, and even the smallest apartments had more room than others elsewhere. The complex is safe, people are very friendly, doormen are great and take a personal interest in helping the residents out if needed. The make-up of Concord Village was diverse long before it became politically correct to be so. The grounds are nicely landscaped, and you can sit outside on the benches, read, watch the squirrels and birds (more than just pigeons) run around as well as our resident cat population. Once inside the complex, it is quieter than you’d expect and there is a tranquility that does not exist for lots of Manhattan high rises. In the morning I hear birds calling, not traffic, and in the spring summer the smell of freshly mowed grass is not a typical thing for a NYC apartment dweller to have wafting through the window. At night we hear crickets. There are outdoor parking spaces. I have friends who live on the Upper East Side in equally ugly buildings, who pay far more in maintenance or rent, whose neighbors are snotty and don’t say good morning to one another. Their apartments are much smaller than mine and the kitchens are like closets. They have no park-like grounds to stroll about on, play with their kids on, or pull chairs in a circle for an informal outdoor chat with neighbors. The trees bloom in the spring, and the air smells good. We Concord Villagers vote at a polling place on the premises, are right across the street from the Main Post Office, down the block from the courts (so can eat lunch at home when on jury duty!) have easy access within 1-3 blocks to the trains (A, C,F,2,3,4,5, N, R etc.) and numerous buses, are right at the entrance to the Bklyn Bridge so can walk across (handy when there is a strike or power outage!, and are two blocks away from the NY Public Library (the Business Branch). We’ve a gym on the premises. It is a very short walk to DUMBO, the main part of Bklyn Heights, the farmer’s market at Borough Hall, to downtown Bklyn. There’s so much more but those things alone beats almost every la-di-dah complex elsewhere, even those whose buildings are not “fugly”.
Yes the buildings ARE very ugly! But the insides are not, and the people are pretty laid back, friendly, and actually speak to one another. There is a real community feel, and it is great to have such a diverse mix of retirees, families, young professionals, working class folks, etc. We had an actor living in our building for years until he passed away. All of us mesh nicely together and actually acknowledge each other’s presence. This is very different from the atmosphere I’ve seen in lots of other NYC high rise complexes.
About brownstownes. I am a native Brooklynite and I don’t find them attractive at all, in general. There are a few exceptions in Bklyn Heights. 3:47’s remark about them being crumbly old granny museums was hysterical and on point. I remember a time when brownstones were not the yuppie rage that they are now. But the point is, “to each his own”. Why some blogs get so insulting and vehement is beyond me. The beauty of NYC is that there are plenty of different types of fugly for every fugly taste. Beauty (or lack thereof is in the eye of the beholder). And yes, Concord Village buildings are ugly but their exteriors do not represent the quality of their surroundings, interiors, or residents.
Associated is a pit, not clean, their food is not fresh, many of the employees are not the nicest to deal with. They’ve gotten some black marks a few times from the Board of Health. It is always busy, and the person who wrote that only CV residents shop there is not aware of the high volume from the nearby schools and the college across the street. It may be convenient but I refuse to shop there because it is not pleasant to do so and the food quality is often questionable.
So, this was one CV resident’s point of view, thrown out there for the haters as well as the people who actually posted articulate, thoughtful statements.
It’s all relative. I moved here from Staten Island 23 years ago after my divorce. I was born and grew up in Manhattan. This is the best place I’ve lived during my 65 years. I have a parking spot. A roof deck to relax on and enjoy the great views. A spacious one bedroom apartment. Reasonable maintenance. Well cared for and safe grounds. And most importantly a diverse community of nice people.
According to someone on the board, “I don’t know where this rumor started. We did go through a commercial broker to see who and what else was out there. This is clearly a small store and we are demanding a high level of service — telephone orders and deliveries to Concord Village residents.
“I think Whole Foods took a look, but it was too small for that type of operation. We are now reviewing a draft lease with the current operator.”
Okay, is everyone happy?
— Spy X