364 Myrtle Avenue: Scarano Strikes Again
When the new four-story building at 364 Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene came on the market in early 2006, the reception on this site was generally positive. We thought the design, while not our favorite, added some excitement to one of Fort Greene’s unloved stretches. In addition to the generous proportions of the three apartments…
When the new four-story building at 364 Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene came on the market in early 2006, the reception on this site was generally positive. We thought the design, while not our favorite, added some excitement to one of Fort Greene’s unloved stretches. In addition to the generous proportions of the three apartments (which ranged from 1,500 and 1,700 square feet), these apartment boasted 17-foot high ceilings. And mezzanines. Which should have been the red flag to anyone who was paying attention. The initial asking prices of $877,000, $890,000 and $919,000 were too high and the listings languished until the summer when a 10-15% price cut across the board attracted interest. By Labor Day of last year, all three were in contract, with promised closing dates of early November. It wasn’t until around Christmas that buyers wre told that it could be another couple of months until closing. It seems there was some delay with the Certificate of Occupancy. In a black hole of communication, one buyer managed to get into the building when he walked by and saw some workers on site. When he got up to his apartment, he saw the appliances had been ripped out. A leak from the top floor had poured down into lower apartments and the bannisters were rusting already. His panicked call to the listing broker yielded the admission that the hold-up had to do with problems with the mezzanines and plans that had been incorrectly filed. The architect? Robert Scarano. With the expected delay now projected at one to two years, the developer let all three buyers out of their contracts. All three listings remain on the Corcoran site as of this morning.
364 Myrtle Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Set Speed Condo Report: 364 Myrtle Avenue [Brownstoner]
What’s Up With The New Building on Myrtle? [Brownstoner]
It doesn’t look good for his building 231 16th Street… Looks like they( DoB) are pulling the plug on that one.http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=2&vlcompdetlkey=0000887584
“Under current zoning laws you can’t build anything that tall nearly anywhere.”
Except, of course, Ratner and his AY, since Bloomberg’s allowing him to bypass ULURP.
“Unable to accomodate”?!? You’re right. Bloomberg is predicting that all of the million new New Yorkers in 2020 will be homeless Anon 1:14.
You want light and air, move to a landmarked district or the suburbs. Or live near the top of a tall building. Elsewhere on the site there’s all this oohing and ahing about the views from the williamsburgh saving bank/one hanson place bldg. Plenty of light and air up there. Under current zoning laws you can’t build anything that tall nearly anywhere. Result is scarano mezzanines as buyers try to get some affordable space. Nice for those few who have $2 million or $3 million to spend on a brownstone or have lived here for years and have a rent stabilized situation, but city is left unable to accomodate population increases.
100 stories built out of wood- I mean who needs building codes either.
Those chicks in the Triangle factory deserved to die.
Bravo 11:41
Maybe if every building was 100 stories tall, there would be no housing crisis Anon 12:05. Who cares about light and air, and insignificant things like that?
It is unfortunate that it is mostly the developers who used Scarano to knowingly cheat on their overbuilt projects who have suffered from the DOB fallout. Scarano himself has hasn’t had to bear much more than a slap on the wrist. I’m sure his business has decreased somewhat now that the developers who used to hire him for his creative flouting can now only get from him the same thing they can get from any architect. I doubt he’s worried though. I’m sure he’s dreaming up some new nuance of the zoning resolution that can be taken advantage of to bring all of that shady business back.
Maybe if the zoning laws were less restrictive, developers could build buildings big enough to satisfy the demand in the area without having to get “creative” a la Scarano mezzanines.
Damn I actually thought about buying this place at one point last year, but I thought it was kind of pricey to begin with. Danmn crooks and scammers — brokers are just as bad.