Brooklyn Co-Housing Lands in Greenwood Heights
It was a big disappointment when the Brooklyn Co-Housing group had to walk away from its plans to take over the Carlton Mews project for financial reasons back in January. Good news though: The group has found a new home in Greenwood Heights. More specifically, we have learned that the Brooklyn Co-Housing went into contract…
It was a big disappointment when the Brooklyn Co-Housing group had to walk away from its plans to take over the Carlton Mews project for financial reasons back in January. Good news though: The group has found a new home in Greenwood Heights. More specifically, we have learned that the Brooklyn Co-Housing went into contract in early March on the 40,000-square-foot former mattress factory at the corner of 19th Street and 8th Avenue. The group’s website has a sketch of the building posted and has been working with Ken Levinson, the architect from Carlton Mews, to carve out 29 separate co-op apartments along with common dining, guest and recreation areas. So far 15 households have come aboard. The closing should happen in early June.
Fort Greene Co-Housing Deal Falls Apart [Brownstoner] GMAP
so its like a co-op with kitchen duty?
dunno.
To all those who still do not know:
Cohousing does not equal “communal dining” per se. You have your own home, your own kitchen, your own space for goodness sake. It is not a commune! It’s a coop. For all I know the structure could even be “condo”.
You have the OPTION to dine with the group in a real big dining room where people can prepare meals in a much more efficient way. It’s like those condo complexes in the suburbs that have “rec centers”. Usually, the rec center has a cooking facility (often small) so you can use the space for catered events. In the case with cohousing, the idea is to have a larger kitchen so big group meals can be prepared certain nights of the week or on weekends. I think it would be great to know that at 11AM on a Sunday, you can pad downstairs without having to get all made up and have a leisurely brunch that you don’t have to prepare.
And, when maybe you’re feeling creative or full of energy, you can make 48 muffins and know there are appreciative neighbors who will eat them and nothing will go to waste.
Frankly, two or three people getting together and cooking for a big group is a LOT easier than MOM having to figure out what to cook EVERY NIGHT nearly 365 days out of the year. Sometimes you need a break. I would have loved to have had a group dining choice. Many nights you DON’T feel like cooking. And what happens when you’re working late and your kids aren’t 13 years old yet? You know you and your kids (or you kids alone if you actually can stop being MOM for one night once in a while) are getting a great meal with people you can trust.
Yes, it is basically like a much more involved co-op apartment house, but with LOTS more services, outdoor space, facilities, a sense of belonging, safety and security (safety is knowing neighbors, not metal gates and locks).
My only misgiving with the spot is that it’s right on the Prospect and a bus line (although the bus line may be a convenient one). At least the back “inside facade” faces south so a lot of the glass space will be open to the quiet side.
I don’t know if this would be “right” for us, but frankly it might. We’ll think about it. I would miss Fort Greene and all the convenient mass transit options and the prettiness of our Village…and despite some of the things being talked about on that other thread that gives Rosie Perez exposure, I have to say, yes it has changed, but so has NYC. Fort Greene is, no, not the place it was before…but I can live with that. Some of the underlying issues are huge American economic justice/”race”/societal and cultural issues that are not instrinsic to Fort Greene.
I cannot tell from the cohousing website or from the drawing/map if the group will have that very large open area that continues down the street (behind the fencing). I have a feeling that is a separate lot that they will not be buying.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
kb.,
Call Jeremy Laufer at CB7 718-854-0003. I assume he’ll have you meet via the Housing Committee and get local folks to come out.
“Will you be doing a info session in Greenwood Hts. as well? Might be helpful. I’m sure Community Board 7 would be a good facilitator.”
Great idea. We have been holding our regular info sessions in Boerum Hill because it is convenient to so many subway lines (for people coming from work in Manhattan), but I think adding some near the site is a great idea.
Note also that the local zoned elementary school for this site is PS 10 (5 min. walk to South Slope/Windsor Terrace) – we are thrilled to be sending our kids to that excellent local school.
kb.
“wow, there goes the parking!”
There’s parking as part of the BSA variance where the current trucks park at the factory, though the exterior partition wall (hiding it from the street) will come down.
“There is an info session TONIGHT: 7pm at Belarusan Church, corner of Atlantic and Bond Street in Boerum Hill. For those who want greater community life in their building, while still being very much connected to the community at large and owning one’s own fully equipped private apartment.”
Will you be doing a info session in Greenwood Hts. as well? Might be helpful. I’m sure Community Board 7 would be a good facilitator.
Not my sort of thing either, but I admire those who believe it will work for their needs and wish them well.
Sounds like a great idea. I’d be up for it, but my partner is tired of having roommates. So no co-housing for us, but I wish them all the best.
what’s up with the Carlton Mews project? That church building looks very decayed. I would hate to see it go the way of the green church in Bay Ridge.