14 (Commercial) Townhouses Planned in Red Hook
A few weeks ago developer Lawrence Omansky closed on the purchase of almost an entire square block in Red Hook, and his plans for the parcels involve building a lot of new space for commercial and light industry tenants. Omansky, whose firm is called Dragon Hearth Realty, bought all but one of the properties in…
A few weeks ago developer Lawrence Omansky closed on the purchase of almost an entire square block in Red Hook, and his plans for the parcels involve building a lot of new space for commercial and light industry tenants. Omansky, whose firm is called Dragon Hearth Realty, bought all but one of the properties in the block bounded by Dikeman, Otsego, Dwight, and Coffey streets, and he intends to build 14 low-rise townhouses that will be leased to small manufacturing firms or artists and some additional retail space in the ground floors of the buildings. The three extant buildings on the site, pictured on the jump, will not be knocked down, and since they’ve been grandfathered in for residential uses, will stay as such. “I’m very excited about this project, because it will be attractive to artists and it’ll also be very close to the new IKEA,” says Omansky, who believes that the future retail in the properties will be driven by what customers leaving IKEA would want for amenities (for example, restaurants or more home supply/hardware stores). Omansky intends to build about five townhouses in each stage of the project’s construction, which he hopes to start very soon. As sketched above, the finished product will also have a 12,000-square-foot communal courtyard for the buildings’ tenants to use. Frank Galeano, who has been a broker in Red Hook for the past seven years, handled the sale of the properties. Galeano says the site’s proximity to IKEA and the fact that it was a rare large parcel in Red Hook both contributed significantly to the property’s lure. GMAP
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There’s a lot of devo in Greenpoint-Williamsburg that more than a mile from the subway. With a unique waterfront locale, folks are willing to over the look the lack of a subway.
Who really like Red Hook the way it is- the bohemians? hipsters? a couple of Puma clad bloggers? Most long-standing residents, led by the Red Hook Civic, are always looking change.
i love red hook, but in this city, most people want to be close to a subway line. no matter how many express buses you add, no subway access is going to close the door for a big chunk of people. that said, I think this limit on over-development is a real plus for those in red hook who like it for what it is.
brooklynnative, that is actually the proposed plan for the 77 once smith/9th closes for renovations.
the 77 will loop through red hook and then dash through the tunnel.
should help, but i imagine that bus will be packed every morning, once the regular 61 riders get hip to the idea of going right into manhattan that way and not via the trains at jay street.
Wow, a developer responding to what makes sense in Redhook…commercial / light industrial. Bravo to their common sense and good luck.
How hard would it be to run an express bus from Red Hook into the Battery Tunnel with a drop off on the bottom of Broadway in Mahhattan? Wouldn’t that largely mitigate the transport problem there?
Pretty impressive for one guy to do, where are the rest of the real estate developers taking advantage of the tens of thousands of people who will flood the area seeking out Fairway, BWAC, IKEA, the Red Hook Field vendors, water taxis or Steve’s Key Lime pies?
I think there’s more interest in moving to RH now than in past ten years cause the area is safest it has been in the past fifty years. 4000 people applied for the 80 affordable housing units on Coffey and Wolcott Street. Plus, you just don’t see the crack vials and drug dealers like you did 10 years ago. Also, downturn is good for the neighborhood because it has scared off developers while the lower prices are still attracing potential homeowners. Case in point, a house on Coffey Street sold in one day above asking price. I pitched to Mr.B as house o’ the day, but his Brahmin heart poop-pooped it. The nabe just needs better transit and good schools and then it will continue to evolve at an incremental clip. Which is best IMHO.
Very cool idea. I like that little building on the right that they’re going to save.
They do have some good sweets in Red Hook, at Baked. That alone is worth the train-less headache.