The Post Looks at 75 Smith Street, Jail and All
December 17, 2005, NY Post–A nearby empty jailhouse isn’t deterring buyers from purchasing at The Smith, a new 50-unit condominium at 75 Smith St. in downtown Brooklyn. Despite its locale near Atlantic Avenue’s 11-story House of Detention, there are nine contracts out at The Smith, which opened for sales in mid-November. Prices for one-bedrooms start…
December 17, 2005, NY Post–A nearby empty jailhouse isn’t deterring buyers from purchasing at The Smith, a new 50-unit condominium at 75 Smith St. in downtown Brooklyn. Despite its locale near Atlantic Avenue’s 11-story House of Detention, there are nine contracts out at The Smith, which opened for sales in mid-November. Prices for one-bedrooms start at $550,000, while duplex penthouses start at $985,000. “Buyers have concerns,” says Larry Kruysman, director of sales at the Sunshine Group, of the jail. “But judging from the number of contracts out, they aren’t that concerned.” Celebs like the late Ol’ Dirty Bastard have bunked at the prison, which shut down in summer 2003 due to the city’s low inmate population. According to Department of Corrections spokesman Thomas Antenen, the jail might reopen in 2007, when a Bronx jail closes, or it could reopen before that time if prisoner numbers rise. But there’s a silver lining: Antenen says there’s a possibility that retail stores will be added to the jail’s ground floor, like the Tombs jail in Manhattan.
Residences [75 Smith] GMAP
Smith Street Detention [NY Post]
Set Speed Condo Report: 75 Smith [Brownstoner]
To confirm the question of the 2nd poster. The City says it cant close the Brooklyn House of Detention b/c when the close and renovate something in the Bronx (Bronx House of Detention or some space at Rikers) and close a jail barge permanently, they may need the space.
I have to agree with the first poster. This site has been plagued with problems from the start with a slow excavation, then a long stop, and now, finally steel rising.
This is a very busy intersection, with traffic 24/7. The City has no plans to close the prison and the proposal to convert some ground floor space to retail is laughable. To sign a contract for this space seems risky. And note, the article says “contracts out,” not signed.
There is another development a block north, which also seems to be having trouble attracting buyers/renters.
This is really a neighborhood that connects Downtown with Boerum Hill/Carroll Gardens and has a long way to go before it can stand on its own. Walentas’ development of 110 Livingston may help, but it is simply not a desirable place to own at this time, and one risks coming in near the top.
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If that prison isn’t returned to its original use, it could make great condos — with some historic references too — “ODB slept here,” and I’d imagine plenty of other well-known types, since just about everybody who passed through the court system spent some time there, as it was only a house of detention, meaning a “holding” facility.
Jail in the Bronx? I thought the jail being renovated was part of Rikers itself. Can anyone confirm this?
Also, following up on the prev poster, although I am partial to the location (living very close by already), I don’t know if it’s getting “better” every day. This neighborhood plateaued about 3 years ago, and I fear it can only go downhill from here. As far as I can tell, parking has become much worse in the last 3 or so years, the food options have expanded, but many of the new entries are mediocre at best, and the newer stores do very little to improve or even add to the offerings from the earlier days of the Smith Street gentrification and from before that as well. As more housing is built, the subway platforms will only become more crowded. On top of it, the antique stores are going out of business or jacking up their prices at rapid rates.
This location is soooo hot. The nabe is already very cool. This is one of the best places to live in NYC and gets better every day!
I walked by other day and FINALLY you can see some steel girders rising above ground level.
Who exactly signs contracts for condo that is already year behind schedule for apt. that cannot even see… for some very unpredictable date in the future?