184-joralemon-010711.jpgBrooklyn Law School is selling a dorm building at 184 Joralemon, between Clinton and Court, to a development firm, according to the Wall Street Journal. The residence hall is planned to be renovated into 24 two-bedrooms apartments, along with a $3-4 million lobby renovation. The building, built at the turn of the century, is in the proposed Skyscraper Historic District. Renovations begin next summer and will carve out two units per floor around 1,000 square feet and two penthouses at 2,000 square feet. Prices will start around $1 million, and developers think units will go fast considering it will be a condo building in an area with more co-ops.
Brooklyn Law Building is Condo Bound [WSJ] GMAP


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  1. And it’s not just new construction – your typical brownstone floor-through 2 bedroom is 800 sf or less on average – and they’re usually one big, one small bedroom. The typical “left/right” buildings in Park Slope all have two bedroom apartments averaging about 780 sf (again, one big BR, one small in most cases). A 1000 sf 2 BR in “brownstone” Brooklyn is a rarity.

  2. Donald, look at any of the new construction building floorplans. Most of the 2-bedrooms are closer to 700 square feet (although they’ll call it 900) than they are to 1,000. And yes, it is depressing.

  3. > I don’t think 2-bedroom rentals even go as low as 1,000 sq ft.

    Have you looked at any new condo buildings? They cram two bedrooms into 700-800sf. At this point in time, a 1000sf 2BR is huge.

  4. IF WSJ piece is accurate – ie “. . .$3 to $4 M to renovate the lobby and each of the apartments.” – I would not be too concerned about the windows being altered nor do I think “posh” would be an appropriate adjective to describe the frackin’ finishes. $144 per square foot on a gross basis doesn’t get you to posh. It appears buyer is getting a sweet deal if any of the reported numbers are close to being correct. As a developer not so sure I would want go on the record so early in the process with a “condos will start at $1,000,000” claim. Don’t understand the upside in that.

    More importantly and in all seriousness – since when are 2-bedroom condos 1,000 sq ft? I don’t think 2-bedroom rentals even go as low as 1,000 sq ft. 166 Montague’s 2-bedrooms average 1,250 sq ft. And I hear buyer’s telling me all the time that they are small. Is this the future?

  5. Flashlight, I agree there’s demand for bigger units, but I think they’ll get a higher psf for the smaller units – hence their plan. Let buyers combine units in the aftermarket if they want.

  6. No wonder the Law School was so opposed to the new historic district. The developer should look to the adaptive re-use of the Romanesque “skyscraper” on the corner of Montague and Clinton for pointers on how to convert a beautiful historic building properly.