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In the comments section of yesterday’s post about the building boom at Flatbush and Myrtle, a reader steered us towards the website of Dattner Architects. Turns out the renderings for the Catsimatidis (aka Red Apple Group) project on Myrtle Avenue between Prince and Ashland Place are up there for the viewing, though as far as we know they haven’t been published anywhere else yet. (This view is from Ashland looking west towards Flatbush.) There’s also more detail about the development than we’ve seen before. Here’s most of the project description from the website:

The development contains 660 apartments in a 37-story tower and 415 mixed-income apartments in mid-rise buildings ranging from 8 to 14 stories in height. Under a 50-30-20 plan, 50% of the mixed income housing will be market rate, 30% will be middle-income affordable and 20% will be low-income affordable. The development includes approximately 290,000 sf of commercial space and sub-grade parking.

The dramatic apartment tower rises to 400 feet…The tower floor plan cantilevers on the upper floors, creating larger apartments and a distinctive architectural expression. The adjoining mid-rise buildings step down from 14 stories to 8 stories to the east, mediating in scale between the height and density of downtown Brooklyn and the lower scale neighborhood of Ft. Greene. A masonry base along Myrtle Avenue balances the residential character of the neighborhood with a continuous retail presernce along the street. More extensive glazed areas above give the buildings a sense of lightness.

The whole concept seems pretty well thought through to us.
Myrtle and Flatbush Building Boom, From Above [Brownstoner] GMAP


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. I read a discussion regarding getting out of a condo contract, prior to closing, in light of the new realities in the real estate market. My opinion would be that the buyer may have some leverage with the developer of an unfinished building since the one thing that every developer wants to avoid is litigation prior to final approval by the attorney generals office and prior to selling all of the apartments. The reason for this is that all law suits must be disclosed to the AG and this must be included in offering. Depending upon the nature of the litigation, such a disclosure can have an immense effect in the time it takes the AG to approve the plan and even greater effect on the ability for the other buyers to get a mortgage.

    The worse type of litigation that a developer can face is issues regarding disputes of property boundary. In such cases, banks are often forced to back off from providing mortgages to buyers, regardless of the banks relationship with the developer, since boundary litigation places an substantial level of obstacles to sell and package the mortgage on the open market. Some examples that come to mind include the cases where entire walls had to be removed because of minimal infractions and in cases where cornices or overhangs infringed on the adjacent property. My advice to any developer in such a case is to negotiate, negotiate, negotiate and at all costs, avoid litigation. In cases where a person wants to back out of the deal, I recommend to the developer to sweeten the deal and again, avoid any litigation for the reasons mentioned above. It is important to also consider what other potential buyers would think of litigation against a contracted buyer. One method might be to reduce the price, offer free maintenance for a period of time or perhaps exchange the contracted apartment for a “better” or larger apartment. Settle such disputes. A developer must handle disputes with “silk gloves” and swallow their pride, with the end objective of sales in mind

  2. As a born Brooklynite, it is appalling to see the devastation of our neighborhoods by people who don’t grasp Brooklyn for what it truly is and desire something they envision it to be. Those of us that are of and from Brooklyn truly know what it means to be a Brooklynite. Having this influx of out of towners, natives are being misplaced and the flavor of the boro is vanishing, much thanks to transplanted wannabes. I really see little regard for the lives of those this is ultimately affecting. Show consideration for those that made the boro what it is and the reason so many outsiders continue to pour into a boro that really has little appreciation for transplants in such great numbers. Sorry, but you are destroying this once great boro.