October 2005
October 31, 2005
A Haunted House With a Dramatic Past
Every year, Janna Kennedy and Randall Hyten turn their co-op Italianate mansion on Clinton Avenue into the most authentic haunted house in town. And as you can see from the photo (at right) that we snapped last week, they're not above making a political statement in the process. After moving into a rental unit in the building in 1985, the couple squatted in the second and third floors after the owner died and the house was left in temporary limbo. And in 2000, after the death of the previous owner's last heir, Ms. Kennedy and Mr. Hyten were finally able to buy the house, for $599,000.
Given their own lack of capital, the purchase involved finding a co-investor (one of Kesley's teachers), buying out the remaining tenants (for $21,830 each, a number they "pulled out of the sky," she said), and renovating the building into four condos - a lower duplex, plus cellar, for themselves and three floor-through apartments to sell because the co-investor decided not to live there. The work, which took two years and cost about $450,000, was finished in 2002. The two-bedroom, approximately 1,400-square-foot apartments, painstakingly restored and updated with new stainless steel kitchens with granite counters, two baths and washer-dryer units, each sold for $635,000. We were only able to catch a glimpse of the front hall when we strolled by but are hoping to get another chance to see how the restoration turned out.
A Brownstone Goes Horrorwood [NY Times]
House of the Day: Brick Colonial on Albemarle
We missed this house on Albemarle Road for our Open House Picks this week but are curious to hear from anyone who attended on Sunday. At $1,450,000, the price is on the high end for the neighborhood but it looks like it could be worth it in this case given the 7 bedrooms, garage and billiard room. There aren't a lot of pics on the A&H website, so we'd like to hear whether you think the interior finishes and details justify the price tag. Is this the best location in the area?
Stunning Brick Colonial Revival [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP
The Cambridge Reno Blog Launches Today
Shahn Andersen's highly anticipated renovation blog is ready for prime time. We're totally psyched that Shahn has signed on to let us all tag along as he takes on what will no doubt be the difficult but thoroughly rewarding rehabilitation of his Civil War-era woodframe house on Cambridge Place in Clinton Hill. He got a jump start on the blog last week and has already found time to share his initial discussions with the landmarks commission as well as his frustration with "some asshole on the block" who keeps calling DOB over the most minor details. Fumes Andersen:
Are you kidding me? This building has been rotting for years, and finally someone is going to fix it up, and you are calling the DOB because there is a little debris in front of the fence? Why didn't you complain to the DOB when vagrants were shitting on the sidewalk?
Good question, indeed. Clearly, Shahn isn't going to be pulling any punches. We can't wait.
Getting Started [Cambridge Reno]
Recently Sold in Brooklyn
PARK SLOPE $900,000
118 Eighth Avenue
1,400-sq.ft. duplex co-op in a prewar building; 24-hr. doormen, windowed eat-in kitchen, NY harbor view; maintenance $1,237, 55% tax-deductible; listed at $895,000 (multiple bids). (Broker: Warren Lewis Realty)
DYKER HEIGHTS $595,000
8935 15th Avenue
Two-family brick townhouse, on an 18-by-97-foot lot, with three- bedroom, 11/2-bath owner's duplex with formal living and dining room over studio rental; home features oak floors, new appliances, new roof, back yard, BBQ gas hookup, driveway and garage. Taxes $3,361. Asking price $650,000, on market 137 days. (Broker: Deborah Rieders, the Corcoran Group)
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $460,500
230 Park Place
Prewar one-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 800 square feet, with sunken living room, formal dining area, renovated windowed kitchen, master bath with soaking tub and shower, dressing room/nursery, hardwood floors, original details, dishwasher and southern exposure; Art Deco building features full-time doorman and elevator. Maintenance $814, 48 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $449,000, on market two weeks. (Broker: Stan Gerasimczyk, the Corcoran Group)
Residential Sales [NY Times-Item 1]
Just Sold! [NY Post-Items 2 & 3]
Hellish Landlord Drawing Protest in the Slope
A three-story building at 152 Fourth Avenue between Douglass and Butler is drawing attention for the particularly negligence of its landlord, Gustav Rodriguez; another four buildings owned by Rodriguez have also drawn similar complaints. Among the complaints: Peeling paint, no heat and "an overwhelming stench of sewage in the halls." The building had 40 tenants last year and now only 8 are left, prompting charges that the landlord is doing everything he can to rid the building of its rent-stabilized tenants so he can cash in on the Fourth Avenue boom that's underway. A protest rally is scheduled for today outside the buildings.
Tenants Rally vs. Hell Buildinh [NY Daily News] GMAP
Go, Go, Gowanus! The Times Weighs In
Gowanus goes under the New York Times microscope this week with the bottom line of the story going something like this: Real estate developers have already staked their ground in the hopes that the area along the canal will be rezoned to more favorably accommodate residential while brownstone hunters who are willing to walk a few short blocks to nearby Smith Street and Park Slope can find deals at significant discounts to those two areas. The evidence?
Earlier this year, Ms. Walker's firm sold a town house in need of some renovation on 11th Street between Third and Fourth Avenues for $825,000. On Seventh Street, Bonnie Coape-Arnold, an agent with Brooklyn Properties, sold a three-story, two-family town house with an owner's duplex for $760,000.
With unsurprising optimism, Hal Lehrman, co-owner of Brooklyn Properties, sums the investment thesis up: "There's a lot of potential in the whole Gowanus area. You're between very expensive neighborhoods, so it's a no-brainer."
Some See Venice, Some See a Canal [NY Times]
Monday Linkage
No Sell Out, Greenpoint. Photo by Bluejake
Ferrer Chided Over Atlantic Yards [NY Times]
Ferrer Chided Over Atlantic Yards [NY Times]
Tenant Living in Limbo [NY Times]
Brooklyn Bridge Park Condo Controversy [NY Daily News]
Rising Heating Bills This Winter [NY Post]
Landing the Right Landlord [NY Post]
Ghoul Digs [NY Post]
Day Care Cuts in Red Hook [b61 productions]
October 28, 2005
Open House Picks
Fort Greene
202 Clermont Avenue
Prudential Douglas Elliman
Sunday 12-2pm
$2,200,000 $2,000,000
GMAP ARCHIVE
Cobble Hill
206 Warren Street
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 1-4pm
$1,800,000
GMAP
Fort Greene
122 South Oxford Street
Corcoran
Sunday 1-3pm
$1,300,000
GMAP
Park Slope
94 15th Street
Park Terrace Properties
Sunday 1-3pm
$825,,000
GMAP
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #15
Where: 532-540 Fulton Street
When: 1892
Why: Displaying interesting terra cotta and stone detailing, this five-bay commercial building housed F.W. Woolworth's from at least 1903 until about 1940 (when the store relocated to its new art deco building at No. 408 Fulton Street). Earlier it had been the center of Brooklyn's thriving piano-sales district.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Ferrer, Then Marty, Speak Out Against Yards' Scale
We have to admit we haven't found anything to get us particularly excited by Fernando Ferrer. But we were interested to hear him stake out a fairly clear position on the Atlantic Yards project in his conversation with the Daily News:
"We're talking about a lot of mass in that project, a lot of mass. And if we don't deal with a lot of the other issues - like traffic, like schools, like police protection, like sanitation and health care - I think we have a problem," Ferrer said. "We've got to make this human-size now," he concluded. "This can't be the mother of all real estate deals. If it is that, then, I think it's wrong."
He did fail, however, to offer any concrete suggestions for how he would cut the project back.
Within 24 hours Marty Markowitz was following suit, calling for a reduction in size without a reduction in benefits for the community. "The urban design challenge is how do we [preserve] the benefits and downscale the heights of the buildings proposed," Markowitz said. Where were you six months ago, Marty?
Freddy Fires Net Salvo [NY Daily News]
Beep's Downsize Call [NY Daily News]
Friday Links
Blue Building, Red Hook. Photo by David F. Gallagher
The Yolk's on Crown Heights [Curbed]
When Crap Ages [Transfer]
Gowanus Canal Renewal [Corante NY]
Bonus Babies [NY Observer]
Real Estate Rates Trend Upward [Inman]
Public Romp in The Slope [Daily Slope]
October 27, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #14
Where: 567, 569 and 571 Fulton Street
When:
Why: Two excellent examples of cast iron commercial facades are visible. The third, having suffered fire damage, remains potentially viable. In 1885, No. 569 Fulton housed Anderson & Company, the Brooklyn representative of Hardman Peck, pinao manufacturers specializing in player pianos. It later became, successively, a branch of the Franklin Trust Company in 1909, Atlantic National Bank in 1922, and Bank of America in 1924 until at least 1929. No. 571, in 1880, was the headquarters of the Young Men's Central Garfield and Arthur Club. In 1897, it housed the Brooklyn Furniture Company and in 1907 was a slent movie theatre.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Set Speed's Thursday Condo Report: The Liberty
The Liberty Condos: Aguayo & Huebener are at it again with the new development projects, this time in the South South Slope, at 207 22nd St between 4th and 5th Avenues. Apparently an opening party was already held for interested buyers--we didn't make the cut though. The building's website doesn't provide much more information than a phone number while the A&H site guarantees that it's "meticulously crafted" with unusually wide and sun-filled spaces. All units have private outdoor spaces, 10-foot ceilings and gourmet kitchens with granite countertops.
Interestingly enough, this project already has real pictures or a model unit, unlike the Washington Condos. A quick drive-by this weekend revealed that this is a 'Fedder's project'. The building is hailed as new construction, but from the looks of it, the builders went for the retro look to blend in with the neighborhood. The brick-faced front belies any modern amenities it may have inside. The top floor also has a weird-looking mansard-roof wannabe perch. Prices start at $599,000 for a 1,200-square-foot, 2-bedroom, 2-bath unit with private terrace to $700,000 for 1,600-square-foot duplexes with a 900-square-foot private garden.
Homepage [The Liberty] GMAP
The Liberty Condos [Aguayo & Huebener]
Every Thursday, ltjbukem, whose own blog Set Speed scrutinizes the progress and quality of new developments in the area we know as Brownstone Brooklyn, pens a guest post about goings-on in the condo market with an emphasis on new projects.
Community Economic Development Forum Friday
Is there hope for mixed income neighborhoods? Can large-scale developers guarantee community-based jobs? These topics will be the focus of Nonprofit Connection’s 10th Annual Nonprofit Day in Brooklyn hosted by Borough President Marty Markowitz and sponsored by Citigroup Foundation, on Friday, October 28, 2005, from 8:30 AM to 12:00 PM, at Brooklyn Borough Hall, 209 Joralemon Street. This year’s program spotlights the City’s hot topic -- Community Economic Development --with panelists from Citibank, Forest City Ratner, Thor Equities, Astella Development Corporation, Bed-Stuy Restoration and the Fifth Avenue Committee in two panel discussions focusing the roles of Private Sector and Nonprofit Sector development corporations in preserving New York City’s coveted neighborhood character and life. For reservations, call 212-383-1433 ext. 23.
Making Your Stoop Shine
A brownstone owner and enthusiast emailed us this picture of the new lettering over his front door. "A gold leaf address over your door really makes a stoop shine," he writes. Looks good to us. Who's artist behind the job? Aimee German. She can be reached at aimshow@hotmail.com or 718-312-9430. Any other gold-leafing resources that people can recommend?
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $235,000
166 State Street
400-sq.-ft. studio co-op in a prewar building; eat-in kitchen, high ceilings, oak floors, original moldings and detail; maintenance $586, 35% tax-deductible; lisdted at $225,000 (multiple bids), 1 week on market. (Broker: Harbor View Realty)
PARK SLOPE $640,000
243 Eighth Street (Fourth Avenue)
2-bedroom, 2-bath, 900-sq-ft condo in a new building; kitchen with updated appliances, bath and terrace off master bedroom; common charge $296; 100% tax abated; listed at $625,000 (multiple bids), 1 week on market. (Broker: Betancourt & Associates)
EAST WILLIAMSBURG $825,000
63 Skillman Avenue
2-family, 2-story, prewar wood-frame house; 2 bedrooms, 1 bath, high tin ceilings, hardwood floors in each unit; full basement; 25-by-100-ft lot; taxes $1,508; listed at $749,000 (multiple bids), 4 weeks on market. (Broker: Kline Realty)
All items from the print edition of today's New York Times.
Period Wallcoverings Out the Wazoo
Here's a neat source for period wall coverings, specifically lincrusta and anaglypta. The website, FYHome.com, has by far the biggest selection decorative materials for Victorian period restorations that we've seen, including borders, panels and friezes. We've never ordered anything from them, but sure would be curious to hear feedback from anyone who has. How about other sources for this stuff?
Lincrusta and Anaglypta Collection [FYHome.com]
Two Kinds of Development in Williamsburg
In his above-ground walk along the L train's path, Charles Graeber makes a few keen observations about the real estate boom that has been following the eastward path of gentrification. At the start of this walk, he generalizes--quite accurately, we'd say--about the two kinds of development going up in the nabe:
The first is essentially a box, with small grilled windows set in a blond-brick façade accessorized with those brown Fedders air conditioners. These are the same buildings that are popping up all over the Hasidic enclaves in Southside Brooklyn and Manhattan’s Lower East Side. They are unattractive and, not coincidentally, the cheapest construction possible by code. In a housing boom, who needs pizzazz?
The other construction is so common that the blueprints must come free with the purchase of accounting software. It’s a modernist mini-scraper of three or four floors, plate-glass front, stainless-steel trim, with a smaller atrium or penthouse up top. It has pizzazz, but inside it’s rather similar to its cheaper brick cousin.
L-Ification [New York Magazine]
Thursday Linkage
Manhattan Bridge Sky. Photo by Joseph O. Holmes
Hot Decorative Concrete [NY Times]
Call It Satmar-Gate [NY Daily News]
Cheap Hotel or High-Class Housing [A Brooklyn Life]
Why the Daily News Digs Brooklyn [Bococa.org]
Melanie's Juices on Fulton [Bed Stuy Gateway]
Nosh on Atlantic Avenue [Eating for Brooklyn]
Photo Quiz: Gowanus Gothic #3 [Dope on the Slope]
October 26, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #13
Where: 25 Elm Place
When: 1899
Why: Loesser's was once one of the most elegant stores in Brooklyn. At the turn of the century, Francis Kimball designed a monumental new store building facing onto Elm Place. Although altered on the lower floors, the bulding retains much of Kimball's brick and terra cotta detail, notably in its tall arcades. Kimball was one of the leading architects in America at the time and designed two other major buildings in Brooklyn - the Montauk Club and Emanuel Baptist Church. Co-joined just north of the Kimball Building remains an earlier small commercial building with Romanesque details.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
House of the Day: Crown Heights Craigslister
We're generally pretty skeptical about the brownstone listings on Craigslist and so don't spend much time weeding through all the noise. We came across this Crown Heights "mansion" (their word, not ours) and thought it might have some potential (we're a sucker for a good turret). Anyway, it's probably a little overpriced at $899,000 given the neighborhood and the fact that this block doesn't look like it has any particular charm. Still, if the claim of being "loaded with original details" has any truth to it, it might be worth a look. We don't know anything about the brokerage firm, Apartment and Homes, either. Caveat Emptor.
Bergen Street Mansion [Craigslist] GMAP
Stumbling Across 11 Second Place
When we were out doing our ground-breaking story on the Halloween decorations in Carroll Gardens last weekend, we strolled by the development at 11 Second Place. Frankly, we were unaware of the project until we stumbled across it. And even though we don't think the building fits in too well with the brownstone block, for some reason we think it may turn out to be reasonably nice. From the looks of the Corcoran website, so do a few other people: Five our of seven of the condo apartments are already in contract at prices ranging from $489,000 to $1,275,000. How are neighbors feeling about this larger-than-normal building going up on the block?
11 Second Place [Corcoran] GMAP
The Making of the Defenders Arch
The Defenders Arch (aka Soldiers and Sailors Arch) at the entrance to Prospect Park at Flatbush and Eastern Parkway has a rocky history, we were interested to learn. According to a fascinating article in the most recent issue of the Park Slope Reader, the park's architect, Calvert Vaux, originally filled the plaza with plants and small statues. While the park was a hit, the plaza design flopped when it was completed in 1873, and in 1889 Brooklyn Mayor Seth Low held a competition for a monument to fill the space. A classic Roman-style design by John Hemenway Duncan (who would later design Grant's Tomb) was chosen but also failed to win the public's admiration and so Stanford White was called in to do some damage control. With the help of Frederick ManMonnies, architect and master sculptor, White oversaw the addition of new statues and structural additions to house them. By 1902, the arch as we know it was completed, though the oval site on which it sits did not start being called Grand Army Plaza until 1926. In 1973, the arch received landmark status.
Story of a Brooklyn Icon [Park Slope Reader]
Heights Couple Ups Price Despite Slowing Market
The New York Observer today tells the story of the marketing of 82 Remsen street, a 37.5-foot-wide townhouse in Brooklyn Heights owned by Neil and Anne Estern for the last 50 years.
The Federal mansion initially landed on the market last winter for $10 million; it was listed with Kevin J. Carberry, an independent Brooklyn broker who has been working in the area for over 30 years."I was showing it for about two months, and I gave them two offers during that time,” said Mr. Carberry, who declined to specify the exact price. “Other brokers convinced them that it was worth more."
Next, the property was listed for $11 million with Liz Fishman of Stribling and Associates, before being scooped up a few weeks ago by Corcoran brokers Ellen Newman and Yolanda Johnson Vogelzang. Considering that Mr. Carberry was able to get offers at $10 million, increasing the asking price became a viable option. "Pricing is not an exact science,” said Ms. Newman, who admits that they have already shown the luxurious property to several potential buyers. “They had a lot of direct interest at $10 [million]. When we took it, they wanted to go back to $12 [million]."
The Observer notes that either price would break the record of $8.5 million for the sale of a Brooklyn residence. Right now, the highest asking price is $16 million (down from $20 million earlier this year), for a five-story townhouse on Columbia Heights.
Ante Up in Brooklyn Heights [NY Observer]
82 Remsen Street [Corcoran]
Feuding Hasidic Groups Brawl in the Burg
We lived on the South Side for two years and had no idea of the bitter feud that lay behind the insular facade of Hasidic Williamsburg. Yesterday, however, this feud boiled over into a full-fledged brawl, according to the New York Post, that drew dozens of cops in riot gear to the Synagogue where the trouble started. "There was chaos," said worshipper Joel Klein, 29, who said he was pulled from the Yetev Lev Bikur Cholim synagogue on Rodney Street by cops. "It was like a war zone." The bitter feud dates back to a longstanding dispute between two brothers who both claim to lead the Williamsburg Satmar congregation and its system of rabbinical yeshivas, religious schools and social services. Apparently a court decision last week in favor of one of the brothers sparked the melee, which occurred on the Jewish holiday, Shmini Atzeret. Did anyone of you happen to pass by this? Was it really as sensational as the papers suggest?
Hasidic Fued Boils [NY Daily News - Photo]
Clashing Satmars Brawl in Burg [NY Post]
Wednesday Linkster
Refined in Dumbo. Photo by Calla Lillie
Prospect Heights iPod Robbery [NY Times]
Where to Find Cool Wallpaper [Apartment Therapy]
What's Up with the F Train [OTBKB]
200 Chickens Rescued from Brooklyn Lot [AnimalConcerns.org]
New Restaurant in Prospect Heights [Daily Heights]
Corcoran Gets Foxton Car Treatment [Rat and Mouse]
October 25, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #12
Where: 470-472 Fulton Street
When: Circa 1900
Why: This four-story commercial building retains much of its original architectural character, including its three-sided, angled, pressed-metal bays. Of special interest are the three surviving cat faces, composed of classical details such as swags and anthemia. Although they may have originally been part of an advertisement, these cat heads appear to be a unique feature of the original decorative scheme.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
House of the Day: Cool Critter on Clarkson
We loved the looks of this place at first glance and even more when we saw the interior pictures. And at first glance at the price, we thought this was a winner. Then we took a closer look at the square footage (the house is definitely on the smaller side) and realized that you're paying about $300 a foot for a place that's gonna need another $50 to $100 a foot of renovation work. All of a sudden, it's not feeling like a steal for the area (which is PLG, right?). Nonetheless, for some reason, we're feeling this one -- which is sometimes a lot more important than hard metrics and valuations.
25 Clarkson Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP
Existing Home Sales Hold Close to Record
October 25, 2005 -- Sales of existing homes held at the second highest pace on record in September, with sales surging in some areas following Hurricane Katrina, according to the National Association of Realtors®. Total existing-home sales – including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 7.28 million units in September, unchanged from August. Sales were 7.2 percent above the 6.79 million-unit level in September 2004, and were second only to a rate of 7.35 million in June of this year. David Lereah, NAR’s chief economist, said near-record activity was supported by spiking home sales in areas surrounding the Hurricane Katrina disaster zone. “We are now getting some hard data from this region, with spot checks showing sharply higher home sales to residents who were displaced by the hurricane. The sales surge is more than offsetting declines in the disaster zone,” he said.
Existing Home Sales Hold [Wall Street Journal]
What Are Portland and Dekalb Doing Here?
This pair of buildings at 260-262 St. James Place recently caught our eye. Bearing the same names as nearby streets, these beautiful facades must have some interesting history behind them. Anyone got any ideas? GMAP
Downtown Intersection Critically Flawed
We just got a chance to read the Project for Public Spaces paper on "re-Imagining Brooklyn's Inner Core" and thought that they make an excellent point that tends to get lost in all the arguing about Atlantic Yards:
The Forest City Ratner proposal for the Atlantic Yards has many weaknesses. But the truth is that no development--even one much stronger than what's on the table now--can truly succeed on that site unless we also address the area around the intersection of Atlantic, Flatbush, and Fourth Avenue. This intersection should be an iconic space--a source of pride for Brooklyn as a whole...Right now it is dominated by vehicles -- it's just a place to drive through. The pedestrian experience is a nightmare, and there is no plan to deal with this major obstacle. Any development on any portion of this intersection will be a failure if surface transportation issues are not dealt with.
Re-Imagining Brooklyn's Inner Core [PPS.org]
Brokovich Turning Sights on Greenpoint Oil Spill
Erin Brokovich is turning her sights on Brooklyn. More specifically, the environmental crusader who helped win a $333 million settlement for poisoned residents of Hinkley, CA is working with the law firm of Girardi & Keese on a class action suit filed by 11 residents of Greenpoint. The plaintiffs are calling to task ExxonMobil, Chevron and BP for ignoring the millions of gallons of oil that have allegedly seeped under their homes and into the water supply around Newton Creek. Brushing off the allegations, ExxonMobil spokesman Brian Dunphy said, "We really do take our environmental responsibilities very seriously."
New Brokovich Crusade: Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
Blog Addiction Hurting Worker Productivity
We know how much time we spend reading blogs at work--and we'd probably spend even more if our firewall didn't block half of them. According to a recent study by Ad Age, we aren't alone:
About 35 million workers -- one in four people in the labor force -- visit blogs and on average spend 3.5 hours, or 9%, of the work week engaged with them, according to Advertising Age’s analysis. Time spent in the office on non-work blogs this year will take up the equivalent of 2.3 million jobs. Forget lunch breaks -- blog readers essentially take a daily 40-minute blog break.
How much time do you spend reading blogs every day?
What Blogs Cost American Business [Ad Age]
Tuesday Links
Nine by Nine. Photo by Gil Shapir
A House Where Time Stopped [NY Times]
Bankruptcies Surprise Banks [NY Times]
Raise Roof on Rents [NY Post]
Landmark Battle for Trylon Theater [NY Daily News]
Traffic Reversal [Starts & Fits via Curbed]
New York Changing Gallery [The Morning News via Kottke]
Open Shelving Options [Apartment Therapy]
Design According to Murray Moss [Business Week]
October 24, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #11
Where: 505 Fulton Street
When: 1890
Why: This powerful building, with its sumptuously ornamented entrance arch, was designed as a department store and warehouse by one of Brooklyn's most prominent late-19th century architectural firms. Built by Henry Offerman for Wechsler Brothers, it is among the masterpieces of Romanesque Revival design in Brooklyn.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Halloween on First Place: Day 1
Excitement for Halloween is mounting in the Brownstoner household, so we took a field trip with young Ms. B over to First Place in Carroll Gardens on Saturday. Despite the weather, the two blocks between Court and Henry were a big hit--about half of the front yards had some variation of ghost, skeleton or witch on display. We'll give you a taste every day this week. GMAP
House of the Day: Different in Ditmas
It's not everyday that you see a house for under $500,000. Of course, it's not everyday that non-freestanding Victorians in Ditmas Park show up on our radar screens either (we suspect the broker may be using the neighborhood definition a little liberally). As a result, we don't have a whole hell of a lot to compare this to. It doesn't look half bad though: Only two floors plus English basement, but there are definitely a lot of of serious period details. The listing mentions the fact that there is no C of O on the building which could make getting a mortgage a little dicey, so proceed with caution. If anyone knows this neck of the woods well, it would be useful to hear about safety, infrastructure, etc.
East 23rd Street House [Corcoran] GMAP
Look Back: Turn of Century Bedford Stuyvesant
Here's a photo from 1897 of the view from the stoop of 340 Gates Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant looking towards Bedford Avenue. We're a little surprised that the iron fence is not a little more ornate. It looks like the fence one house over might be made of wood, doesn't it?
Bedford Stuyvesant [Brooklynpix.com] GMAP
Car Decals: The Next Wave of RE Marketing
Corcoran is forging new paths in the area of self promotion. We noticed this car parked on Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill this weekend. Has anyone seen this elsewhere?
Curb Cutting Spreading in Carroll Gardens
On October 16th, the Four-Borough Neighborhood Alliance held a press conference on the corner of 4th Place and Court Street to draw attention to the distrubing trend of home owners "curb-cutting" to create driveways in front of their houses. A concerned reader was nice enough to provide us with the above photos all withing a block of where the press conference was held. You can probably guess where which side of the debate we come down on.
Alliance Looks to Clean Up Courtyards [CG Courier]
Buicks Among the Bushes [NY Times]
Recently Sold in Brooklyn
CARROLL GARDENS $849,000
450 Clinton St.
Two-bedroom, 11/2 -bath triplex co-op in a landmarked former church, 1,400 square feet, with loft space, eat-in kitchen, office and hardwood floors; building features courtyard. Maintenance $483, 37 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $899,000, on market one month. (Broker: Sue Wolfe, Nancy McKiernan Realty)
COBBLE HILL $800,000
157 Kane St.
Renovated two-bedroom, two-bath floor-through co-op, 1,100 square feet, with windowed kitchen, dining room, five closets, fireplace, washer/dryer, hardwood floors, rooftop terrace with city views and N/E/S exposures; building is pet-friendly and features storage. Maintenance $528, 50 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $835,000, on market four weeks. (Broker: Robert Frye, Brooklyn Bridge Realty)
PARK SLOPE $499,500
415 Ninth St.
Prewar two-bedroom, two-bath penthouse co-op, 726 square feet, with open kitchen with dishwasher, hardwood floors, master-bedroom suite with walk-in closet and S/W exposures; building is pet-friendly and features storage and common roof deck. Maintenance $744, 60 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $525,000, on market 51 days. (Broker: Elsa Chung, the Corcoran Group)
PROSPECT PARK SOUTH $1,240,000
97 Marlborough Road
Prewar six-bedroom, 31/2 -bath Colonial, 39-foot- by-43-foot property on a 5,500-square-foot lot, with center hall with large foyer, double living room with two fireplaces, formal dining room, eat-in kitchen, laundry area, Palladian windows, open porch and two-car garage. Taxes $4,147. Asking price $1,395,000, on market six weeks. (Broker: Mary Kay Gallagher)
PARK SLOPE $805,000
450 Third Street
1,250-sq.ft. co-op in a prewar building; dining room, exposed-brick walls, wrap-around deck; maintenance $581, 50% tax-deductible; listed at $739,000 (multiple bids). (Broker: Corcoran)
COBBLE HILL $450,000
214 Clinton Street
800-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; dining room, eat-in kitchen, high ceilings, exposed-brick walls, oak floors; maintenance $606; 50% tax-deductible; listed at $459,000. (Broker: Harbor View Realty)
Just Sold! [NY Post-Items 1 to 4]
Residential Sales [NY Times-Items 5 & 6]
Two Guys & Two Sheepdogs Renovate in Bed Stuy
Here's a story with a happy ending. Erik Rothman, 34, and Juan-Manuel Olivera-Silvera, 33, bought their house at 208 Lexington Avenue between Bedford and Nostrand in March 2004. The couple won the house in a HUD auction with their top bid of $376,000, or a little more than $150 a square foot. Unable to afford another rent on top of their mortgage, they moved into the top floor as soon as possible and rode out the renovation. They ended up spending $240,000, or about $100 a square foot, on the gut renovation--which involved returning the abandoned and chopped-up rooming house to its original layout. We would have liked to hear more about the moments of stress or incidents of disaster during the renovation--the article makes it all sound too easy--but certainly enjoyed the piece. For all the harping about traditionalism in brownstones that we do around here, we also would like to point out that we think these guys did a very nice job of injecting a modern aesthetic into the house while maintaining and respecting its original design and details. Bravo.
2 Guys, 2 Sheepdogs... [NY Times] GMAP
Monday Linkage
Wet Crane. Photo by Laura Holder
Inflation No Problem Except... [NY Times]
Buildings with Bows [NY Times]
The Benefits of the Boom [NY Times]
From W'burg to Ossining [NY Times]
Trumps' Tips at Lecture [NY Post]
Hydroelectric Power for East River [NY Post]
Pre-war Versus Post-war [NY Post]
A Nabe Grows in Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
$7.5 Million to Wipe Out Graffiti [NY Daily News]
Failed Bid to Landmark Bank [NY Daily News]
A Century of Homes [NY Daily News]
October 21, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #10
Where: 495 Fulton Street
When: 1905
Why: Oppenheim & Collins was a purveyor of fine women's clothing. This corner building built for O&C, retains its elegant neo-Renaissance style detail on the upper three stories, including two-story arches, terra cotta detail and a deep cornice.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
The Other Side of Washington Avenue - Day 5
Washington Avenue below Park also has some reminders of earlier eras, like fading signage and a pair of beautiful old stable doors. GMAP
Open House Picks: Pressure Drop Edition
Windsor Terrace
82 Prospect Park SW
Townsley & Gay
Sunday 2:30-4:30pm
$1,899,000 $1,799,000
GMAP ARCHIVE
Clinton Hill
30 Cambridge Place
Corcoran
Sunday 12:30-2:30pm
$1,650,000 $1,545,000
GMAP ARCHIVE
Prospect Heights
415 Sterling Place
Prudential/Brooklyn Props
Sunday 2:30-4pm
$1,600,000 $1,500,000
GMAP ARCHIVE
Fort Greene
730 Fulton Street
Citi Habitats
Sunday 12-2pm
$1,500,000 $1,400,000
GMAP ARCHIVE
Gowanus Artists Open Their Studios to Public
Check out the Gowanus Artists Studio Tour this weekend. On October 22 and 23 from 1-6 pm, 120 local artists will open their studios to the public. Visitors on this self-guided walking tour will be able to chat with artists, see where they work, and get a behind-the-scenes look at artmaking in South Brooklyn. Some locations are large factory buildings with up to 30 artists participating, and others are smaller industrial buildings with one or two artists’ studios. In addition to the individual open studios, the work of participating artists will be exhibited together in a group show at 94 Ninth Street Gallery, 3rd Floor. The exhibition will run October 14 to October 23, with an opening reception on Friday, October 14 from 6 to 8 pm. Gallery hours are Fridays and Saturdays, 1-6 pm and Sundays 1-4 pm.
Homepage [Gowanus Artists]
Gowanus Studio Tour 2005 [Gowanus Artists]
Clean Slate on South 6th and Bedford
The one-story tax payer and former site of the worst flea market in history is looking primed for some development action. Given what's gone before it in the hood (and its proximity to one of our favorite buildings in the area), we're trying not to get our hopes up. GMAP
The Story Behind Bed Stuy House #4
Below is the first-hand account of the owner of House #4 on last weekend's Bed Stuy house tour. It's a pretty incredible story that should be inspiration and solace for any brownstone renovators who are feeling overwhelmed by the road ahead. Heck, it puts our recent plumbing problems in serious perspective. Hats off to you.
My mother and I shared a 3 bedroom condo in Fort Greene for 11 years when we decided that we wanted a house. Unfortunately, by this time, brownstones in Fort Greene were out of reach, especially since we both agreed that we did not want to be landlords. Our goal was to find a 4-story brownstone that we could us as a Mother/Daughter--with each of us occupying two floors. Our search took us to Bedstuy, a place where neither one of us had ventured before. We saw a lot of crappy sheet-rocked houses but we wanted original details.
After a year of searching, I gave up. However, some time thereafter, my mother received a call from a seller whom she had contacted the year before. Because I was so disgusted by the whole process, I initially refused to go but my mother insisted. The legal 3-family house had no electricity, so the seller showed us some of the house using a hand-held light powered by a neighbor's electricity. From what we could see, the bottom two floors had details galore. After weeks of negotiations (the sellers were investors who we flipping the house), we had the house inspected (the seller took the engineer around with the had held light) and entered into a contract after being told that the house needed some updates, but was relatively in move-in condition. Unfortunately, not the case.
Continued...
Riskiest Housing Markets Cited in PMI Report
October 20, 2005, WSJ -- Home prices in some of the nation's largest markets are poised for a fall, according to a study that says homes are overvalued in many cities. The PMI U.S. Market Risk Index report, released yesterday, named Boston, San Diego, Long Island, N.Y., Santa Ana, Calif., and Oakland, Calif., as the markets facing the biggest risk of a price correction. The index showed these markets have a more than 50% chance of experiencing price declines during the next two years. New York City ranked 14th, with a 33% chance. Nationwide, there is a 21.8% chance that overall house prices across the 50 largest housing markets will see prices fall, up from 21.3% in the previous quarter. The markets with the lowest risk of a correction are Cincinnati, Memphis, Tenn., Indianapolis and Pittsburgh, where the risk is less than 6%.
Price Drop Forecast in Riskiest Markets [WSJ]
Fed: New Construction Up, Demand Down (a Bit)
October 21, 2005, Wall Street Journal -- New U.S. home construction surged last month, confounding expectations for a cooling in the broader housing market after two consecutive months of declines. Separately, the Federal Reserve had a note of caution on the housing sector with the release of its so-called beige book, a summary of current economic conditions. The Fed noted that while residential real-estate activity "remained generally strong," reports that demand for homes has lessened "have become somewhat more common." Analysts said rising mortgage rates and the prospect of overbuilding suggest that a downturn may still loom, though reconstruction of the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast will sustain the boom in that region.
Construction Jumps But Fed Notes Cooling [WSJ]
Friday Link-o-rama
North Sixth, Williamsburg. Photo by John Chu
Review: Emilia Galotti at BAM [NY Times]
Review: Cattyshack on 4th Avenue [NY Times]
Store Rare Device Opens in Slope [NY Times - 4th Item]
2 Columbus Circle Finally Sold [NY Post]
More Woes For Flushing Developer [NY Daily News]
City Suing Brownsville Complex [NY Daily News]
Bronx Cheers for Brooklyn Arena [NorthJersey.com]
Housing Boom's Moment of Truth [Philadelphia Inquirer]
Review: Living Room Lounge [L Magazine]
Harvest Festival in Red Hook [b61productions]
Not In My Front Yard! [7online]
Mortgage Tax Deductions at Risk [Miller Samuel]
October 20, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #9
Where: 471 Fulton Street
When: 1915
Why: Oppenheim & Collins was a purveyor of fine women's clothing. The company commissioned this large store with impressive double-height windows and a curved corner that would attract the attention of shoppers. Oppenheim & Collins' initials decorate a roundel on the parapet atop the curved tower. E.J. Korvette's, a popular discount department store, later occupied the building.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
The Other Side of Washington Avenue - Day 4
What does this building have in common with the others we've featured this week? You guessed it--arched windows. We're also digging the color of the window trim. Once again, nice loft potential.GMAP
The New! Thursday Condo Report
Every Thursday, ltjbukem, whose own blog Set Speed scrutinizes the progress and quality of new developments in the area we know as Brownstone Brooklyn, will write a guest post about goings-on in the condo market with an emphasis on new projects. Welcome, Mr. Bukem!
26-34 Butler Place Located in one of the 'spoke' streets surrounding Grand Army Plaza, this street has been characterized on dailyheights.com as having gone from being one of the "rowdy-est blocks in all of Prospect Heights, to its current state, which is pretty much tombstone quiet." We don't know much about the project except that one-bedrooms are starting at $325K. A quick look at the website shows fireplaces, stainless steel appliances and marble baths. A friend who took a look on Sunday said there were over 120 people at the open house. GMAP
606 Bergen Street This Karl Fischer project sits less than one block away from the imminent Atlantic Yards project. The units are unusually small one- and two-bedrooms which suggests that the property will be marketed toward the younger, child-less set. The offering plan hasn't been approved and therefore no prices are available yet. Marketed by Aguayo & Huebener, the building features a zen garden, fitness spa with sauna and steam room, exotic wood cabinetry and floors and three elevators with three separate entrances. GMAP
167 Johnson Street/147 Flatbush Avenue Extension. Located across the street from the Toy Factory Lofts at 176 Johnson Street, this new project will contain 170 units and 309 units respectively. Not much is known at this point for these two projects. The architects are Ismael Leyva, who have worked on other high profile projects like the River Lofts Condos in Tribeca, 15 Broad Street (aka Downtown by Starck) and Time Warner Center. These two projects figure to bring in a sizeable supply of condominiums to the Downtown/Metrotech area of Brooklyn. GMAP
Long-Term Rates Hit 15-Month High
October 20, 2005 -- Freddie Mac (FRE) said that long-term rates are at the highest level in 15 months, and the one-year, Treasury-indexed adjustable rate is at its highest level since July 2002 in the week ending Thursday. The benchmark 30-year fixed-rate mortgage average rose to 6.1% from 6.03% a week ago. The mortgage agency said its weekly survey also showed a rise in the 15-year loan, to 5.65% from 5.62%, and the one-year ARM, which averaged 4.89% vs. 4.85% a week earlier. The five-year hybrid ARM also rose, to 5.59% from 5.57% a week ago. "Despite the gradual rise in mortgage rates over the last two months, housing starts were actually up in September highlighting the resiliency of the housing market," said Frank Nothaft, Freddie Mac vice president and chief economist, in a statement.
Long-term Rates at Highest Level [MarketWatch.com]
Fourth Avenue Fodder: The Only Way Is Up
Waddup with this site on Fourth Avenue between 12th and 13th Streets? Presumably it's part of the next wave of large-scale residential buildings that will go up along this stretch. Specifics? GMAP
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
CARROLL GARDENS $2.4 million
100 Second Place
4-family, 5-story brownstone; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths in primary unit; 1 bedroom, 1 bath in others; dining room, eat-in kitchen in each; 25-by-100-ft. lot; taxes $6,218; listed at $2.6 million, 5 weeks on market (broker: Iron Gate Properties)
PROSPECT HEIGHTS $378,000
418 St. John's Place
1-bedroom, 1-bath, 800-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; dining area, high ceilings, 1 exposure; maintenance $468, 50% tax-deductible; listed at $369,000 (multiple bids), 10 weeks on market (brokers: Corcoran Group Brooklyn; Century 21 Kevin B. Brown)
SUNSET PARK $628,000
350 57th Street
2-family, 3-story, 95-year-old brick house; 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, eat-in kitchen in primary unit; 1 bedroom, 1 bath, den in other; original moldings and detail in each; south garden; 20-by-90-ft. lot; taxes $750; listed at $630,000, 2 weeks on market (broker: Warren Lewis Realty)
Residential Sales [NY Times]
Recently on My Brownstone: Salvage Art
The proud owner of an 1899 brownstone in Crown Heights has taken his obsession to a new level. Witness these artworks made from the salvaged house parts--cut nails, a sash pulley, a hinge--that he recently constructed. While you're at it, check out the beautiful parlor-floor living room as well as some other recent updates.
A Jewel in the Crown [My Brownstone]
Life on the Crown/Prospect Heights Border
In the most recent NY Press, Joshua Bernstein describes how his once out-of-favor neighborhood all of a sudden began attracting poorly written flyers soliciting building owners to sell, sell, sell. In the process, he provides some less than flattering (though purposefully theatrical) color on the hood:
My rent is cheap because I live on Brooklyn's Crown and Prospect Heights border. Around here, my bodega sells toilet paper through a Plexiglas hole. A nightly gunshot symphony lulls me to sleep. And around the corner, drug dealers more bloodthirsty than mosquitoes ply substances green and white. A few months back, one unfortunate salesman received an additional hole in his head. Quality-of-life issues, yes, but for three bedrooms in a tidy brownstone with minor troubles (ceiling aside, there's a sticky bathroom door and a finicky radiator), my roommates and I pay just $1,650.
Going Postal [NY Press]
Marty Comes Up with the Dough for Flatbush
We just got an email from a reader alerting us to the fact that Marty Markowitz has just come through for the residents of Victorian Flatbush. Susan Siegel of the Flatbush Development Corp. just announced that the big man on Brooklyn's campus secured $83,000 for the facelift of Cortelyou Road. In addition to replacing the "Cobra head" streetlights with the "Flatbush pole", the so-called streetscape project aims to install cobblestone sidewalk borders, planters, banners, bike ranks and granite benches up and down the thoroughfare. One resident summed it up: "I've seen the plans and it looks like the bloody Champs Elysees." We're all for investing in public spaces but we just hope this doesn't end up looking like the Disney version of historic Brooklyn.
Brooklyn's Dirtiest Landlord Finally Nailed
October 19, 2005, NY1 -- The city's Department of Investigation is cracking down on a Brooklyn building owner accused of having more than 1,300 violations in his properties. According to the DOI, a wide investigation of properties run by Abdur Rahman Farrakhan, president of the Oceanhill Brownsville Tenants Association (OBTA), was sparked when a tenant in one of his buildings showed the agency a container of peanut butter than had been gnawed through by rodents. Last month, a multi-agency task force searched OBTA’s 27 apartment buildings over a nine-day period, resulting in more than 1,300 citations and violations. The DOI says it also found that the OBTA owes more than $6 million in back taxes, and an additional $1 million for water bills.
Brooklyn Building Owner Has 1,300 Violations [NY1]
Deadbeat Slumlord Slapped [NY Post]
Thursday Linkster
Purple Flower, Dumbo. Photo by Alexis Robie
A Mighty Anger Grows [NY Times]
Stylish Shelves [NY Times]
Success Finally for Artist [NY Times]
Barbecue in Brooklyn [NY Times - Item 1]
Brooklyn Is Zagat's Meow [NY Daily News]
Bridge Park Called 'Develo-Park' [Downtown Star]
Buyers, Beware [Barron's Online]
Lost in Brooklyn [NY Press]
Planning, Not Rezoning, the Answer [Gotham Gazette]
Song Restaurant in Park Slope [Unbeige]
October 19, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #8
Where: 456 Fulton Street
When: 1924
Why: Robert Kohn was among the most important archtitects in New York City in the early 20th century (both he and partner Charles Butler were involved with the design of Temple Emanuel). For the carriage trade A.I. Namm & Son store, Kohn and Butler designed an elegant neo-Classical building of limestone with exceptionally fine metal detail.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
The Other Side of Washington Avenue - Day 3
Speaking of semi-circular windows, this place ain't too shabby either. Since the zoning is currently M1-2, this place is probably already overbuilt, so no penthouse addition likely. Interesting square detailing on the cornice. GMAP
HOTD: Park Block for $1.6 Mil? What's the Catch?
It's always hard critiquing a listing with very few pictures and no address--we wonder when brokers will realize how important a marketing tool their web presence is. Anyway, enough ranting. This listing from Brenton Realty seems to fall into the "too good to be true" category. A 3,200-square-foot house (although 800 of those feet are basically underground) between Prospect Park West and 8th Avenue for $1.595 million seems a little fishy. It's a three-family, which we guess makes it less desirable in that part of town. And, we can only assume it's near the Southern end of the park--near the movie theater maybe? The one interior shot shows the house to be in okay condition, but it probably could use a real upgrade. We'll stop our speculation here and just hope some of you have checked it out already and can give us the straight dope.
Park Block Townhouse [Brenton Realty]
Eastern Parkway to Receive $5.9 Million Makeover
October 17, 2005 -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg and Congressman Major R. Owens today joined Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall, Prospect Park Alliance President Tupper Thomas and Robert Witherwax of the Eastern Parkway Cultural Row Neighborhood to announce a $5.9 million reconstruction of Brooklyn's Eastern Parkway, between Washington Avenue and Grand Army Plaza. The reconstruction plan, developed with the Prospect Park Alliance, will restore Frederick Law Olmsted's and Calvert Vaux's vision of a beautifully landscaped median along the Parkway and Prospect Park that affords vistas of Grand Army Plaza.
Reconstruction of Eastern Parkway [NYC.gov]
Photo: Eastern Parkway Twinlamper [Forgotten NY]
Day Three: The Dig Continues
The job is proving more difficult than expected since it's turning out that just about every utility on the block has a junction right in front of our house. This means that the digging takes a lot longer, as the workers have to take extra care not to hit any other pipes. It's starting to look like our sprinkler main is leaking underground too. Remind us why we wanted to own a house again?
The Big Dig Is Underway [Brownstoner]
Commercial Redevelopment Booming Downtown
Downtown Brooklyn is booming. That's the message from Michael Burke, director of the Downtown Brooklyn Council, and the numbers seem to back him up. The borough's six million square feet of Class A office space had a vacancy rate of only 6.8 percent last quarter; Fulton Mall retail space is commanding $200 a foot rents; and more and more people are choosing to live downtown as well. Spurred by the rezoning that went into effect in July 2004, development plans reflect this momentum and optimism: 2,000 new units of housing, 4.5 million square feet of office space and 900,000 square feet of retailing space are in the pipeline at various stages. The centerpiece of the redevelopment is the 60-story, 1.2-million-square-foot Thor Tower which will anchor the larger commercial core called Willoughby Square. Answering a question we raised last week about Downtown Brooklyn's ability to attract higher-end professional tenants, Cushman & Wakefield's Glenn Markman says, "The next wave of commercial activity is going to be a different type of tenant from the usual back office. It's going to be publishing companies, media firms and entertainment companies that recognize that their labor pool lives in Brooklyn now." Makes sense to us.
Towers Grow in Downtown Brooklyn [NY Times]
Breaking: Housing Starts, Permits Surge
October 19, 2005, Reuters -- U.S. housing starts jumped 3.4 percent in September and permits for future groundbreaking surged to a 32-year high, defying forecasts for a slowdown in construction following hurricanes Katrina and Rita, government data showed on Wednesday. The Commerce Department said the storms had a minimal impact on housing starts. After imputing data for August, it assumed that no permits were issued for the approximately 24 jurisdictions that did not report September data for its sample survey. Low mortgage rates have supported the housing sector for more than four years. Some economists have predicted a cooling in 2006 as long-term interest rates rise and dampen demand. But earlier Wednesday, an industry trade group said mortgage applications rose even as interest rates on the 30-year home loan climbed to their highest levels of 2005. Housing starts rose 6.9 percent in the U.S. South and 1.9 percent in the Midwest and held unchanged in the Northeast and West.
Housing Starts, Permits Surge [MSN Money]
Yards Environmental Hearing a Spirited Affair
From all reports, last night's hearing on the environmental impact of the Bruce Ratner's proposal for the Atlantic Yards project was a boisterous affair. With the 880-seat auditorium at New York City College of Technology almost filled to capacity, emotions ran high as neighborhood groups, business associations and unions all voiced their opinions, usually with a back-drop of booing and cat-calling. Most of the opposition came from people who actually live in or near the Atlantic Yards, including Prospect Heights and Park Slope. Beyond aesthetic concerns and worries about forever changing the character of the neighborhood, opponents cited specific concerns about the existing infrastructure--from schools to parking to sewers--and its ability to accommodate the increased population density. The only people featured speaking out for the project (in the two articles we read) were both union leaders whose quality of life (other than their paychecks) we doubt will be impacted should the project go forward. The crowd also had no patience for wafflers: Councilman David Yassky was heckled for his middle-of-the-road stance: He's for the project if it's "done right." Our sense is that even Brooklynites who are generally in favor of the project are worried about the scale and about Ratner going reneging on promises after he gets final approval.
The People Shout on Arena Project [NY Times]
SRO Crowd Takes Shots at Nets Plan [NY Daily News]
Wednesday Linkage
Endale Arch, Prospect Park. Photo by Frank Lynch
Bushwick Tenant Rips HUD [NY Daily News]
Real Life of Brokers Part 1 [NY Daily News]
Builders Vow to Save Tax Break [USA Today]
Boston Brownstone Primer [Boston Globe]
Deconstructing Your FICO Score [LA Times]
The Tide Turns [NY Magazine]
Zagat Savoring Outer Boroughs [NY Sun]
Planners Blow Off Park Meeting [Brooklyn Papers]
Doral Bank Open in Park Slope [Downtown Star]
Atlantic Yards' and Jewish Population [The Jewish Week]
Brooklyn Heights PriceChopper [Curbed]
October 18, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #7
Where: 456 Fulton Street
When: 1924
Why: Robert Kohn was among the most important archtitects in New York City in the early 20th century (both he and partner Charles Butler were involved with the design of Temple Emanuel). For the carriage trade A.I. Namm & Son store, Kohn and Butler designed an elegant neo-Classical building of limestone with exceptionally fine metal detail.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
The Other Side of Washington Avenue - Day 2
To misquote Bill Murray in Stripes, people are paying top dollar for this stuff in Soho. Seriously, though, how great are those arched windows? GMAP
How's It Going at 98 St. Marks Place Avenue?
After the drubbing A&H took a couple of weeks ago for the job they did marketing the Washington Condos, we're curious to know how things are going a few blocks away at 98 St. Marks Place Avenue. Not your typical condo conversion, the former walk-up rental has been dolled up with the standard list of "luxury" amenities. We're more interested to know how the spaces feel. There's one photo of the apartment with the arched windows that looks nice, but otherwise it's very hard to get a feel for the quality of the reno from the listing. Has anyone been inside? Have any of the apartments sold yet? The units are priced, we'd estimate, at between $600 and $700 a foot. How does that sound for this part of Prospect Heights?
98 St. Marks Avenue [Aguayo & Huebener] GMAP
Checking in on Washington Condos [Brownstoner]
Two New Developments On the Radar
The Brooklyn development hounds over at Wired NY just dug up these two projects, both of which are being worked on by Mehandes Engineering. The building on the left is destined for somewhere on Flatbush Avenue; the developers are North Developers and the architect is Ismael Leyva. The building on the right is a Scarano project (though we couldn't seem to find it on the firm's website) located at 77 Box Street in the northern-most reaches of Greenpoint. That's all we got--how 'bout you?
Some More New Brooklyn Stuff [Wired NY]
Flatbush Avenue Project [Mehendes Engineering]
77 Box Street [Google Maps]
The Village Voice On Burgeoning Boerum Hill
The Voice took a closer look at Boerum Hill last week. Founded by Dutch farmers, the downtown Brooklyn nabe survived the dark days of the '70s, '80s and '90s only to reblossom in recent years:
A bright shade of its former, fashionable, middle-class self is an apt portrait of the neighborhood today. Boerum Hill's stretch of Smith Street is one of the city's renowned restaurant and bar scenes. Side streets like Pacific, Dean, and Bergen showcase row after row of restored brownstones, with intricate ironwork on porches and windows, lovingly tended gardens, and signs reminding motorists not to honk. Atlantic Avenue boasts nearly a mile of antiques, cafes, and what is probably the city's most public access to its Muslims: bookstores, shops, and mosques that serve people from a staggering array of countries and sects.
Close-Up in Boerum Hill [Village Voice]
The Big Dig Is Underway
Here's what the street in front of our house looks like one day into repairing our collapsed waste line. We've been on restricted water usage (as in thirty second showers and flush-only-when-necessary) for the past ten days and we're ready for a long, hot bath. Evidently the City used to take responsibility for repairing pipes this far out into the street but now the onus and the cost are on the building owners. Sucks for us.
WSJ's Starter Home Index Up Across the Board
Year-over-year prices in New York's 10128 ZIP code are up--though at 5.3%, the increase is the lowest of the group.
Start Home Index [Wall Street Journal]
BUILD Finally Fesses Up to Ratner Funding
October 18, 2005, NY Daily News -- A nonprofit group that spearheaded neighborhood support for the huge Atlantic Yards commercial development in Brooklyn has finally admitted it is being bankrolled by Forest City Ratner, the project's developer. Until last week, the leaders of Brooklyn United for Innovative Local Development - BUILD - had repeatedly denied getting any financing from Ratner. That story began to unravel, however, after The Daily News reported Sept. 29 that the group filed documents with the IRS early this year in which it reported $5 million in donations from Ratner for 2005 and 2006. Confronted with those filings, the group's leaders at first said the $5 million was only what they were projecting to get for job training programs they would provide for the project. No actual money had been disbursed or even committed by the developer, said Marie Louis, BUILD's chief operating officer. Then late last week, the group and Ratner made a clarification. Yes, some money has changed hands...
BUILD Admits Ratner Funding [NY Daily News]
The Atlantic Yards project is scheduled to have its first formal public review tonight at an environmental impact hearing before the Empire State Development Corp.
Tuesday Links
Golden Stitches. Photo by The Known Universe
Study: Lax Construction Safety Standards [NY Times]
Fuel Costs to Slow Growth [NY Times]
The Mortgage Maker vs. The World [NY Times]
Rats Overrunning Carroll Park [NY Daily News]
Minimalism's Soft Side [Real Estate Journal]
Review: Dumbo Arts Festival [Village Voice]
Yassky: Shift Park Condos to Dumbo [Brooklyn Papers]
Brooklyn Green Design Seminar Today [Green Home NYC]
Gap Comes to Park Slope [OTBKB]
Smith Street Box Mystery [Curbed]
October 17, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #6
Where: 466 Fulton Street
When: 1888
Why: The corner of Fulton and Hoyt Streets is anchored by the round tower of this small Romanesque Revival store and office building. The round arches, angled bays and brick and stone detail lend character to one of the most surprising buildings on Fulton Street.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
The Other Side of Washington Avenue - Day 1
Ever since we began driving frequently between Williamsburg and Clinton Hill in search of our brownstone, we've been admiring this block of Washington Avenue. Running from the BQE to the entrance of Steiner Studios in the Navy Yard, the street is definitely on the "other side of the tracks" from the residential part of Clinton Hill. More Meatpacking District than Brownstone Brooklyn, however, this stretch of old industrial taxpayers and loft buildings is dripping with charm and will, we predict, some day be one of the nicest stretches of condos and stores around. For the rest of the week, we'll take a close-up look at a few of our favorite structures and details on this block. GMAP
Checking Back in with Two South Side Bogglers
With all this talk of a market cooling, we thought we'd check back in with a couple of the most overpriced brownstones we'd seen this fall--both of which are in Williamsburg's South Side. Reality seems to have started to set in for the owners of the house on the left, 328 Berry Street. The listing price has come down $100,000 to a still-frothy $1,499,000. We think they've got at least another $100,000 to go before someone will be willing to pay up to enjoy the rumbling of the JMZ train above. But this is a step in the right direction. No such luck at 110 South 1st Street, where the Corcoran-brokered prop is holding firm at $1.2 million. Denial ain't just a river in Egypt.
328 Berry Street [Portrait Realty] GMAP
110 South 1st Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Pricing That Boggles the Mind [Brownstoner]
Stepping Out for Some Grenache
It's hard to imagine life in Fort Greene pre-Green Grape. The Fulton Street wine merchant's well-curated selection of affordable wines nailed the nabe's demographic on the head. On Saturday evening, we hopped in the car for the short drive to grab a couple of bottles of Artazuri Navarra 2003. At $12 a bottle, this Grenache has really begun to grow on us. We're also also happy to see that Olivino, at Fulton and Clinton, also seems to be catching on with Clinton Hill-ers. From what we've seen, there are more than enough wine drinkers in the area to keep both stores comfortably in business.
Recently Sold in Brooklyn
BOERUM HILL $1,300,000
582 Pacific St.
Three-bedroom, two-bath triplex condo in a townhouse, 2,925 square feet, with gourmet kitchen with stainless-steel appliances, wood-burning fireplace, family room, hardwood floors, rec room, laundry room, central A/C, terrace and garden. Common charges $586, taxes $610. Asking price $1,300,000, on market one week. (Broker: Rachel Weiss, Halstead Property
WINDSOR TERRACE $400,000
30 Ocean Parkway
Renovated one-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 900 square feet, with five closets, custom windowed bath, custom eat-in kitchen, stainless-steel appliances, Corian countertops and hardwood floors; Art Deco building is steps from park and features elevator, garden, laundry, storage and bike room. Maintenance $516, 50 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $395,000, on market three weeks. (Broker: Robert Frye, Brooklyn Bridge Realty)
PARK SLOPE $985,000
284 17th Street
Legal 2-family, 3-story brownstone, being used as a 1-family residence; original moldings and detail, woodframe outbuildingon 25-by-100-ft. lot; taxes $1,788; listed at $839,000 (multiple bids). (Broker: Warren Lewis)
Just Sold! [NY Post - Items 1 & 2]
Residential Sales [NY Times - Item 3]
Water Views for Lower-Income W'Burgers
Guess we were asleep at the wheel because we just heard about the Palmer's Dock development on the Williamsburg waterfront that was announced on October 7. A joint venture between New York City developer L&M Equity Participants (of Schaefer Landing fame) and Dunn Development, the project will create 117 housing units for low- and moderate income families. The city is putting up $8 million in capital and the city and state are kicking in an additional $17 million of low-income housing tax credits. Named after the original waterfront railway terminal that was once active on the site, the 6-floor Fox & Fowle design will also incorporate 18,000 square feet of retail. As far as we can tell, the specific location of the project in on the waterfront somewhere between North 2nd and North 6th Streets. Anyone know for sure?
City to Help Fund Brooklyn Waterfront Project [Crain's]
Affordable Housing for Brooklyn [NY1]
Steps Away from the Water [Wired NY]
Palmer's Dock [Dunn Development]
NY Post: Things Really Aren't That Bad
The NY Post throws in its two cents to the market analysis debate with the view that we are hardly in the midst of a dramatic bursting of the bubble. More like a recalibration to more sane levels:
Though recent data signal a softening in some areas of the market, there are no indicators - yet - this is the beginning of a crash. Think of the current market as a kinder, gentler bubble - not a catastrophic burst, but a reality check, a skimming of the froth, a round of requisite price corrections that is seen as a welcome necessity.
The Corrections [NY Post]
What's Selling in a Softening Market
With the market evidently softening, especially at the high end, the Times looks back at houses that sold and those that didn't in recent months. One pricey place in Brooklyn that has failed to move, despite the attempts of numerous brokers, is the Tara house in Prospect Park South. First listed at $4 million last year, the asking price is illogically now $4.2 million. Go figure. In contrast, the big success story in Brooklyn was the lovely Brooklyn Heights prewar 2-bedroom that we featured here in early September. Unanimously praised in the Comments section, the apartment attracted over 300 people to its two open houses. In this case a strategy of moderate underpricing and pitch-perfect styling combined for a home run--the sellers had a signed contract above the $699,000 asking price within ten days.
Still on the Market [NY Times]
Brooklyn Heights 2 BR Co-op [Brownstoner]
Monday Linkology
Brooklyn Pier. Photo by Cornershots
Don't Expect Your Condo to be Done on Time [NY Times]
Putting a Value on a 'Priceless' House [NY Times]
Where the Clash Meets the Aspirin [NY Times]
Cell Rage in Park Slope Co-op [NY Times]
Crown Heights Hospital Closes [NY Times]
Reaching for the Blanket [NY Times]
Buicks Among the Bushes [NY Times]
Anger at Wave of Paving [NY Daily News]
Ratner's Money Tree [NY Daily News]
Downzoning Reaches Bronx [NY Daily News]
Future of Bay Ridge Theater [NY Daily News]
Condos Cost More [NY Post]
Photo Quiz: Gowanus Gothic 2 [Dope on the Slope]
Use of Bollards in NYC [Naparstek]
Credit Reports Revisited [Property Grunt]
October 14, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #5
Where: 423 Fulton Street
When: 1931
Why: During the depression, as investment in large construction projects waned, a series of small Art Deco style commercial buildings were erected in Downtown Brooklyn. The finest of these is the four-story office building with ground-floor shops on the corner of Fulton and Pearl Streets. The building was designed by one of the most talented New York architectural firms involved in apartment house and commercial construction in the early decades of the twentieth century. As on their larger Art Deco apartment buildings, George & Edward Blum dramatically employed polychrome terra cotta on the facades of this structure. The building was marketed as "New Modern Building in the heart of Brooklyn's Shopping District." In the mid-1930s, the building was the Brooklyn headquarters of the New York Times.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Open House Picks
Park Slope
360 4th Street
Warren Lewis
Sunday 2:30-4:30pm
$1,980,000
GMAP
Prospect Lefferts
30 Midwood Street
Brown Harris Stevens
Sunday 2-4pm
$1,495,000
GMAP
Crown Heights
179 Kingston Avenue
Corcoran
Sunday 2-4pm
$899,000
GMAP
Crown Heights
1160 Sterling Place
Outreach Real Estate
Saturday 2-4pm
$749,000
GMAP
Two Walking Tours This Weekend
There are two tours for those interested in exploring the neighborhoods and architecture of Brooklyn this weekend. And since they're on different days, the truly motivated among us can make it to both.
Cobble Hill Tour [Amy Langfield]
Welcome Page [Francis Morrone]
Inside the Pratt Institute Power Plant
One of the more popular stops on the Brooklyn leg of the Open House NY tour is the Power Plant at Pratt. First installed in 1887, the plant is the oldest steam-generating facility in the Northeast. Blogger Alexis Robie took some great close-ups of the plant machinery which can be seen at his eponymous site.
Pratt Power Plant [Lex's Folly]
Village Voice Best of NYC 2005: Brooklyn Edition
Best Bent Street Sign as Artwork: Berry & North 9th
Best Borough Connector: Pulaski Bridge
Best Halloween Parade: Park Slope
Best Summer Block Parties: Bed Stuy
Best Spot for Stranger's Wedding: Brooklyn Botanic Garden
Best Solar-Powered Restaurant: Habana Outpost
Choicest Cheesecake: Junior's
Coziest Cuban: Franklin Corner Store
Most Innovative Mac & Cheese: De Bajan Bus Stop
Slickest Regular Slice: J&V Pizzeria
Superior Cemitas: Taqueria Cocoyoc
Wildest Williamsburger: Sweetwater
Enough With the Rain Already
Somebody make it stop, please! It took the rain storm on Friday night to bring to light the fact that our waste line had collapsed out under the street. We suspect that the 150-year-old clay pipe was strangled to death by predatorial tree roots. We learned of the collapse only after the rainwater from our roof had no place to go but back up out of the toilet and tub in the ground floor rental. We finally identified the problem (but not before three flooding incidents) and now we have the plumber ready to go--but he can't dig up the street until the rain stops. Talk about a Catch 22. Or more like a Catch 10,000, which is how many dollars it's gonna cost to fix it. Our first brush with the joys of home ownership.
A Trickle Downer! [NY Daily News]
Paying Up to Warm Up This Winter
October 14, 2005, Wall Street Journal -- Home heating costs could rise by between a third and a half this winter, the Department of Energy said, as world-wide energy demand remains high and production in the U.S. remains strained following damage caused by hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The department's annual fuels outlook, released Wednesday, predicted that households heated with natural gas will see the sharpest increase, paying an average $350, or 48%, more this winter than last. Residents of oil-heated homes will pay roughly $378 more, a 32% rise from last year. Propane users will pay roughly $325, or 30%, more than last winter, and homes heated by electricity will cost about $38 more, or 5%...Higher heating bills, combined with heightened gasoline prices, may force many Americans to spend up to 20% of their take-home income on energy costs this winter, said Mark Wolfe, executive director of the National Energy Assistance Directors' Association, which represents the state agencies that distribute money to help low-income families pay their fuel bills.
Home Heating Costs to Rise [Wall Street Journal]
Friday Morning Links
Pipe. Photo by Satan's Laundromat
Ratner Building Bridges [NY Times]
Bloomerg Building Low-Income Support [NY Post]
Clean Up Flushing Bay [NY Daily News]
Tree Crushes Car on Berkeley Place [OTBKB]
Beyond Brooklyn: Ratner's Stadium [Columbia Spectator]
Restaurant Review: 200 Fifth [NY Press]
Unsold and Overpriced [Set Speed]
October 13, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #4
Where: 418-434 Fulton Street
When: 1870s
Why: Abraham & Straus was founded as Joseph Wechsler & Company in 1865. In 1883, the owners purchased the recently constructed, mansarded French Second Empire style cast iron "Wheeler Building" on Fulton Street, converting it into their fashionable emporium. In 1884, a handsome Romanesque Revival style warehouse of golden brick and stone was added on Livingston Street.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Which Hot Dog Will Get the Condo-ments?
Justin aka Space Independent imagines that the condo developers must be salivating over the old Heinz building in Prospect Heights, pictured, and the Old Dutch Mustard building in Williamsburg, which is back on the market. Is anyone aware of specific plans for either site?
Condo-meant Buildings [Urbanfoto]
House of the Day: Liking This Lefferts Limestone
Here's an interesting comparable to yesterday Lefferts Avenue Place House of the Day. Both houses are 1,900 square feet (or are they?) and both are priced in the mid-$700K's. Today's three-story limestone has some top-notch original details (albeit in need of a tune-up) on view whereas the lack of pics from yesterday's listing suggests things may not be as pretty. It also look as if today's house is on a nicer street, though we're admittedly working with very little info here. (Can anyone ID this location?) All in all, if we had to make a choice, we'd go with the today's limestone over yesterday's brownstone.
Historical Lefferts Gardens [NYT Listings]
Lefferts Avenue Sliver House [Brownstoner]
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
KENSINGTON $300,000
414 Albemarle Road
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 850-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; windowed eat-in kitchenn, needs renovation; maintenance $530, 50% tax-deductible; listed at $300,000, 1 week on market (Broker: Orrichio Anderson Realty)
PARK SLOPE $585,000
18 Lincoln Place
2-bedroom, 1-bath, 924-sq.-ft. co-op in a prewar building; dining area, windowed kitchen, high ceilings; maintenance $626, 50% tax-deductible; listed at $595,000, 8 weeks on market (Brokers: Corcoran; Bellmarc Realty)
WEST MIDWOOD $800,000
29 Dekoven Court
5-bedroom, 2.5 bath, 90-year-old wood-frame house; eat-in kitchen, fireplace, stained glass windows; 1-car garage; 40-by-120-ft. lot; taxes $2,159; listed at $795,000 (multiple bids), 1 week on market (Broker: Mary Kay Gallagher)
From the print edition of today's NY Times.
The Horror, The Horror: New Build in The Stuy
Aw, man, seeing this ruined our day. Crap construction is a greater long-term threat to Bed Stuy than crime or racial tensions, in our opinion. The latter two problems can be improved over time, but an eyesore like this lasts a lifetime (or two). Does anyone know if this Lexington Avenue development is part of a government-subsidized program or is this just the worst side of the free market in action? Who's going to shell out $700K for this, anyway? Surely for $350 a foot one could do a little better. Heck, why not move to Gravesend.
Lexington Avenue 3-Families [Ardor NY]
Another Sign of a Buyer's Market
This anecdote about a Brooklyn house-hunter from a recent article on Inman News certainly underscores some of the stories that have been popping up here and elsewhere:
One of the houses we went to see last week was listed at $599K. I liked it a lot; it had a beautiful kitchen and lots of original detail. To revisit, I had to submit a bid, which I did for $530K. Went to see it again and decided it wasn't right. To my surprise, we were called two days later to see if we were still interested.
Buyers See New Side [Inman via Housing Bubble 2]
Pres Panel May Make Ownership Less Sweet
Amid yesterday's chaotic server switch, we neglected to raise one burning issue for discussion: the proposed changes to the tax code that may include a significant roll-back of the deductibility of mortgage interest as well as a reduction in the amount of tax-free capital gains an individual or couple may take. It seems like strange timing to spring this on the market now, with talk of the impending bursting of the bubble splashed across every front page. Depending on the scale, meaningful cutbacks on either measure would have to hurt the market, we'd think. What do people think about a) the likelihood of significant changes and b) the potential impact of such changes?
Mortgage Deduction Changes on Table [CNN Money]
Thursday Linkage
September Graffiti. Photo by Jake Dobkin
Developer Needed for Lighthouse Museum [NY Times]
Peripheral Profits from RE Boom [NY Times]
Updating Your Fireplace [NY Times]
Furniture Prices Heading Up [NY Times]
Sparks on Love Train [NY Post]
Economy Robust Despite Oil [NY Daily News]
Builder from Hell Next Door [NY Daily News]
Brooklyn Eats Festival Sunday [NY Magazine]
New Space at Beard Street Studio [b61productions]
October 12, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #3
Where: 408-416 Fulton Street
When: 1936
Why: During the depression, F.W. Woolworth expanded its empire, constructing a number of Art Deco style stores, including this limestone building with its vertical band of windows.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
House of the Day: Lefferts Avenue Place Sliver
When we first glanced at this listing, we thought to ourselves, "Hmmm, what a handsome looking townhouse for only $720,000." Upon closer inspection, though, we reflected, "Dang, that's a mad skinny house." (Okay, those weren't our exact words, but you get the idea.) Turns out the four-story spread is only 1,900 square feet, which makes the asking price look pretty steep given its location. Unless it's in pristine original condition, which we doubt, we'd say this is overpriced by a good $100k or so. Are you with us or against us on this?
212 Lefferts Place [Ardor NY] GMAP
Thanks For Bearing With Us
For a non-technologist, migrating servers is about as fun as a root canal. After a stressful night, we appear to be back on our feet, thanks in large part to the valiant efforts this morning of the man behind Slower.net. Now that we're up and running on our first grown-up server (after outgrowing our first two mom-and-pop shops), we're keeping our fingers crossed that it'll be smooth sailing from here. Knock on wood (preferably vintage mahogany). Thanks for your patience.
Wednesday Linkster
Window and Wire. Photo by Sam Javanrouh
Some Assembly Required [New Yorker]
Walentas, Dodge Honored for YMCA [Brooklyn Eagle]
Free Sunday Parking Returns [NY Times]
L Train Top Pick-Up Spot [NY Post]
W'Burg Bikers Shafted [NY Daily News]
Mortgage Deduction at Risk [CNN Money]
October 11, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #2
Where: 386-388 Fulton Street
When: 1925
Why: Schrafft's, a popular mid-priced restaurant chain favored, in particular, by women shoppers, expanded in the 1920's, building or leasing space in New York City's prime shopping districts. This neo-gothic limestone building still retains iron shop fronts emblazoned with the Schrafft's name. A portion of the ground floor and mezzanine and the entire second floor were used by John david, a clothier. The ground floor and mezzanine were used for furnishings and hats, and the upper floor was used for a clothing department. In 1940, the building hosted the headquarters of the Associated Willkie Club.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
House of the Day: $150 a Foot in Nowhere-land
We're having a hard time getting our arms around this one. The 1920's 8-family grabbed our attention with its very low price per square foot: We didn't know there were finished buildings anywhere in NYC selling for $150 a square foot these days. Then we realized that it's out in the middle of friggin' nowhere Williamsburg. We've also got no interior shots to judge by, though the exterior of the 6,000-square-foot building looks to be in sound shape. So what's the deal: Is there an industrial waste site in the backyard? Rodents? Or, gasp, rent control tenants? Or is this the going rate in the Brooklyn boonies? Perplexed, we decided to do a little math. At an asking price of $895,000, we'd estimate your total monthly costs (mortgage, taxes, maintenance) would be less than $5,000. So if you could get more than an average of $600 a month per apartment, you'd be in the black, right? If you could get $1,000 a month per apartment, you'd be looking at a 15-20% yield on your equity. What are we missing here and does anyone know anything about this broker, Barak Realty?
955 Grand Street [Barak Realty] GMAP
New Townhouse Craze Extends to Avenue U
New luxury townhouses aren't just for State Street anymore. We were more than a little surprised to stumble over this listing for these fancy new digs in, of all places, Gravesend. We've never even been to Avenue U, where these babies are being built with 10-foot ceilings and "sleek Italian" kitchens, so we can't say a whole heck of a lot about the potential market for them. But at a quarter of the price of the new townhouses going up on State Street, we guess there probably will be a demand for these 2,222-square-foot places. Do any of our readers live in Gravesend? We'd be curious to hear how you think these will be received and how they compare to the existing housing stock.
Private Townhouses [Bond NY]
Recently Sold in Brooklyn
FORT GREENE $239,000
345 Clinton Ave.
One-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 500 square feet, with hardwood floors, oversized windows and eastern exposure; building is pet-friendly and features parking, elevator, laundry and storage. Maintenance $387, 30 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $239,000, on market three weeks. (Broker: Rodolfo Lucchese, the Corcoran Group)
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $4.2 million
157 Columbia Heights
160-year-old Greeek Revival townhouse; 8 fireplaces, decoative columns, original moldings and detail, 21-by-100-ft. lot; taxes $10,193; listed at $4.25 million. (Broker: Corcoran, Halstead)
Just Sold! [NY Post - Item 1]
Residential Sales [NY Times - Item 2]
Forgotten NY Walks Park Slope's Fifth Avenue
Kevin from Forgotten NY takes his first walk down Fifth Avenue and reflects on the thoroughfare's history. We hadn't realized that there had been a Fifth Avenue El train, which is pictured here behind the Triangle Building in a photograph from 1914. The El, originally called the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad, opened in 1889 and ran until 1940 when it was put out of business by the 4th Avenue Subway ultimately put it out of business. More on that story and other Fifth Avenue observations on the link.
Five Alive: Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue [Forgotten NY]
Friday's Inflation Data Key for Rate Levels
October 11, 2005, Wall Street Journal -- A bearishly inclined bond market could face an acid test this holiday-shortened trading week when inflation data are published Friday. The threat of rising consumer prices amid still-high energy prices is a topic of major concern among Federal Reserve policy makers. Tough-sounding speeches on inflation by Fed officials in recent weeks have increasingly convinced bond investors that the current 3.75% federal funds rate will reach 4.25% by the end of the year and possibly move to 4.5% or higher early in 2006. The 10-year note was yielding 4.36% after an early close Friday, up from 4.33% the previous week. Notably, the 10-year yield failed to sustain a bearish break above 4.42% early Friday in the wake of the September U.S. employment report, which showed a much smaller decline in payrolls than expected. "Inflation is now the primary focus of the bond market, and next Friday could well prove more important than the payroll report was for the near-term direction of yields," said market and that is resonating with longer dated maturities," said Kevin Flanagan, fixed-income strategist at Morgan Stanley in Purchase, N.Y.
Credit Markets [Wall Street Journal]
Tuesday Linkage
Merry-Go-Round. Photo by Justin Ouellette
Interest Rate Expectations Rise [Wall Street Journal]
Historic Cemetary in City Hnads [NY Daily News]
David Walentas Unplugged [NY Observer]
A Big F*&# You to NYC Drivers [Transfer]
Townhouse Showdown [Set Speed]
Gunshots on Underhill [Daily Heights]
A Porch Production [Yeshiva Observer]
Open Houses For All [Columbia Spectator]
October 10, 2005
MAS Proposed Downtown Landmark #1
Where: 376 Fulton Street
When: 1870
Why: A fine example of cast-iron commercial construction capped by its original mansard roof. The building is located next to Gage & Tollner and adds historical context to that landmark building.
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society] GMAP
Stephen Holl Addition Opens at Pratt
October 4, 2005, Architectural Record -- Steven Holl Architects' new Higgins Hall Center Section opened at Brooklyn's Pratt Insititute in September. Sandwiched between two landmarked brick buildings, the $10.5 million insertion adds a modern touch to the historic Clinton Hill district. The insertion connects the two wings of the hall, which house Pratt's architecture school.
Holl's firm was hired for the job soon after a fire in 1996 burned down a building in the same location. The new 22,500-square-foot section is supported by six precast-concrete beams and enveloped in interlocking U-shaped, structural channel-glass backed with translucent white insulation. It joins two buildings whose floor heights are mismatched by an inch on one story and by almost five feet on another. Clear glass windows in the new section intentionally expose this so-called "dissonant zone, showing the ramps which connect the misaligned floor plates.
Another photo on the jump...
Holl Building Opens at Pratt [Architectural Record]
Holl Building Opens at Pratt [Business Week] GMAP
Turning Water into Wine in Eastern Williamsburg
This place took some vision! Overcoming fears of environmental contamination, Wellington Fan and Jennifer Dalton bought this run-down split-level brick house directly from an estate in 2002 for $274,000. Then they embarked on a DIY reno that blew out some walls in the living area and moved the kitchen downstairs. One major sewage back-up and $22,000 later, they had a comfortable 1,100-square-foot family home with a clean, mid-century modern feel. Since their purchase, signs of encroaching hipsterdom have begun popping up and the value of the house has roughly doubled.
Worry Triumphs over Fear [NY Times]
Monday Links
Green Door/Women. Photo by Mad Orange Fools
Streetscapes: Three Medieval Gems [NY Times]
A Mixed Message [NY Times]
Pros and Cons of Option ARMs [NY Times]
The Downsizing Uprising [NY Times]
New Townhouse Trend [NY Post]
Collecting Vintage Modern [NY Post]
Sunday Meters to Vanish [NY Daily News]
Open House Picks
Park Slope
609 6th Street
Heights Berkeley
Sunday 2:30-4:30pm
$2,598,000
GMAP
Fort Greene
206 Vanderbilt Avenue
Aguayo & Huebener
Saturday 1-3pm
$1,800,000
GMAP
Park Slope
355A 14th Street
Townsley & Gay
Sunday 12-2pm
$1,650,000
GMAP
Bedford Stuyvesant
425 Franklin Avenue
Corcoran
Sunday 12-2pm
$925,000
GMAP
Prospect Lefferts Gardens
19 Chester Court
Aguayo & Huebener
Sunday 1-3:30pm
$749,000
GMAP
"Anatomy of a Brownstone" Class November 5
On Saturday, November 5, check out New York City College of Technology's "Anatomy of a Brownstone II – Sustainability". The continuing ed class will consist of an afternoon of lecture and discussion devoted to the art and science of restoration, renovation, and ultimately living in a Brownstone house with a focus on sustainability issues. Academic and commercial experts will provide historical context and practical information on how the traditional brownstone concepts of ‘old world’ quality and ‘built to last’ hold up with current concerns for energy efficiency, safe building materials and ‘green’ building design. Held at 300 Jay Street, the class is from 1-5 pm and costs $35. Call 718-552-1166 for further program details or to pre-register (suggested).
Continuing Education [NYCCT]
Six-Floor Addition on Bridge Street in Dumbo
Broker Victoria Hagman snapped this shot of an addition going up in Dumbo on Bridge Street near Front. We don't know anything about the project, but we can assume it means only one thing: condo conversion. Anyone got the skinny?
Real Estate Comes in a Distant Third at Dinner
We missed this in last Sunday's Times. John Tierney and Christopher Buckley polled 1,000 New Yorkers on a variety of subjects. Counter to our own experience, real estate was not the most-discussed topic at dinner parties. The results:
1. Politics (32%)
2. Work (29%)
3. Real Estate (17%)
Does anyone else think this seems a little off?
NY States of Mind [NY Times]
Another Economics Lesson from Bill Gross
Also included in the October Investment Outlook from Bill Gross is this graph of how much equity people have been sucking out of their homes in recent years as a percentage of disposable income. The spending of this money is what has kept to economy chugging along. If home values stop going up and mortgage rates edge up, there will be fewer and fewer refinancings and less available cash for consumers to pump into the economy. The result could range from ugly to tolerable, says Gross:
The froth in the U.S. housing market is about to lose its effervescence; the bubble is about to become less bubbly. If real housing prices decline in the U.S. in 2006 or 2007, a recession is nearly inevitable. If higher yields simply slow the pace of appreciation to a more rational single digit number, then we could escape with a 1-2% GDP economy. In either case, however, our Fed with its new Chairman will likely be in the enviable position of lowering rates come mid-year 2006.
Which will start to make buying a house look better again, right?
Investment Outlook October 2005 [PIMCO]
Yassky: B'klyn Bridge Park Property Underpriced
October 7, 2005, NY Daily News -- Prized waterfront parkland slated to become the Brooklyn Bridge Park is being lowballed by city and state officials, Councilman David Yassky charged yesterday.
The land is valued by the Brooklyn Bridge Development Corp. at around $75 a square foot, roughly half what real estate experts and Yassky say the area could get from developers wanting to build luxury condos on the 1.3-mile stretch. "This is a drastic underestimate," said Yassky. "The development corporation appears to be lowballing here." Park spokesman Lee Silberstein said the lower estimate is intended to entice developers to build architecturally significant buildings.
River Site Price Flap [NY Daily News]
Friday Links
No Words. Photo by Hugh Crawford
Cop-Landlord's Bad Blood [NY Post]
Battery Tunnel Shutdown [NY Post]
Freddie Mac CEO on Bubble [Marketwatch]
Safety in a Housing Slump [MSNBC]
Showhouse in Harlem Brownstone [PR Newswire]
Insulated Windows Primer [Old House Journal]
Fort Greene Crime Spree [Set Speed]
Garbage Throwing in ProHo [Daily Heights]
House of the Day: Classic in Fort Greene
Even without any photos of the interior, you can tell this 4-story Italianate brownstone on Adelphi Street in Fort Greene is the real deal. Currently configured as an owner's duplex topped by two floor-through rentals, the property should spin off some nice income ($3,500 a month?). Of course, this is money you'll need if you're planning on paying the asking price of $2,249,000. This would have to be a record for a non-park block, we'd think. We're not even sure if any 4-story brownstones on South Portland (the Gold Standard for the nabe) have gone for quite this much. The owners are getting the house on the market just in time, too--the glorious garden described in the listing may not show quite as well when this Indian Summer starts to fade. Potential buyers and neighboring snoops can take a look at the open house this Sunday from 1 to 3 pm.
313 Adelphi Street [Corcoran] GMAP
Trading Spaces in Bedford Stuyvesant
Just a heads-up that the The Bed Stuy Parlor Show will premier tonight at 8:30 on Time Warner Channel 56 and Cablevision Channel 69. Host Monique Greenwood will mediates as two brownstone owners pick a room in the each other's house to redo with the help of an interior designer. The show (which will be re-run on October 19 at 8:30) also includes an interview with Ava Barnett about the upcoming Bed Stuy Brownstone Tour on October 15 (more on the link).
Bed Stuy House Tour [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Representin' at Open House NY
Only the Blog Knows Brooklyn has done a great job compiling all the Brooklyn locations that are participating in this year's Open House New York. Highlights for us would include the Montauk Club in Park Slope and the Pratt Institute Power Plant. Lots of other great ones as well. Enjoy.
Open House New York [OTBKB]
Homepage [OHNY]
Residential Sales in Brooklyn
BEDFORD STUYVESANT $600,000
330 Stuyvesant Avenue
2-family, 106-year-old brownstone3 bedrooms, eat-in kitchen in primary unit; 2 bedrooms in other; 1 bath, pocket doors, parquet floors, original moldings and detail in each; 20-by-82-ft. lot; taxes $1,749; listed at $600,000, 1 week on market (Broker: Iron Gate Properties)
PARK SLOPE $2,650,000
226 Garfield Street
2-family brownstone; 3 bedrooms in primary unit; 2 bedrooms, library other; dining room, eat-in kitchen, 2 baths, hardwood floors in each; finished basement; 20-by-100-ft. lot; taxes $3,659; listed at $2.5 million (multiple bids), 22 weeks on market (Broker: Aguayo & Huebener)
From the print edition of today's NY Times.
Candidates for Landmarking in Downtown B'kln
According to The New York Observer, the Municipal Arts Society and the Brooklyn Heights Association have identified 28 candidates for landmark status within the borders of the approved redevelopment plan for Downtown Brooklyn. Check out the proposal (in pdf form) on the MAS link below. (We're going to highlight several of these buildings over the coming weeks on the blog.) It's quite amazing to see the number of "architecturally significant" buildings currently marred by billboards and other (in our opinion) unattractive signage. It makes us wonder whether downtown Brooklyn will ever be able to attract higher-end office tenants who would in turn cause an upgrade in the street-level businesses. What do you think?
(Million) Dollar Stores [NY Observer]
Architecturally Significant Buildings [Municipal Arts Society]
Brooklyn Downtown Redevelopment [NYC.gov]
Bond Bigwig Bellowing "Beware Bubble"
Commenting on the likelihood of a housing market slowdown followed by a tightening of lending requirements and a drying up of speculation, bond market Bill Gross does not mince words:
Let me state categorically that the above sequence is barely questionable, almost inevitable, 99% unavoidable, and in modern parlance - “slam-dunk.” In so saying, I hope I am not being unkind to those of you who think otherwise - I’m trying to do you a favor! What I can’t do is tell you how soon all of this unfolds which I admit is a critical variable.
Tell us what you really think!
Investment Outlook October 2005 [PIMCO]
Flippers Styling for the Aspirational Set
If we were ever going to get into the flipping business, we'd certainly opt for a strategy similar to the one featured in today's House & Home section of The Times. John Alvarado and Blair Gordon seek out run-down, below-market properties in high-end neighborhoods and then renovate and style them as if they planned on living there the rest of their lives. This strategy has been extremely successful for the pair over the twelve houses they've bought and sold over the past four years (though it's only fair to say that even flippers with bad taste and little attention to detail have also flourished in the booming market). However, by focusing on "aspirational" communities with limited supply of housing, the duo think they are hedged somewhat against a cooling market. They figure that their current profit margins of 40 to 50 percent might go down to 30 percent if the market levels. Personally, we think it would be a blast to do what they do for a living, but we aren't as optimistic that about what would happen to their profit margins if the market actually went down. We certainly think quality renovators like these guys are adding value that is rewarded in the market--but we think this value creation is far overshadowed by the direction of the overall market. Of course, that kind of caution is why we're sitting here in a dingy cubicle and these guys just put over a million bucks in the bank from their most recent project.
Flipping With a Twist [NY Times]
Thursday Linkerati
Old Pier, Dumbo. Photo by Brownstoner.
Residential Sales [NY Times]
'Hot Properties' TV Show [NY Post]
Penthouse Hits Rock Bottom [NY Post]
Fed Comments Spook Investors [Wall Streeet Journal]
Rental Market Picks Up [Real Estate Journal]
CB2 Lags on Review of 'Park' [Brooklyn Papers]
Heath's Brownstone Cost $2.6 Million [News.com.au]
House of the Day: Harlem Hotness
As we've mentioned before, we think the Harlem market has a lot in common with parts of Brownstone Brooklyn in terms of price, housing stock and buyer profile. So we thought today we'd take a small detour and look at what $2 million gets you north of Central Park. Corcoran has a beautiful house for sale on Striver's Row, historically home to some of the most prominent members of Harlem's elite. This house is one of several designed by James Brown Lord in 1891. This two-family brick has retained its historic charm, with oak paneling galore. In addition, there's a two-car garage accessible through a rear alley. The price? $1,950,000, or a little more than $500 a square foot. If you're interested in taking a look, there's an open house on Sunday from 2-4 pm.
226 West 139th Street [Corcoran]
Striver's Row [NYC-Architecture]
It's All a Blur: Losing Track in Dumbo
A little help please! Driving over the Brooklyn Bridge last week, we snapped a photo of this new development in Dumbo but aren't sure which one it is. This isn't the famous J Condo, is it? Nope...It's the Beacon Tower at 85 Adams Street.
One Star for Park Slope's Sette Enoteca
Frank Bruni gives a largely positive review of Sette Enoteca, the Park Slope italian restaurant. Citing some unevenness, Bruni clearly thinks the young restaurant in on the right track:
Sette aspires to sophistication and wants to telegraph that it's in touch with the latest trends and on the hunt for distinctive ingredients. The care with which its menu and best dishes are put together underscores the aim of an increasing number of restaurateurs in Park Slope, which seems to be especially fertile soil for Italian cooking. They shoot for more than just excellent neighborhood restaurants. They shoot for excellent restaurants, period. But Sette isn't too full of itself. It doesn't let its ambitions trump the relaxed atmosphere in its attractively dark, oppressively loud dining room. Nor does it let those ambitions distract it from trying to win diners' hearts in direct, unpretentious ways.
How have other people's experiences stacked up?
Road of Good Intentions [NY Times]
Brooklyn Market Doesn't Look So Bad, Does It?
Buried deep in the Brown Harris Stevens Third Quarter Report are some interesting statistics on market activity in Brooklyn's ritziest nabes. And if the stats are to be believed, we may all be getting worked up over nothing. According to the report, apartments in Brooklyn Heights and Park Slope sold for an average price of $612,367 in the third quarter, 35% higher than one year ago. And townhouses? The average price per square foot rose to $547, more than 20% higher than the third quarter of 2004. Doesn't seem to be be much cause for panic in these numbers though, does there?
Third Quarter Report [Brown Harris Stevens via Curbed]
Wednesday Links
46th & Locust. Photo by Jeffrey Stockbridge
Mortgage Lenders Tighten Standards [WSJ]
Bed Stuy Mural Almost Ready [NY Daily News]
Close-Up on Mott Haven [Village Voice]
St. Ann's Rock Band [NY Observer]
Tivoli Towers in Disrepair [Downtown Star]
Flatbush Pavilion Marquee [Englishman in NY]
A Stroke Moves to Park Slope? [Curbed]
Restaurant Review: Al Di La [L Magazine]
HOTD: Prospect Heights Estate Sale
We don't have much to go on with this one, but sometimes those are the listings that turn out to be most interesting. This is an estate sale of a grand four-story, two-family brownstone on Park Place in Prospect Heights. The location shown on the listing's map says it's number 161-163, but a quick check of Property Shark suggests that's not the right address. Besides that, all we know is that there's original oak detailing and it "needs work". (Given the relatively low price tag of $999,000, we're guessing it needs a lot of work.) As a bonus, it's on one of those sweet 131-foot lots particular to Prospect Heights.
Park Place 2-Family [Donawald Realty]
Fully Vacant (Except for the Lady Watching TV)
We've seen our share of strange photos included in real estate listings but this one may take the prize. Is that a nightgown the woman is wearing? What makes the photo choice even more questionable is that the ad emphasizes the house is "fully vacant." As for the house itself, which is located on Gates Avenue in Bedford Stuyvesant, it looks solid enough from the outside but appears to be lacking in terms of interior charm. For $800,000 in this neck of the woods, we'd expect a little more.
Charming 4-Family Brock [Ettelson RE]
Checking In on the Washington Condos
We stopped by to check in on the progress at the Washington Condos last weekend. Far from finished, the development was frankly a bit of a letdown after viewing the slick homepage and hearing positive comments from Set Speed's ltjbukem. Maybe it's the corner location on a wide street, but the scale of the building didn't bother us. Whether or not the finished product is to our specific liking, the creation of a reasonably high-end condo in this location will certainly be good for the immediate neighborhood. By the way, Set Speed just posted a photo of a kitchen being assembled.
Homepage [The Washington Condos]
Are All New Developments Ugly? [Brownstoner]
Saturday Morning at Demolition Depot
On Saturday, we shlepped up to 125th Street to Demolition Depot in the hopes of finding an antique mirror to put over the sink in the master bathroom. We struck out on that front but, as always, enjoyed just browsing through huge stock of old house parts. Although we're not going to start dealing with the garden until next Spring, we still took a stroll through the store's back yard, where there's a ton of beautiful old ironwork and some outdoor furniture. And, by the way, for those of you looking for schoolhouse trough sinks, we noticed they have a couple in stock.
Inventory [Demolition Depot]
Ratner Reneging Already
The re-trade has begun, reports Brooklyn Papers. After promising the world to win approval, Ratner's starting to reneg on promises already:
Plans for a glorious, 52,000-square-foot publicly accessible recreational space on the roof of Bruce Ratner’s proposed Frank Gehry-designed basketball arena will not be open to the public, according to a document released last week by the state authority acting as lead agent for the project...That private roof garden was the only green space locals were promised for the first 11 years of development of the 22-acre Atlantic Yards. Another promised “7+” acres of open space would be completed only after the rest of the project is done, estimated for 2016, according to the scoping document.
Ratner to Bar Public from Park [Brooklyn Papers]
Apartment Prices Down, Insider Sales Up
Nothing but doom and gloom in the papers this morning when it comes to real estate. Top of the list: Appraisal firm Miller Samuel is coming out with numbers today showing that the average sales price in Manhattan fell 13% in the third quarter from the second quarter; a report from Prudential Douglas Elliman reached the same conclusion. Because this number is heavily weighted by particular weakness at the high end of the market (and year-over-year prices were still up 10% in the third quarter), we're more focused on reports that inventory is rising and properties are taking longer to sell.
If the big shot brokers are sweating, they aren't showing it: "What we had was abnormal," said Dottie Herman, chief executive of Prudential Douglas Elliman. "People get used to abnormal times and then when they're normal, they think there's something wrong." "The summer is traditionally a slower time in the real-estate market," rationalizes Dolly Lenz. "I've seen a lot of activity in September that would suggest that the fourth quarter should improve."
A final negative indicator: Insiders at the nation's ten biggest homebuilder companies sold almost $1 billion of stock this past quarter, perhaps suggesting they think we're near a top in the market.
Slowing Seen in Housing Prices [NY Times]
Home Builders Selling Stock [NY Times]
Real Estate in Bubble Trouble [NY Post]
Tuesday Linkage
Threshhold, Brooklyn. Photo by Forota
My House, My Piggy Bank [NY Times]
Heath and Michelle at Home [NY Post]
Highest Hopes for Green Roofs [NY Daily News]
Setback for Newton Creek [NY Daily News]
Zoning Squeeze in Northern B'kln [NY Daily News]
Admiral's Row Salvageable? [NY Observer]
Firesale at St. Felix Condos [Set Speed]
Open House NY Coming Up [Gothamist]
Designer Martino D'Esposito [Design Sponge]
Restaurants Coming to Park Slope [Daily Slope]
The Brownstone Garage [Curbed]
October 3, 2005
Monday Photo of the Day: Sky Series
Sky Series #1. Photo by Brendan Reynolds.
This is the first week-long series by a guest photographer.
Open House Post-Game Analysis
If you visited any of this weekend's Open House Picks, we'd love to hear your feedback in the Comments section of Friday's post.
Thanks.
House of the Day: Extended in Carroll Gardens
We're not as up on the Carroll Gardens market as we should be, so we'll be interested to see what readers think of this new listing from Cobble Heights Realty. (Unfortunately, we're not sure which house it is in the picture.) We do know this: The 4-story, 4-family brick has a 2-story extenstion and a big front yard. The few houses we've seen in the area with big front yards have generally had generous proportions on the inside as well. This one seems to be in decent shape, with what we'd call a moderate level of detail and amenities. The current occupant clearly has a modern aesthetic going which appears to work nicely in the space. Does $1.7 million seem to be about market for this place? We'll look forward to hearing what people think.
Listing #5212193 [Cobble Heights]
Townhouse with Extension [NY Times]
Recent Sales in Brooklyn
BOERUM HILL $1,525,000
538 State St.
Four-story, two-family townhouse, 3,040 square feet, on a 20--by-90 lot, with five-bedroom, two-bath owner's triplex with hardwood floors, original details, two working fireplaces, garden, and one-bedroom, one-bath unit on ground floor. Asking price $1,300,000, on market two weeks. (Broker: James Crow, Nancy McKiernan Realty)
BROOKLYN HEIGHTS $405,000
111 Hicks St.
Prewar one-bedroom, one-bath co-op, 800 square feet, with windowed eat-in kitchen, hardwood floors, walk-in closet, dishwasher and western exposure with partial city, river and skyline views; St. George Tower building is pet-friendly and features full-time doorman and concierge, elevator, landscaped roof deck, swimming pool and health club. Maintenance $1,178, 60 percent tax-deductible. Asking price $399,000, on market 80 days. (Brokers: Paul Dawson and Trina Harrison, the Corcoran Group)
WEST MIDWOOD $800,000
29 Dekoven Court
Prewar five-bedroom, 21/2-bath house, 23-by-31 property on a 40-by-120 lot, with formal dining room, renovated eat-in kitchen, parquet floors, semifinished basement, backyard and shared driveway. Taxes $2,159. Asking price $795,000, on market one week. (Broker: Mary Kay Gallagher, Mary Kay Gallagher Real Estate)
PARK SLOPE $1,098,651
625 President Street
2-family, 3-story prewar brick house; 2 bedrooms, 2 fireplaces in primary duplex; 1 bedroom, fireplace in simplex; 16-by-95-foot lot; taxes $1,528; listed at $989,000 (multiple bids). (Broker: Aguayo & Huebener)
Just Sold! [NY Post - Items 1-3]
Residential Sales [NY Times - Item 4]
Anniversary Party Recap
Just a quick note of thanks to all those who made it out to anniversary party on Saturday. We had a great time putting faces with names and swapping renovation war stories--and hope you did too. Also, a special thanks to Alan at the Pioneer Bar for turning over his back yard to us and for making sure none of the Brownstoners suffered for lack of food or drink.
See you next year!
The Times Gets In On State Street Love Fest
Three weeks after New York Magazine lavished praise on the State Street Townhouses, The Times is having its own love fest. It was interesting to learn that long-time neighbors of the site are cautiously optimistic about the development (whose second stage will include condos, lofts and commercial space). The article also included some descriptive detail about the layout and finishes:
Unlike older houses, the new houses will be completely finished with materials like honed slate, marble and teak...along with a private backyard and a working fireplace. And unlike older town houses, which often let in little light through their narrow windows and northern exposures, these will include a 21-foot wall of windows facing the backyards, which are 37 feet deep. Some of the town houses will have a fifth-floor penthouse and gardens, other smaller ones will have front balconies on the fourth floor, framed by a roof cornice line, like a giant picture window. Unlike condos, each house will also have a 900-square-foot cellar.
It's not surprising that the locals are feeling good about the project. As broker Karen Sebiri says, "When you put something like this in, you are only going to bring up prices in the neighborhood." On the jump, a photo we took last week of the construction.
Embracing the Neighborhood Ambience [NY Times]
More Praise for State St Townhouses [Brownstoner]
Continue reading "The Times Gets In On State Street Love Fest"
Assemblyman Turns Up Heat on Radusky
October 3, 2005, NY Daily News -- A "disgraced" architect rammed through plans for three south Park Slope condo buildings allegedly riddled with violations and the Buildings Department allowed it, a state official has charged. Assemblyman James Brennan (D-Park Slope) fired off a scathing letter last week to Brooklyn District Attorney Charles Hynes and Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn about alleged "irregularities" between the Buildings Department and architect Henry Radusky of Bricolage Designs. Officials from both law enforcement offices said they were probing the allegations. Brennan charged the Buildings Department routinely "rubber-stamps" allegedly illegal plans submitted by Radusky. Officials then failed to crack down on alleged violations found by community advocates, Brennan said.
Probe Urged in Condo Row [NY Daily News]
This Ain't No Bubble, Says The Times
The Times took a surprisingly un-hyped look at the persistent bubble question this weekend. In the end, we thought the article supported the thesis that the city's (well, Manhattan's) real estate market was not crazily out of wack with other economic measures, namely income levels. Actually, the biggest take-away is that medians and averages often tell very different stories. A few highlights:
Reading the Signposts [NY Times]
Monday Links
Bridge from Berry. Photo by Urban 75
Most Homeowners Expect Value Growth [WSJ]
Bubble Talk [International Herald Tribune]
Beaux-Arts Battle in the Bronx [NY Times]
Resistance to Landmarking in Bay Ridge [NY Times]
The Hunt: Ups and Downs [NY Times]
Finding and Eliminating Mold [NY Times]
Protecting Against Hurricanes in NYC [NY Post]
Salaries in Brooklyn [NY Daily News]
NY Press Names Best NY Blogs [Corante]
70 Washington Update [Curbed]
Latest Restaurant Additions
-
Manna
added November 24, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Piattini Ristorante
added November 23, 2009 12:00 PM in Bay Ridge -
Le Barricou
added November 20, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Der Schwarze Kölner
added November 19, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Oak Wine Bar & Café
added November 18, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Mr. Wonton
added November 17, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Casa Rosa
added November 16, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Cousin John's Café & Bakery
added November 13, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Elote
added November 12, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Miracle Grill
added November 11, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope