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May 18, 2006

The 14 Townhouses Were Just the Beginning

rear
Crain's reported yesterday on phases two through five for the 14 Townhouses project (three of which have been sold, a fourth is under negotiation) being developed by a joint venture between Abby Hamlin and Time Equities:
1) 14 Townhouses--substantially complete, in sales process;
2) 217-units of affordable housing plus performance space;
3) 12 more townhouses on State Street;
4) 100,000 square feet of retail;
5) 215,000 square feet of offices and apartments.
In the article, Abby Hamlin is quoted as saying that the community has embraced the project. That's our impression too. Is anyone aware of any bad vibes out there?GMAP
Bold Housing Blend for Brooklyn [Crain's]
State Street Townhouses Moon Transfer [Brownstoner]
Brooklyn Blue Tarps [Transfer]




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:02 AM | Comments (15)
Categories: Development

Comments

I thought the article was a little unclear about the size and composition of phase 2. How big is the total and how much of it is affordable?

Posted by: Anon at May 18, 2006 10:38 AM

So how much under asking price are these babies going for....

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 11:22 AM

I suspect the townhouses are getting full price. When the project was first announced more than a year ago the ask was $2.4. Last time I checked the Corcoran website they are up to $2.66, with more than half (I believe) of the townhouses sold.

Posted by: crouchback at May 18, 2006 11:49 AM

I believe the houses were always marketd at $2.55 for the smaller version and $2.65 for the (slightly) larger version.

Did anyone else go to the open house last weekend that was part of the design show? Personally, I thought the houses did not show very well -- they looked like OK condos rather than real town houses. The flooring lacked any heft in its substance (and felt kind of cheap to the touch -- like pergo or some bamboo composite), but yet the layout did not feel particularly airy (with the possible exception of the formal living room overlooking the kitchen). This was esp. true on the stairwell and hallways next to the stairs. What's the point of a modern design except to make the space feel more open?

The lack of a stoop on the one being shown was also a real downer.

I really like modern design, and don't care a whit about preservation of most victorian touches (no fretwork please!), but the house being shown fell flat IMO.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 12:03 PM

the whole state/hoyt/schermerhorn development is generally upheld as ideal neighborhood development.

i've only read the backstory apocryphally, because all the negotiations were done when Howard Golden was Bklyn Beep.

but what i read was that, while it took years to finalize, community input was sought, respected and incorporated. (i.e., opposite of the atlantic yards.)

sorry, not entirely helpful. but i, too, have never heard a negative thing about any of the proposed buildings.

Posted by: chuck at May 18, 2006 12:06 PM

I'm confused. 3 out of 14 are sold right? So how does this make "more than half (I believe) of the townhouses sold"?

I also think I saw a report that one sold for $2.4m, but I could be mistaken. This still seems high considering some of the wider, old ones across the street have sold for less than $2 million recently.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 12:13 PM

And how about "The Smith" going up at record speed before the condo market collapses? Love the giant rat staring at it everyday from across the street. What with the pace of construction (surely no corners are being cut...) and all that non-union labor, I can't wait to get my hands on one of those!!

Posted by: west at May 18, 2006 12:17 PM

crouchback

Stop shilling.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 12:20 PM

re: $2.4mm price, that's about right. across the st was an old run down townhouse asking $1.8 or thereabouts. the price to fix that up and make it liveable and on par with the state st townhouses would bring the price up to $2.4mm

Posted by: ltjbukem at May 18, 2006 12:48 PM

I would not want to buy one of these houses with whats sounds like a massive construction project in the backyard.

For a while, The Smith had 2 rats.

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 12:53 PM

West -- I walk by this place everyday and think excatly the same thing. OTOH, does anyone know why the rat was never set up across from the marketing office at State and Bond (where the old hairdresser and Soft Skull Press once were located)?

Posted by: Anonymous at May 18, 2006 1:02 PM

ltjbukem:

The houses across the street are 25 footers.

I'm not a great proponent of brick by brick restoration. A modern renovation would produce a considerably larger property, on a larger lot, with more charm than the new townhouses. I think the new ones are nice, but they are a poor value relative to the alternatives.

Posted by: bkborn at May 18, 2006 1:25 PM

To 12:20 PM. Ouch! ;-)

Posted by: crouchback at May 18, 2006 2:15 PM

Here is a link to a 10-02-05 NyTimes article on the project. My apologies to 12:13 for carelessness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/02/realestate/02posting.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5070&en=92d9318ffe168fa0&ex=1148097600

Posted by: crouchback at May 18, 2006 2:42 PM

I live on State and noticed something strange the other day.

When walking up State directly across from the Townhouses, the sun reflecting off one of the windows nearly blinded me and created an extreme amount of heat. I almost felt like an ant being burned by a sadistic child's magnifying glass.

I wonder if any of the residents across the street have complained?

Posted by: shouldaBought5YearsAgo at May 19, 2006 1:40 PM

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