Fantastic 4th? Eh, We'll See
We think the upzoning of Fourth Avenue made a lot of sense, especially in the context of preserving the brownstone blocks near it. But if the Novo at 343 4th Avenue is any indication of what’s to come, this won’t exactly be a boulevard of beauty (unless your idea of beauty is early-80’s Holiday Inn…
We think the upzoning of Fourth Avenue made a lot of sense, especially in the context of preserving the brownstone blocks near it. But if the Novo at 343 4th Avenue is any indication of what’s to come, this won’t exactly be a boulevard of beauty (unless your idea of beauty is early-80’s Holiday Inn chic). Luckily for developers, though, looks don’t matter too much when it comes to selling condos in this part of town, if one is believe the account in today’s NY Post about the demand for units in the Boymelgreen building:
“It was crazy,” says Dave Bell, one of those who waited on line the first afternoon and made a bid. “I actually didn’t get [an apartment] at first … I called my broker that night and told her I wanted it and to make an offer, but someone had already gotten it. But I decided to put my name on the waiting list.” Three weeks later – after the first offers had fallen through – Bell’s offer was accepted.
Then again, with one bedrooms available in the low-$300’s, buyers were perhaps willing to compromise on design.
According to the same article, The Crest at 302 Second Street (right, top), sold eight (of 68) units in the first day on the market last weekend. Prices here start at $354,000 for a one bedroom. The Post includes a list of some other projects in the pipeline: The 49-unit Park Slope Court at 110 Fourth Avenue; 255 Fourth Ave., a 41-unit boutique Scarano Architects and Developers Group project at Carroll Street; The Argyle, 410 Fourth Avenue, at Seventh Street, a 12-story, 54-unit condo; and 500 Fourth Avenue, at 12th Street, a 137-unit, 12-story luxury building. And don’t forget the Andres Escobar-designed boutique hotel (right, bottom) on the west side of the street. Even the Fifth Avenue Committee is now located on Fourth Avenue! Columbia Prof and New York history expert Kenneth Jackson has a theory: “What you’re seeing is a move towards the water,” he told The Post.” “It used to be that people were always afraid to get too far down the hill. Now, it’s, ‘How can I get to work?'”
Fantastic 4th [NY Post]
We’re tearing up our garden floor entry hallway (two owners ago laid thin-set concrete over tile). We’re taking the tile up, too, to get to the original sub-floor boards. There was a 1927 newspaper between the boards and the tile. New “tract” houses around Flatbush were listed at $10,000 and $11,500.
Fourth Ave has gotten F-UGLY!
Brown boring boxes on a crowded four lane highway strip along a toxic canal with no amenities and no views? No thanks. I’ll stay in my Williamsburg, thank you. Fourth Ave is going to look exactly like those lifeless enormous avenues in Queens! Yuck.
Hi,
I have set up a group for contract holders at Crest Park Slope, 302 Second St. Please join to share information on closing and the development.
Email me for an invite Yunghi@gmail.com
Thanks
Y
I wrote that above
fuck you. you are just jealous. LOSERS!!!
Stop calling these old brownstones
mansions. Most of the houses were catalog
houses, that’s why they look so alike.
there was the five thusand dollar model and the ten thousand dollar model. Now
their were a few mansions in Brooklyn, most have been made inot two or three buildings. I know you hate the term blue collar,it shows.
Years ago, when the cranes started going up on Fourth Ave. I had great hopes for it becoming the park avenue of Brooklyn. I envisioned flowering plandts down the center of the avenue. Fourth gets great light, it could have been nice.
Now what. Every year they will increase the hieight restrictions. No one will have views. I know views in Manhattan are sacred, by the time Brooklyn catches on there won’t be anything to protest.
You have to complain before it is built,
You have to have your guarantees from the builder before he puts in his plans,
It seems that Brooklyn is stuck with non
new yorkers steering its fate.
It seems you complain about things but don’t do anything. I will say if you
are not part of the solution, you are
part of the problem. What do you do for
your nabe. Think hard now, making money
on paper in a dream valuation doesn’t count. Working at the coop market doesn’t count. Anything, maybe you put
a window box out, and painted your door,
doesn’t count. Anything?
(I object to describing Mr. Calder’s WT houses as the tract houses of their day. They were built affordably for working people, but they were not built cheap or cheesy.)
Who says tract houses are cheap or cheesy? What makes them tract houses is they are built to standard plans with some modifications, using mass produced materials (sometimes arranged on site).
I live a Calder house myself. Unfortunately, mine was built in a peak housing boom year like this one. So I found that in the rear extension there was no cement on the basement floor, just sleepers on dirt, and in its ceiling the joists were 1″ X 2″ (of course back then they really were 1″ by 2″). Guess he had to cut a few nickels to keep the price affordable.
Calder’s houses have aged well, despite not being built for the wealthy like the Brownstones — and not being made of glass and designed by a starchitect.
I object to describing Mr. Calder’s WT houses as the tract houses of their day. They were built affordably for working people, but they were not built cheap or cheesy. The carpenters were fine craftsmen with amazing skills. The plasterers were scientists. There was attention to detail and aesthetics. Mr. Calder built in stages, as he could afford to. He did not rush anything or throw anything up just to make a quick buck. Sure, he was a bit of a blowhard, but he built thoughtful, useful houses. I’ve lived in Calder houses in Marine Park as well as WT, and I can attest to their quality. He built affordable for working people because he sensed there was a market there, he was right, he made a very nice living and some of the mosts stable neighborhoods in Brooklyn. So there.