Clarett's Big Plans on Lawrence Street
Based on public documents and big blue fence that’s started to go up, The Clarett Group (developer of the Forte and an advertiser on Brownstoner) is gearing up to build a 51-story, 491-unit, 456,000-square-foot residential tower t 107-111 Lawrence Street in Downtown Brooklyn; the architect is Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel. The first permit application was…
Based on public documents and big blue fence that’s started to go up, The Clarett Group (developer of the Forte and an advertiser on Brownstoner) is gearing up to build a 51-story, 491-unit, 456,000-square-foot residential tower t 107-111 Lawrence Street in Downtown Brooklyn; the architect is Gerner Kronick & Valcarcel. The first permit application was rejected but at the end of June, but the developer purchased more air rights in July so don’t be surprised to see anothing application soon.
The back story that a reader helped us piece together is pretty interesting. Please keep in mind when you’re reading that this is a best-guess scenario none of which has been confirmed by Clarett. The company is making no comment at this time.
New York State first entered a deal to sell 107 Lawrence Street at the end of February 2006 to Samuel Cahan of Monroe, N.Y. who’d entered the highest sealed bid of $20.9 million. Then, in March 2006, the site was listed on Craigslist by Gabel Property Group for about $30 million. At the very beginning of 2007, the property shows up on ACRIS as being sold directly by the New York State to Lawrence Street Partners, a Clarett Group entity, for the same $20.9 million as Cahan’s winning bid.
Four months later Clarett bought 57,354 square feet of air rights from Kechek Realty, the owner of the site immediately to the South, for $3,441,240, or about $60 per square foot. Then on June 15, Clarett submitted a preliminary permit application for the residential tower; DOB rejected the application two weeks later.
Within a week or so Clarett bought another 156,485 square feet of air rights from Verizon which, apparently, owns the building to the East of the site, on Bridge Street opposite Bell-Tel. There’s nothing on ACRIS, but a reverse calculation from the real property transfer tax paid (performed by a reader who knows more about this stuff than we do) suggests a price in the range of $8 million to $9 million or $55 per square foot.
So, assuming the air rights purchases plus the allowable FAR of the original site equate to the proposed buildable area, it looks like Clarett paid, overall, $32.9 million for 456,000 buildable square feet, which comes out to about $72 per square foot. Pretty cheap in this market, no?
GMAP P*Shark DOB
I’m looking forward to the design release for this project. I’ve been waiting to puchase a 2bd/2bth pad for the last 6 months and the units I’ve seen so far have not really tempeted me. Maybe this one will. Who knows, maybe, hopefully, the ceilings will be higher than 9′ and the kitchen stove has an exhaust systme (not an air recycler).
There are talks of Commercial space. Five New Commercial Buildings will be part of MetroTech. The Willoughby Square Commercial Development, which we consist of 3 towers and 2 buildings off Adam Street and Fulton. I thinks private developers know of this and are trying to cash in on the residential market.
This is all very true. Metrotech can never be a CBD that is a commuting destination. Their only hope is to duplicate the kind of 24-hour environment that has come to downtown Manhattan. If there are enough residential units in the area, companies may move there as a large employment base is located right nearby. That is the hope, and as the revitalization of Downtown proves, it can work. If Battery Park City had never been built, downtown Manhattan would be a ghost town today, even without 9/11.
Rumor has it that this is going to be a rental project, whioh I guess makes sense in this location. Supposedly one of the REIT’s is involved.
You are not only one that thinks positive development.
Yet I do wish more office space were going up in the area too. Maybe once area becomes better known desirable with the residential that office buildings will follow.
NYC needs more places to compete with Jersey to keep jobs here. And how many more office workers can you cram unto subway going into Midtown if all new development is focused there.
Am I the only person who thinks this is a positive development?
-Fulton Mall/Metrotech needs more people/density after 5.
-The development will presumably be “upscale”–hopefully that will translate out into better services and retail in the area.
-Almost ANYTHING is better than what’s currently there.
Not only are there too many luxury units going up for sale around here, where are all these people going to park their SUV’s?
This lot has limited street access, so a garage may not be feasible.
I’m just holding out and hoping all of these luxury builders start to realize there isn’t enough rich folk who want these locations to fill them, the market takes a dive, and I can snap one up on the cheap.
Bubble!
66 developments in Brooklyn going on now.Who are they building these for? Who is going to buy at these prices and who is going to occupy all these units? Unreal!!!!!!!!!!