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November 20, 2009
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue Coming Along
All the construction netting on the Fifth Avenue Committee's supportive housing project on 5th Avenue and 16th street has come down, and it's now possible to see progress on the corner of the structure. The rendering above shows how it's supposed to turn out.
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue Gets Its Brick On [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
575 Fifth on a Roll [Brownstoner] GMAP P*SharkDOB
DOB Green-Lights 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
City Planning Approves FAC Project at 575 5th Ave [Brownstoner]
Marty DK's Fifth Avenue Housing Project [Brownstoner]
City Planning Considers 5th Ave Housing Facility [Brownstoner]
FAC Development at 575 Fifth Avenue [Brownstoner]
StreetLevel: South, New 5th Avenue Bar, Opens
South, the new bar in the former Vin Rouge space on 5th Avenue between 17th and 18th streets, has opened. According to BlackBook, South is run by the same people who own the Brooklyn Ice House in Red Hook and has half a dozen beers on tap.
StreetLevel: New South Slope Bar on Tap [Brownstoner] GMAP
Plans for J.J. Byrne Park in the Slope Unveiled
The schematic plan above details the next round of renovations the city is planning for J.J. Byrne Park in the Slope. (Click on the image to enlarge it.) The revamps are the result of a couple years' worth of community listening sessions on how to improve the park, and they will result in more distinct play areas for kids of different ages and new, adult-themed spaces like a seating area with cafe tables. Funding is in place for the overhaul, and the Parks Dept. is aiming to break ground next fall and finish the work in about a year. Meanwhile, you can check out the plans in the flesh in the gallery of the Old Stone House on weekends.
City Planning Facelift for Slope's J.J. Byrne Park [Brownstoner] GMAP
Extreme Makeover Planned for J.J. Byrne Park [Brownstoner]
November 19, 2009
Brooklyn Sales: Under a Million
Some of the sales recorded last week that went for $1 million or less:
$250K or under: BAY RIDGE
345 Bay Ridge Parkway, #2F; Price=$203,500 GMAP
This is a newly renovated 1-bedroom, according to its listing. It was asking $209,000. Maintenance=$465/month. Closed on 11/4/09; deed recorded on 11/10/09.
$250-$500K Range: CLINTON HILL
365 Clinton Avenue, #10C; Price=$459,000 GMAP
This 1,000-sf, 2-bedroom unit in the Clinton Hill Co-ops was first listed for $585,000 last summer, according to StreetEasy. The price was cut several times until it was asking $489,999 in June. Maintenance=$957/month. Closed on 10/27/09; deed recorded on 11/13/09.
$500-$750K Range: KENSINGTON
626 East 8th Street; Price=$605,000 GMAP
This 1,312-sf house was listed for $669,000 in May, says StreetEasy. Entered into contract on 7/5/09; closed on 10/19/09; deed recorded on 11/13/09.
$750K-$1 Million Range: GREENPOINT
87A Guernsey Street; Price=$920,000 GMAP
This is a 3,000-sf, 3-family, according to Property Shark. Entered into contract on 8/7/09; closed on 11/5/09; deed recorded on 11/10/09.
Photos from Property Shark.
150 Bond Finally Sells—For a Loss
The sale of 150 Bond Street, which was a House of the Day a number of times, was recorded in public records yesterday. The price: $1,400,000. The property, which was pitched as a gutted blank slate that would allow its new owner to "build your dream house in Boerum Hill," first hit the market asking $2,495,000 in March '08. The price was cut several times until it was asking $1,595,000 this summer. The seller purchased it for $1,725,000 in September '07. This one seems like it was a victim of unrealistic pricing from the get-go and a down market in which fixer-uppers are a tough sell.
House of the Day: 150 Bond Street Revisited GMAP P*Shark
Open House Picks: Price Cut Edition [Brownstoner]
Houses of the Day: A Couple of Price Cuts [Brownstoner]
House of the Day: 150 Bond Street [Brownstoner]
150 Bond Price History [StreetEasy]
November 18, 2009
Development Watch: 169 16th Street
More than three years after the BSA voted against granting a variance to developer Isaac Katan on 15th Street, the smaller building rising on the land in question—which fronts both 15th and 16th streets—is starting to show itself. The development was originally supposed to be the sister building of the Vue but was only allowed to be built to 5 stories. A resident of the block said that he's concerned about the influx of cars that he believes will descend upon 16th Street when the project's garage is complete: Between this and the Vue, he says 16th Street is primed to become a "traffic nightmare."
BSA Gives the Heisman to Katan [Brownstoner]
DOB Backs Community Opposition to 15th Street [Brownstoner] GMAP DOB
BSA Hearing on 182 15th Street [Brownstoner]
Coming to Bergen: Mid-Century Furniture Dealer
A poster has gone up in the window of the former Unameable Books space on Bergen Street saying the storefront will soon be home to a business called Grandma's Attic that specializes in "mid-century furniture." The store's website says the company is based in East Meadow and has been around for a couple decades. A taste of their wares is on this Flickr stream. GMAP
Atlantic Terminal Station: So Close!
After all these years of construction, the Atlantic Terminal Station is looking very, very near to finally being finished. Another milestone was reached a couple weeks ago, when the blue fence outside the station was replaced with a chain-link number that allows one to behold the exterior and some of the interior.
A Peek Inside the Atlantic Terminal Station [Brownstoner]
Atlantic Terminal Station May One Day Be Complete! [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: Atlantic Terminal Station [Brownstoner] GMAP
Atlantic Terminal Station Gets Glassy [Brownstoner]
Atlantic Terminal Station Starting to Show its Face [Brownstoner]
BSA Smacks Down 580 Carroll Hardship Claim...For Now
Yesterday the Board of Standards and Appeals told the developers of 580 Carroll Street that they'd have to come up with a new rationale for why they should be allowed to build a denser structure than zoning allows. The board basically said it wasn't buying the developers' explanation for $2.85 million in cost overruns: That unexpected masonry chambers associated with the old substation on the land required them to drill rather than drive piles. "Why didn’t you do some better assessment of your own site?" asked one board member, referring to the fact that the 580 Carroll team based a lot of their cost analysis on the site conditions of other projects in the area, rather than their own. Meanwhile, a few people who live near the site and Councilman-elect Brad Lander spoke out against the BSA granting a variance. The opponents' arguments included statements about how the block's infrastructure isn't well-equipped for increased residential density and that the developers shouldn't be rewarded for incompetence. The BSA said it would give the developers until the end of December to come up with completely new arguments for a hardship variance and it would hold another hearing on the matter in mid-January.
580 Carroll Developers Cite Chambers of Horror [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 580 Carroll Gets Its Glass On [Brownstoner]
BSA Postpones Decision on Carroll St Norten Again [Brownstoner]
580 Carroll Decision Postponed [Brownstoner]
Slope Rallies Against 580 Carroll, Rags on the BSA [Brownstoner]
Battle Over Carroll St. Norten Build Heats Up This Week [Brownstoner]
CB6 Doesn't Buy Carroll Street Hardship Claim [Brownstoner]
580 Carroll Developer Trying to Supersize Norten Project [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 580 Carroll Street [Brownstoner] GMAP
Enrique Norten-Designed Project in Park Slope Revealed [Brownstoner]
Four Developments Coming to One Stretch of Carroll [Brownstoner]
November 17, 2009
StreetLevel: Gardening Supply Store Opening on Hicks
A gardening supply store called Brooklyn Farms is coming to the corner of Hicks and Degraw. A neighbor says workers have been busy fixing the space up and that it's slated to open soon. GMAP