Downtown Brooklyn Development [Archive] - Page 6

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BrooklynLove

February 8th, 2009, 09:30 AM

Where are you getting that?

BrooklynLove

February 8th, 2009, 09:31 AM

I don't think so. This is the site that Dermot bought last year. This mini-crane has been here for a while, but I don't think it has anything to do with 80 Dekalb, which has different ownership.

That crane moved over when 80 Dekalb was done with it.

zinka

February 8th, 2009, 11:37 PM

Where are you getting that?

DOB filings have Toren at 399 ft (37 stories) and Avalon at 393 ft (41 stories). The difference is negligible.

The similarity is because this area is limited to 400 ft by some misguided zoning.

Derek2k3

February 9th, 2009, 12:32 AM

Thanks to the councilwoman thinking that a height limit would prevent the walling off of the neighborhood.

TREPYE

February 9th, 2009, 11:01 AM

I reluctantly admit that he's designed worse buildings than this. I'm not sure if I should find some sort of satisfaction in this or not. It's like trying to figure out if whether you should be thankful you've been kicked in the stomach out of appreciation for the fact that they missed your balls.

LMAO!! Awesome!

Derek2k3

February 9th, 2009, 06:34 PM

zinka

February 10th, 2009, 09:22 PM

This rendering is on Dermot's website. Doesn't look promising at all.

It's hard to tell from such a partial rendering. I don't think it necessarily looks awful.

Also, the site is very strangely shaped, so there are a lot of ways they can do a good or bad job filling it that might not be visible from a single partial rendering.

Derek2k3

February 10th, 2009, 09:30 PM

Well I'm prepared for the worst.
Something like this...

BrooklynRider

February 16th, 2009, 07:04 PM

Wandered about today. Not much of a change from last week.

By the time the Atlantic Terminal for the LIRR is complete, trains will be an obsolete mode of transportation.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0025.jpg

The Great Wall of Avalon continues to rise as Fort Greene gets walled off from Downtown Brooklyn.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0034.jpg

The Development on Tillary Street is moving forward without interruption.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0037.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0038.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0039.jpg

Although, I couldn't imagine living at the entrance to the BQE and across the street from a police station where the cops (who don't live inthe neighborhood) have no qualms about parking on the median of Tillary Street, in left hand turn lanes, on sidewalks, and in front of parking hydrants.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0040.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0041.jpg

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0026.jpg

BrooklynLove

February 16th, 2009, 08:30 PM

...where the cops (who don't live inthe neighborhood) have no qualms about parking on the median of Tillary Street, in left hand turn lanes, on sidewalks, and in front of parking hydrants.

This will change quickly once the area fills up with residents who need to park their cars.

BrooklynLove

March 1st, 2009, 08:03 PM

They're starting to demo the houses on Duffield.

zinka

March 1st, 2009, 10:07 PM

They're starting to demo the houses on Duffield.

For Willoughby Square? Where is the money coming from? :cool:

BrooklynLove

March 1st, 2009, 10:32 PM

Demo is cheap and a barren lot is easier to idle.

philvia

March 2nd, 2009, 01:36 PM

blizzzzzzzardddddd

http://i39.tinypic.com/f3dqwp.jpg

Stroika

March 5th, 2009, 10:51 AM

From March 3... Guess we don't need to remember abolition...

http://curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/3634/3328654106_ca0ffe9b69_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3340/3326793947_ea47a08de6.jpg?v=0

http://www.flickr.com/photos/28363759@N08/3326793947/in/set-72157614706480047/

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3642/3327610248_cb7f4c481e.jpg?v=0

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3352/3326791379_2105687c15.jpg?v=0

Stroika

March 5th, 2009, 10:56 AM

Demolition on Duffield clears way for fourth hotel on block
BY MIKE MCLAUGHLIN
The Brooklyn Paper

A historic Duffield Street home believed to be a hotbed of Abolitionist activity in the 19th century is being torn down, possibly to make way for the fourth hotel on the Downtown block.

On Monday, V3 Hotels, a company led by twentysomething impresario Ben Nash and Borough President Markowitz’s former chief of staff Greg Atkins, started demolishing 231 Duffield St., a few doors away from its planned Hotel Indigo. Sources familiar with the V3’s plans told The Brooklyn Paper the company intends to plant another hotel on the street — which, ironically, was renamed by the city “Abolitionist Way” last year.

“V3 is finalizing its plans for the site, and will share them as soon as it’s possible to do so,” said Atkins in a prepared statement.

It would be the fourth hotel on the one block of Duffield Street, between and Fulton and Willoughby streets in Downtown. A Sheraton and W Hotel are also rising on the block.

The city cleared the way for new development, including a park and underground parking lot known as Willoughby Square, after issuing a report in 2007 that downplayed the likely historic significance of 231 Duffield and several other antebellum row-houses on the block.

But scholars scorned the city’s report as flawed. Advocates cite research that suggests that the sub-basement of 231 Duffield connected to other buildings in the fabled Underground Railroad.

“This is the murder of history and the destruction of a proud moment in American history — people standing up to the odious institution of slavery,” said Raul Rothblatt, vocal opponent of the transformation of Duffield Street.

The physical remnants of the Abolitionist history of Duffield Street could be reduced to just one house — No. 227 — which has more definitive links to the Underground Railroad than its neighbors and may one day become a museum or historical site. The future of that property is not certain though, because its owner, Joy Chatel, faces personal financial problems.
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/32/9/32_9_mm_duffield.html

BrooklynLove

March 6th, 2009, 09:45 PM

The only truth in this is that neither side of the debate knows whether or not URR ran through these homes.

bklynite

March 7th, 2009, 12:21 PM

nice photo of downtown:
http://curbed.com/archives/2009/03/06/brooklyn_skyline_update_flatbush_condo_corridor_ed ition.php#reader_comments
http://curbed.com/uploads/2009_3_bkskyline.jpg

Tectonic

March 7th, 2009, 02:01 PM

Great shot!

BrooklynLove

March 7th, 2009, 09:23 PM

Avalon FG skin is starting - brick color is similar to Oro's.

BrooklynRider

March 8th, 2009, 12:29 AM

1. Limestone is actually being installed around the LIRR entrance. Is completion on the horizon for this building?

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0004.jpg

2. Limestone being installed in a number of places. On the interior the drywall has been removed and the platform level now sees daylight.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0005.jpg

3. DeKalb represent!

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0008-1.jpg

4. The new tower trio of downtown...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0010.jpg

5. Hollaback Dekalb in the rearview...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0012.jpg

BrooklynRider

March 8th, 2009, 12:32 AM

1. This is looking south across the City Point site. Any ideas what the building rising in the background will become?

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0013.jpg

2. Another angle of our friends...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0014-1.jpg

3. Kaufman #2 rises...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0015.jpg

BrooklynLove

March 8th, 2009, 09:21 AM

1. This is looking south across the City Point site. Any ideas what the building rising in the background will become?

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0013.jpg

That's this:
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2008/01/development_wat_173.php

BrooklynRider

March 8th, 2009, 02:15 PM

Jeez, another ugly tower for Brooklyn.

BrooklynLove

March 8th, 2009, 08:39 PM

From what I understand there's been a decent amount of mutation with this design so I wouldn't assume the that the rendering is indicative of what we'll get. Keep hope alive.

BrooklynLove

March 8th, 2009, 11:48 PM

Though unlikely construction will start soon, there's a permit (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01) out for that site that calls for a 44 story 488' rental tower designed by Ismael Leyva.

looks like they're still trying.

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)01NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090021712 RALEYVARUIZ/R NEW 44 STORY BUILDING

07/31/2008310172504 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172504&passdocnumber=01)01A3OSPJ P/E DISAPPROVED08/04/20080081589 PEVITOLANORUIZ/R BUILDERS PAVEMENT PLAN. TOTAL STREET FRONTAGE= 97 L.F., AS SHOWN ON DRAWIN

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)02NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090057530 PEMARCUSRUIZ/R FOUNDATION AND FRAMING FOR NEW BUILDING.

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)03NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090072050 PEGERAZOUNRUIZ/R SUBSEQUENT FILING OF MECHANICAL AND PLUMBING FOR NEW BUILDING.

philvia

March 10th, 2009, 11:09 AM

2. Limestone being installed in a number of places. On the interior the drywall has been removed and the platform level now sees daylight.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/DSCN0005.jpg

So the platform is open to the windows?
which one?
i wanna check it out :cool:

BrooklynRider

March 10th, 2009, 01:16 PM

I can see the light shining in when I ride the 2 or 3 trains. the light should be spilling right into the LIRR area.

philvia

March 10th, 2009, 05:52 PM

parts of lirr platform are still blocked off but you could see light shining through the cracks in the wood.

BrooklynLove

March 11th, 2009, 08:23 AM

looks like they're still trying.

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)01NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090021712 RALEYVARUIZ/R NEW 44 STORY BUILDING

07/31/2008310172504 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172504&passdocnumber=01)01A3OSPJ P/E DISAPPROVED08/04/20080081589 PEVITOLANORUIZ/R BUILDERS PAVEMENT PLAN. TOTAL STREET FRONTAGE= 97 L.F., AS SHOWN ON DRAWIN

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)02NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090057530 PEMARCUSRUIZ/R FOUNDATION AND FRAMING FOR NEW BUILDING.

07/31/2008310172498 (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1)03NBENTJ P/E DISAPPROVED02/20/20090072050 PEGERAZOUNRUIZ/R SUBSEQUENT FILING OF MECHANICAL AND PLUMBING FOR NEW BUILDING.

March 10: still trying -
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=2&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01&restore=1

BrooklynRider

April 1st, 2009, 02:32 AM

Add this to the collection of "in progress" photos that cover the last 17 years of this project...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009004.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009004.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/th_03312009003.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/nyc%203-31-2009/?action=view&current=03312009003.jpg)

BrooklynLove

April 5th, 2009, 09:42 PM

Duffield Street Hotel #3 - another Tom O'Hara, 19 stories, V3 Development:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=1&passjobnumber=320002108&passdocnumber=01

Over on Flatbush this project still keeps getting dinged:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01

Tectonic

April 5th, 2009, 10:43 PM

Next building boom still has a lot of parking lots to fill in the Downtown Bk area.

BrooklynLove

April 25th, 2009, 08:15 AM

Jeez Louise these guys can't catch a break:

PLAN EXAM - DISAPPROVED 04/22/2009
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01

Tectonic

April 25th, 2009, 08:55 AM

This was about 10 days ago:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3639/3472500093_ca37e8fc01_b.jpg

BrooklynLove

April 25th, 2009, 12:43 PM

That's a different site, and has been used as staging for 80 Dekalb for many months at this point.

zinka

April 25th, 2009, 02:35 PM

That's a different site, and has been used as staging for 80 Dekalb for many months at this point.

No, it's the same site -- look up 29 Flatbush on OASIS to see the odd shape. The site has frontage on Flatbush, Fulton and Rockwell. I guess they're renting it to 80 Dekalb for staging while their permits keep getting denied.

BrooklynRider

April 25th, 2009, 06:54 PM

Permit is for a Steel Mixed Use Building. Interesting.

antinimby

April 26th, 2009, 05:25 PM

This project is suppose to go up across the street from that 29 Flatbush parking lot:

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/30/44/30_44_dancespacerendering_z.jpg
--------------------------------------------------------------------studioMDA

BrooklynLove

April 26th, 2009, 08:39 PM

My bad.

zinka

May 10th, 2009, 07:02 PM

29 Flatbush was disapproved yet again on May 5th.

BrooklynRider

May 10th, 2009, 08:49 PM

A New Day Dawns For Walt Whitman Park
By Mary Frost
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — Bids will go out this summer for a $4.5 million facelift for Walt Whitman Park, the long-neglected 2.9-acre area south of the OEM Building at Cadman Plaza East, Red Cross Place and Adams Street.

For several years, a large section of the park had been blacktopped for use as a parking lot for court personnel during the construction of the new Federal Courthouse at Tillary and Adams Streets.

Now that the garage under the courthouse is finished, the federal General Services Administration has “kept its promise,” as Dennis Holt reported in the Brooklyn Eagle earlier this month, to provide some funds towards the park’s reconstruction. Federal funds are also allocated, according to the city’s Executive Budget Register.

The Department of Parks’ preliminary design (see schematic on page 2) calls for a planted median at the Cadman Plaza East entrance, a green, mound-shaped oval in the middle of the park surrounding a “great lawn,” and a fountain that will double as a sprinkler for children.

Four Walt Whitman poems will be engraved in granite on the sides of the fountain. Additional trees will be planted throughout the park, including a grove of trees at the south end next to the courthouse.

Integration of Two Parks

One goal is to encourage non-active recreation, to keep the park from turning into a “dustbowl.” Another is to integrate Walt Whitman Park with next-door Cadman Plaza Park and the War Memorial, as envisioned when Phase 1 of the renovation of Cadman Plaza Park was designed. However, there is no Parks funding for Cadman Plaza Park north of the War Memorial nor of the memorial itself.

The schematic shows a security fence and bollards along Cadman Plaza East, replacing the unattractive cement barriers (also known as Jersey barriers) currently in place.

The New York City Department of City Planning’s original proposal called for the de-mapping Cadman Plaza East for use as a landscaped bike and pedestrian mall that would afford a through route from the DUMBO area (between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges) to Borough Hall.

An early rendering shows benches, widened sidewalks with plantings, and antique street lamps lining Cadman Plaza East. However, the street is presently used as a judicial and OEM parking lot — and security blockades including “ballistic bunkers” are planned for either end.

A call to the Department of Transportation was not returned by publication deadline. CAP: Bids will go out this summer for a $4.5 million facelift for Walt Whitman Park, the long-neglected 2.9-acre rectangle south of the OEM Building at Cadman Plaza East. One goal is to encourage non-active recreation, to keep the park from turning into a “dust bowl.”

Another is to integrate Walt Whitman Park with Cadman Plaza Park and the War Memorial. Photo courtesy of the NYC Design Commission

©2009 The Brooklyn Paper

Rendering and article can be view HERE (http://www.brooklyneagle.com/).

BrooklynLove

May 11th, 2009, 08:16 AM

29 Flatbush was disapproved yet again on May 5th.

They'll get it eventually. I'm just happy to see that they're still trying - revised app every week or so it seems.

BrooklynRider

May 13th, 2009, 09:06 PM

Atlantic Terminal (Any surprises that this still isn't done? Don't hold your breath waiting for the Fulton Street Station in Manhattan).

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0319.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0319.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0321.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0321.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0322.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0322.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 13th, 2009, 09:07 PM

Gene Kaufman's Starwood creations for Willoughby Square...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0338.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0338.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0345.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0345.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 13th, 2009, 09:09 PM

The Brooklyn Skyline getting taller...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0370.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0370.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0368.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0368.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0373.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0373.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 13th, 2009, 09:14 PM

Almost forgot this one, which is moving right along on Tillary...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0352.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0352.jpg)

BrooklynLove

May 14th, 2009, 08:42 AM

29 Flatbush was disapproved yet again on May 5th.

And again on May 13th.

BrooklynRider

May 21st, 2009, 01:08 AM

I noticed that the crown of Oro is lit up at night. Is this new?

BrooklynRider

May 21st, 2009, 11:21 PM

The construction crew at Atlantic Terminal put in another 45 minutes of work this week. :rolleyes:

See progress below.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0377.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0377.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0378.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0378.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0379.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0379.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0381.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0381.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 21st, 2009, 11:32 PM

There's excavation activity at 319 Schermerhorn. No idea what it is.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0383.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0383.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0384.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0384.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0385.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0385.jpg)

I can't remember what cross street 319 Shchermerhorn was at, but this was across that street on the corner to the West. 300 Schermerhorn was across the street. See next post.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0387.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0387.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 21st, 2009, 11:54 PM

This is a site project in the excavation phase at 300 Schermerhorn. It has a very large frontage on Schermerhorn. It's across Schermhorn to the south of the sites above.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0388.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0388.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0390.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0390.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0392.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0392.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 12:21 AM

The Schermerhorn at 160 Schermerhorn Street

I thought this building had a very interesting design. The steel in this building was assembled to straddle the old (closed) subway shuttle tunnel below. One end of the tunnel serves as The NYC Transit Museum.

It was hard to photograh and the sun was perfectly suited to be in my eyes the whole time, so pardon my bad angles.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0407.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0407.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0408.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0408.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0409.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0409.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0404.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0404.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 12:32 AM

be@Schermerhorn at 189 Schermerhorn Street

I like this building; however I wish I could meet the person who came up with that name. I want to tell him or her that I think the name sucks and that he/she is an asshole.

No, really.

My photos of the Livingston Street side of the building came out blurry - so you only get these.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0400.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0400.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0402.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0402.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 01:10 AM

Anyone know what they are doing here? This is the sidewalk in front of Brooklyn South Police Command (911 Center). It was cordoned off after Sept. 11th. Police railings were put up later to push pedestrians to the curb edge of the side walk. After that jersey barriers went up blocking the right hand lane on Flatbush. Now, pedestrians are pushed out even further as this project is executed. Will we ever walk on that sidewalk wit the presumption of innocence again?

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0459.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0459.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0460.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0460.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0461.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0461.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 01:19 AM

Gene Kaufman's Sheraton Hotels...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0425.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0425.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0465.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0465.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0469.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0469.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0474.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0474.jpg)

5. Because you were dying to see the back of it...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0526.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0526.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 01:30 AM

The City Point site.

1. West Border

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0432.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0432.jpg)

2. East Border

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0428.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0428.jpg)

3. North Border

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0447-1.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0447-1.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 01:32 AM

City Point site (a peek over the fence) Looks like they're tearing up the concrete. Can a foundation be far behind? Maybe Schwarz knows what's happening here.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0435.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0435.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0436.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0436.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0437.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0437.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 01:41 AM

sfenn1117

May 22nd, 2009, 02:08 AM

Great, great, great coverage. always appreciated.

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 02:17 AM

Ath the corner of Fulton & Bridge a site seems to have been assebled. It in currently being demolished.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0514.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0514.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0513.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0513.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0515.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0515.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0516.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0516.jpg)

5.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0518.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0518.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 02:25 AM

A number of parcels on Duffield seem to be cleared / vacant / or closig up shop. This is probaly in advance of Willoughby Park coming to that block.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0477.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0477.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0478.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0478.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0479.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0479.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0483.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0483.jpg)

5.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0484.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0484.jpg)

6.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0485.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0485.jpg)

bklynite

May 22nd, 2009, 11:48 AM

Ath the corner of Fulton & Bridge a site seems to have been assebled. It in currently being demolished.

isn't this the UAL H&M site?

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 11:20 PM

The stately Williamsburg Bank Building.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0434.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0434.jpg)

I believe that little park on the traffic island in front of it will be made expanded closing of the little street that runs in front of the banks. That was my guess from the looks of the equipment laid out...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0433.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0433.jpg)

I think that this is the project:

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/Construction20Map205_20_0920big.jpg

The $15 million Fulton Streetscape Project, slated to start in Spring 2009,
will create a cleaner, more contemporary physical environment on Fulton St. with improved landscaping, modern street furniture, and additional seating and public spaces.

The NYC Economic Development Corp. is leading this renovation effort, which is expected to be completed in early 2011. As construction commences, we will do our best to inform you of any impacts related to this project.

Albee Square public space is scheduled to be constructed in 2009 and will include a first class pedestrian plaza with new street furniture including benches, moveable chairs and pedestrian scale lighting. In addition to these improvements, DeKalb Avenue will be permanently closed from Albee Square West to Bond Street. This closure will enable the creation of the pedestrian plaza immediately adjacent to the historic Dime Savings Bank.

This is a Fulton Street streetscape rendering. I wish the city would embrace street lighting that reduces light pollution of the night sky. These lights are as ugly and environmentally intrusive as those on Broadway in Lower Manhattan.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/Fulton20Streetscape20large.jpg

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 11:23 PM

05.22.2009

Columbus Park Getting Cafe-Style Seating!

The New York Daily News reported that Columbus Park (http://www.dbpartnership.org/discover/columbuspark/), the four-acre park between Joralemon and Tillary Streets in front of Borough Hall, will soon be filled with French cafe-style tables and chairs as part of a larger plan by the Court-Livingston-Schermerhorn Business Improvement District (http://www.clsbid.org/) to revamp the park.

"Columbus Park is a great public space, and it is one that has tremendous potential," said Michael Burke of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, which runs the BID. "We're looking at various types of programming to maximize the park's use during the day time, during the evening and on the weekends," he added.

The park already hosts a greenmarket, and Borough President Marty Markowitz hosts lunchtime concerts there by local school groups and artists. Markowitz applauded the project saying, "Columbus Park has the potential to rival the great piazzas of Europe and beyond."

New York Daily News, May 22, 2009

BrooklynRider

May 22nd, 2009, 11:47 PM

The "Brooklyn 2012" video is embedded in this website:

http://www.citypointnyc.com/

We've seen it before, but it is interesting to watch again. Some of the buildings are up or in construction and it becomes easier to envision. Of note, is the height of City Point in relation to 111 Lawrence, Avalon Fort Greene, Toren & Oro.

I read the Ascadia Realty Report for the 1st Quarter and, although they not the current economy, shareholders are getting dividends (albeit meager).

The website is still alive and the development team partners all note the project.

BrooklynRider

May 23rd, 2009, 12:13 AM

This map of the Brooklyn Rezoning shows us that, sadly, the residential zoned areas are being developed. The commercial areas...not so much.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/downtownbrooklyn.jpg

BrooklynLove

May 23rd, 2009, 08:23 PM

Great posts BR - thanks. There is even more going on here. When I have some time later this summer I'll fill in some of the gaps.

BrooklynRider

May 25th, 2009, 10:32 PM

Just east of Smith Street...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0560.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0560.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0558.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0558.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0561.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0561.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 25th, 2009, 10:37 PM

South West Corner of Boerum Place and Atlantic Avenue. This was supposed to be residential, but I have no idea what is going up. A taxpayer building?

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0564.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0564.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0563.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0563.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0565.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0565.jpg)

BrooklynRider

May 25th, 2009, 10:39 PM

Young Jedi warriors undergo urban light saber training in Cadman Park...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0569.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0569.jpg)

zinka

May 25th, 2009, 11:55 PM

Anyone know what they are doing here? This is the sidewalk in front of Brooklyn South Police Command (911 Center).

Could be EDC's Flatbush Extension streetscape project.

zinka

May 25th, 2009, 11:56 PM

The stately Williamsburg Bank Building.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0434.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0434.jpg)

Correction: This is the Dime Savings Bank building. The Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building is the clock tower building, at Hanson and Ashland.

zinka

May 25th, 2009, 11:56 PM

I noticed that the crown of Oro is lit up at night. Is this new?

It's a few months old.

BrooklynRider

May 29th, 2009, 11:04 PM

New Skyline:

111 Lawrence, Forte, 80 Dekalb, Toren, Avalon Fort Greene

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0804.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0804.jpg)

scumonkey

May 29th, 2009, 11:15 PM

Looks like the building they are housing the contestants in,
from the show "Make Me a Supermodel"?

BrooklynRider

June 1st, 2009, 03:52 AM

Tell me when you start getting bored of all these photos. Seems there's not much to do, but wait for the next big thing.

Bridgeview Tower...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1065.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1065.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1072.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1072.jpg)

3.
[/URL][URL="http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1073.jpg"]http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1073.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1072.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1076.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1076.jpg)

BrooklynRider

June 1st, 2009, 03:59 AM

This is all the assemblage for the site next door to Bridgeview. Seems to be a Stop Order on it...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1063.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1063.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1064.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1064.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1066.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1067.jpg)

4.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1067.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1067.jpg)

5.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1068.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1068.jpg)

BrooklynRider

June 1st, 2009, 04:03 AM

This is that building on Tillary & Gold Street - across from McDonald's. No idea what it is called. This is the Gold Street portion. The Tillary building is havig windows installed.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1059.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1059.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1061.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1061.jpg)

BrooklynRider

June 1st, 2009, 04:07 AM

More grand vistas...

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1046.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1046.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1047.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1047.jpg)

(http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1052.jpg)

BrooklynRider

June 1st, 2009, 04:08 AM

I'm done photographing this area for a while.

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1060.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1060.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN1058.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN1058.jpg)

BK11201

June 2nd, 2009, 11:27 PM

That's 240 Livingston. I believe 40-something condos with ground floor retail/commerical and some underground parking. Good addition to the area, although I wish it were much taller.

The only rendering I could find is pretty small:

http://i406.photobucket.com/albums/pp145/bk11201/240Atlantic.jpg

There's a larger pic at the CPEX site.

http://www.cpexre.com/240AtlanticAve.pdf

South West Corner of Boerum Place and Atlantic Avenue. This was supposed to be residential, but I have no idea what is going up. A taxpayer building?

1.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0564.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0564.jpg)

2.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0563.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0563.jpg)

3.
http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/th_DSCN0565.jpg (http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/?action=view&current=DSCN0565.jpg)

Gulcrapek

June 8th, 2009, 11:44 PM

May 17

be@Schermerhorn

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3659/3608815579_a95ae7ed40.jpg

The O'Hara thing on Livingston (#211?)

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2464/3608900639_8c915c9334.jpg

Oro

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3555/3608814813_ac88223ab4_b.jpg

Nice and... not so nice

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2422/3608815779_cc10fc4296_b.jpg

Gulcrapek

June 9th, 2009, 12:10 AM

Kaufman's duo on Duffield in mid May - really not as bad as the renderings would suggest, though the second one has yet to be clad

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2478/3608901909_81be93ca8c_b.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3324/3609716244_57f9a88ca5_b.jpg

BrooklynRider

June 9th, 2009, 09:55 PM

46 Nevins Street
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/46-Nevins-Street-0609.jpg
All is quiet at 46 Nevins Street, site of McSam's planned Hyatt Place Hotel. One might assume the economy's getting in the way, but it appears that the Gene Kaufmann design has yet to meet (http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=3&passjobnumber=310172103&passdocnumber=01) with approval from the Department of Buildings.

hrair

June 20th, 2009, 12:54 PM

Avalon Willougby West filed with BIS on June 19th. Surprised Avalon still thinks this is a viable area.

BrooklynLove

June 20th, 2009, 04:59 PM

Why surprised?

ASchwarz

June 21st, 2009, 02:51 AM

Avalon Willougby West filed with BIS on June 19th. Surprised Avalon still thinks this is a viable area.

Huh? You do realize that AvalonBay's most lucrative market is the NYC area.

They are planning thousands of units in the metropolitan area.

And if you're referring to downtown Brooklyn, then your comment is even sillier. AvalonBay builds large buildings, and downtown Brooklyn has the appropriate zoning. Outside of Manhattan, there are few places in the country that have higher market rents than downtown Brooklyn and environs.

BrooklynLove

June 21st, 2009, 09:37 AM

AS - you're spoiling some fun that could be had here.

hrair

June 21st, 2009, 10:57 AM

Really, given the market condition and manhattan rent prices have come down, why would a renter live in DT Brooklyn at the 2400 rate? Hasn't the DT vision changes since last March?

BrooklynLove

June 21st, 2009, 11:31 AM

Avalon Bay doesn't live month to month.

hrair

June 21st, 2009, 02:51 PM

Avalon Bay doesn't live month to month.

you are right, they live quarter by quarter.

ASchwarz

June 21st, 2009, 03:40 PM

Really, given the market condition and manhattan rent prices have come down, why would a renter live in DT Brooklyn at the 2400 rate? Hasn't the DT vision changes since last March?

AvalonBay only does rentals. In contrast to condo developers, their projections for properties are on long-term (say 30-year) rent trends.

The fact that downtown Brooklyn rentals may be up or down for a year or two in a given cycle is not a huge factor in their decisionmaking.

And this property would not be occupied until 2011 or 2012. That's way too far off to have any idea where rents will be. But wherever those rents are at that date, I'm willing to bet they're basically higher than any other urban neighborhood in the country, excepting Manhattan and maybe one or two neighborhoods in San Francisco.

It all depends on one's long-term view of urban housing. AVB is optimistic, as am I. I see no reason to believe that unsustainable sprawl and exurban growth will rule the day in the coming decades.

hrair

June 21st, 2009, 04:17 PM

A AVB is optimistic, as am I. I see no reason to believe that unsustainable sprawl and exurban growth will rule the day in the coming decades.

Hope you are right! I am personally lost on where this area will be heading, and have to make decision whether to close on an apt or not.

BrooklynLove

June 21st, 2009, 04:35 PM

you are right, they live quarter by quarter.

Not really. That's not how they make their capital budgeting decisions. Their shareholders may but not the company.

sfenn1117

June 22nd, 2009, 04:29 PM

596'...If we know Avalon this building will get built pretty quickly. Should beat out City Point to become Brooklyn's tallest for a while.

Gulcrapek

June 22nd, 2009, 08:09 PM

So SLCE is designing the two new tallest buildings in Brooklyn, one of which is an Avalon?

Lord help us...

RoldanTTLB

July 12th, 2009, 11:19 PM

Hey! They're building things in Brooklyn that aren't that tall too. Sorry to say, but I don't know what half (less than half) of this stuff is. I recognize the Aloft, and that weird buiding that the owner of the storage place wouldn't sell out, and the LIRR station, but beyond that, well, who knows. No action where the Fulton mall used to be, or I would have taken a photo.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3T08TVQ0h2g/SlqHuuwi_TI/AAAAAAAAC2s/z976jghwmQM/s800/DSC01760.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3T08TVQ0h2g/SlqHyLIJsvI/AAAAAAAAC2w/G6oA_SXL0q4/s800/DSC01761.JPG

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_3T08TVQ0h2g/SlqIVkiQp3I/AAAAAAAAC3g/EipsqiUs_jU/s800/DSC01772.JPG

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_3T08TVQ0h2g/SlqIkid7vKI/AAAAAAAAC34/yb-ugGr35yc/s800/DSC01777.JPG

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_3T08TVQ0h2g/SlqIxoVmmvI/AAAAAAAAC4I/ggM2p8FKzl0/s800/DSC01781.JPG

stache

July 13th, 2009, 02:30 AM

What is that last building going to be?

BrooklynLove

July 13th, 2009, 08:50 AM

^LIRR terminal - and finally scaffold free

stache

July 13th, 2009, 10:03 AM

Ty BL!

BrooklynLove

July 14th, 2009, 11:25 PM

Today's coverage:

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=29472

Also covered at curbed.com and brownstoner.com.

All sources mistaking the 388 Bridge rendering for the new AVB building.

Meatslim

July 25th, 2009, 09:39 PM

I posted this on the Toren thread as well. I'm posting it here as well because I'm not sure where exactly it belongs. If that's not okay, I apologize and will remove one.

"Hey, I'm new to this forum and have been reading up all I can about Downtown Brooklyn. I grew up in Brooklyn and hope to move back there again soon. I've been looking into the Toren condos facing Prince Street but then found this:

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/gif/dwnbklyn2/r7-1-1a.jpg http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/gif/dwnbklyn2/c6-4-6.jpg
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/gif/dwnbklyn2/dcp-2a.jpg
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/gif/dwnbklyn2/aerial1.jpg
all from the NYC Department of City Planning.

Is Prince St no longer gonna be there? If I buy a condo facing it, am I gonna eventually be staring at a wall? What do you guys think? Thanks."

Stroika

July 26th, 2009, 12:03 AM

Sorry, Meatslim, this doesn't really answer your question, but I have one of my own: Why the f*&% don't they rezone/redvelop the Ingersoll Houses and University Towers? Are these still public housing projects (as I think -- certainly Ingersoll, at any rate), or have they been privatized? The urban redevelopment represented by public housing projects is the first thing Joe Chan and anyone else involved in redeveloping Brooklyn need to have in mind. There is no greater missed opportunity than the missed opportunity of finally normalizing those little splotches of the Soviet Union's living urban dead.

Meatslim

July 26th, 2009, 12:24 AM

There was some talk about the Ingersoll Houses going coop a few years ago, from 2005-2007 but it was never confirmed. I can't seem to find any news about it since 2007. Over 60% vacant last I heard.

BrooklynLove

July 26th, 2009, 08:24 AM

If the city sold off Ingersol (or various other communities) they'd get enough cash to build 4 times as much housing in a much less valuable area. however this would be a political bombshell so the outcome is to continually sink money into keeping a decrepit inefficient structure afloat.

ToastyPotato

July 26th, 2009, 08:56 PM

Yeah, I am not sure if its the same thing, but in the Bronx, ONE building in a Housing community was sold and it was all over the news. There was a decent stink about it. Not only that, but I remember hearing tons of rumblings about people being possibly moved out of the Morrisania Air Rights buildings (and this was BEFORE the massive construction boom) due to the structures sustaining too much damage over time, thanks to a number of factors. That never happened, dozens of buildings have gone up in the area, and no plans have surfaced to deal with the crumbling towers.

I also read somewhere a quote from NYCHA about how they are quite proud that they aren't like other cities who knock down their developments. Because apparently the projects are something to be very proud of. :confused: If crumbling projects couldn't be dealt with in the Bronx, where there was more than enough space to move everyone in the buildings to new structures a few blocks away, I wouldn't expect it to happen anywhere else, unfortunately.

Meatslim

July 26th, 2009, 09:56 PM

Possible. We can only really speculate for now. The 2 cases are very different in their circumstances.

InvisibleMan BK

August 3rd, 2009, 03:19 PM

Some of you may be aware of the very peculiar Prospect Plaza houses saga.
NYCHA, via HUD Hope VI money set out to renovate a couple of its towers and demolish one. This is very rare for NYCHA considering the long waiting list.
The tenants were evactuated but the buildings sat vacant since, and
are currently still vacant.
check the article for some of the history.
http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/viewarticle.cfm?article_id=2150

A portion of the Prospect plaza site has now been completed. They are a series of low rise high density walk up buildings. the project contains 151 units, Park Place between Saratoga ave and Howard Ave. Looks like a great addition to this forsaken neighborhood. Unfortunately most of the displaced tenants will never return. You can see the vacant tower in the background of the 1st pic.
7450

7451

ablarc

August 5th, 2009, 07:58 AM

^ Corner building's unresolved asymmetry is euecatching and a bit annoying.

Verm

August 5th, 2009, 06:04 PM

Meatslim

August 6th, 2009, 12:02 AM

yea, i believe the projects in the area are ingersoll houses and whitman houses.

BrooklynLove

August 6th, 2009, 08:14 AM

However University Towers are pretty much an equivalent design, just a bit taller. Same story re Concord Village.

Stroika

August 11th, 2009, 12:30 AM

Exactly, BKLove. The big question for me is: When is NY going to wake up the disaster that was Robert Moses' housing projects, the way other cities (Chicago, Philly, Atlanta) have re-evaluated their own experiments in urban redevelopment schemes? When is the city going to realize that letting developers buy out some of those projects/co-ops that used to be projects will yield way more land -- especially of the grassy, wasted sort -- than demolishing the city's pre-war heritage?

NoyokA

August 11th, 2009, 02:00 AM

That's actually part of finding new land for Bloomberg's 10 Year Housing plan. New mixed income affordable housing will be built on the decidedly anti-urban empty lots and parking lots of NYCHA properties. As for NYCHA properties themselves except for the example shown above they're not going anywhere, I forget the exact number but there's an extremely long waiting list for NYCHA apartments, other cities have the luxury of a relative plethora of affordable housing options, in some cases people refused to live in the worst of the housing projects and they became abandoned. This is not a reality for New York. I would like to see street grids reintroduced where its possible and a single floor of retail instead of empty lots fronting major streets.

BrooklynLove

August 11th, 2009, 08:33 AM

Tectonic

August 12th, 2009, 09:12 AM

:confused: As a bike rider, was that really necessary?

ASchwarz

August 13th, 2009, 10:55 PM

Meanwhile the city throws millions at creating this bike lane on Sands St which coincidentally runs directly in front of the Farragut Houses which sit largely vacant due to disrepair.

This is untrue. The Farragut Homes, like all NYCHA developments, are fully occupied and have a long waiting list.

You are probably referring to the large number of units at Farragut under renovation. NYCHA developments are mostly older, and there is usually a significant proportion of units "off the market" for renovation.

BrooklynLove

August 13th, 2009, 11:29 PM

what's your definition of renovation? they've been vacant and under "renovation" for years. as for the condition of the units that are not under renovation and the common areas, you haven't been there if you think that it's ok.

philvia

August 14th, 2009, 02:00 AM

i just dont understand why the city doesn't build three or four 60+ story buildings dense and on a grid, demolish the midrise ones and sell those plots to developers.

maintenance would be much less and they could make hundreds of millions of $$ from land sales and even more on taxes.

and i dont think housing projects should be comfortable to live in, otherwise why leave?

Stroika

August 14th, 2009, 01:26 PM

ToastyPotato

August 15th, 2009, 04:05 PM

^^ Exactly.

-Get rid of the littered crab grass and half-empty parking lots that cover 80% of the land of any housing project and put that to use by building those densely packed high-rises on them.
-Restore the grid. Put in some first-floor retail.
-Remove the fences to open the area to non-residents. The most prominent gated communities in NYC are housing projects, which are not only economic dead-zones but are off-limits to 99% of us -- if a private developer tried to pull that, it'd be off with his head.
-Stipulate that the developer/property manager house the people in the current buildings so that the city doesn't have to keep throwing money at maintenance, 'renovations,' etc. Their apartments could be subsidized with profits gained from the tenants (~80%) paying market rate. And mixing different income levels is a lot better than ghettoizing the poor in one place.
-And actually make sure people live there for a few years, max, before moving on -- which I believe is the inevitably broken premise of housing projects, no?

Holy crap did you read my mind? Lately, I have been looking at string of Housing Projects in the South Bronx and wondering if exactly what you have just said wouldn't be much more feasible. Granted, I think 60 stories would be a bit much. But surely doubling up on the average 16 story building would solve a lot of problems? You could take an 7-8 building community and turn it into 4 32 story structures, creating a ton of new space, which can then be sold.

stache

August 15th, 2009, 06:22 PM

Except the elevators would always be broken.

philvia

August 15th, 2009, 11:25 PM

even elevator maintenance and repair would be less in four 32 story buildings than eight 16 story ones

stache

August 16th, 2009, 05:44 AM

It would still take twice as long to walk to the top floor.

BrooklynLove

August 16th, 2009, 09:10 AM

even elevator maintenance and repair would be less in four 32 story buildings than eight 16 story ones

Doubtful.

philvia

August 16th, 2009, 02:21 PM

i dont know the building codes but i would assume the difference in elevators would be marginal between 16 and 32 floors. for the sake of argument, 3 elevators in 16 floor and 5 elevators in 32 floor.
3*8 = 24 elevators in an eight building, 16 story project
5*4 = 20 elevators in a four building, 32 story project

less elevators = less maintenance/repair

and since when does a "that would take twice as long to walk to the top" argument hold valid? LOL

stache

August 16th, 2009, 03:07 PM

LOL, every time the elevator breaks down, which I hear is frequent in housing projects.

BrooklynLove

August 16th, 2009, 05:32 PM

For starters, it's easier for the city to ignore broken elevators in 8-story PJs than in 32 story PJs ...

Tectonic

August 17th, 2009, 02:26 AM

Sheraton on Duffield Street:

https://community.emporis.com/nwimages/6/2009/08/721813.jpg

Aloft:

https://community.emporis.com/nwimages/6/2009/08/721807.jpg

BrooklynLove

August 23rd, 2009, 08:03 PM

http://www.bklyngold.com/

bklynite

August 25th, 2009, 11:01 AM

why go affordable before going rental?

anyone know what building this is?

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/08/lux_condos_migh.php

August 25, 2009
Mystery Downtown Development Going Affordable

The New York Post ran a story yesterday mentioning two luxury condo buildings in talks with the city to unload their unsold units as affordable housing. One building is in Harlem and the other in Downtown Brooklyn, according to the article, but officials cannot reveal where the properties are while negotiations are still occurring. Any guesses, readers? The article says that the city is in negotiations with "banks that have foreclosed on the properties," and that the Brooklyn development is in Downtown. The leading guesses in the Forum are Forte and be@schermerhorn (above). What do you think?
City Dealing to Make Luxe Condos Cheaper [NY Post]

BrooklynRider

August 25th, 2009, 06:58 PM

That's got to be be@schermerhorn. It was developed by Procida.

It has been struggling to unload its units. It looks to be a very nice building, but it is a pioneer in that area. The divide between it and its neighborhood, in my opinion, is both economical and social.

It's building being marketed as "luxury and upscale" in a distinctly downtrodden area.

BrooklynLove

August 25th, 2009, 10:07 PM

There are a handful of other huge lux buildings going up w/n blocks of be@schem so I wouldn't call it a pioneer. You're also over-doing the characterization of the area. Maybe it's not pretty, shiny and upscale (yet) but it's a teeming economic hub where retailers are consistently dying to have a seat at the table. Your description sounds more like Queens Plaza than Fulton Mall.

Merry

September 1st, 2009, 08:53 AM

Schermerhorn Mixes Homeless, $2 Million Townhouses, Ballerinas

By James S. Russell

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iev2BRcUgT70
Townhouses along State Street in downtown Brooklyn

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=idNo2D.NPyQw

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iLD7P3GdsEdg

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/data?pid=avimage&iid=iz6cHwTaF39s

Aug. 31 (Bloomberg) -- Rising with quiet authority from parking lots at the edge of downtown Brooklyn is The Schermerhorn, an 11-story building that proves two things.

First, you don’t need a lot of money to erect handsome, well-designed architecture, even for troubled low-income people. Second, that’s just as well, because the convoluted financing for this type of project is idiotic.
The $59 million development, which houses people who had lived in the streets, some for years, is the result of cooperation between developer Hamlin Ventures and Common Ground, a nonprofit organization that moves homeless people to housing.

The translucent-glass-faced building, with 189 units, backs up to 14 brand new high-end townhouses, the commercial part of the development. Behind a window by the entrance, young dancers pirouette, students of anchor tenant the Brooklyn Ballet School.

This is architecture good enough to put most market builders to shame, but the deeper story is how architecture and a proven program survive in the face of an infuriating, overcomplicated financing process -- especially as rising foreclosures throw more people into the streets.

Near Hoyt Street, architect Susan Rodriguez, a partner in the Manhattan-based Polshek Partnership, picked up a no-nonsense loft look from sober commercial buildings across Schermerhorn Street. She surrounded clear windows with bands of thick, bottle-green slats of translucent glass. The planes project above the roofline in a gentle crenelation. She banishes public- housing gloom.

Own Room

“It stands up to the scale of downtown,” Rodriguez explained. “But you can easily pick out your own room, which makes your relationship to the place more personal.”

The terrazzo-floored lobby that’s anchored by a faceted birch-faced column is simple and non-institutional. Children’s shouts from the ballet classes next door bring life to a once- empty street. Later this year, neighbors will mix with tenants for recitals in a black-box performance space.

The rooms, for single-person occupancy, are tiny, and as tightly planned as an airliner galley. A bed with drawers underneath becomes a daytime couch. Lacking space for a closet, Rodriquez built a wardrobe into a kitchen cabinet unit, and mounted a small fold-away wood dining table.

She makes it all look simple, but developers deemed the block unbuildable for decades. It was slated for subsidized housing and four subway lines cross underneath. Enter a problem- solving niche developer, Abby Hamlin, of Hamlin Ventures.

Arts Workers

Hamlin partnered with Common Ground because it had successfully mixed homeless people with very-low-income tenants (in this case arts workers placed by the Actors’ Fund of America). Common Ground arranges on-site social services to help street people reassemble productive lives.
With her partner, Francis Greenberger of Time Equities, Hamlin offered to supply 100 low-income units. Rosanne Haggerty, Common Ground’s founder and president, asked for 200, and the partners agreed, also donating the land.

Hamlin built 14 row houses behind the Schermerhorn where the block front had a brownstone scale. Delivering a contemporary take on the townhouse, architecture firm Rogers Marvel combined large windows, outdoor decks and lofty interiors with the bays and stoops that define the street’s style. Hamlin sold them out at an average of $2.6 million each.

The task for Rodriguez and Haggerty was far messier. The engineer Robert Silman designed four massive, 20-foot high trusses to hold the building above the subway lines without touching the tunnels. That wasn’t cheap, and in turn spurred a unique financing program.

Robin Hood

It combined $30 million in tax-exempt government bonds and $28 million derived from low-income-housing tax credits. At the end of construction, Common Ground paid off the bonds with a mortgage held by both the state and city. That non-amortizing debt will be forgiven after 30 years. Additional funding came from the Federal Home Loan Bank and the Robin Hood Foundation.

Because no tenant pays more than 30 percent of his or her income, several city and federal funding sources cover operating costs.

Though some aspects of Schermerhorn’s $59 million financing are unique to New York, the financial gyrations and government red tape are common nightmares for below-market developers everywhere. This is why so little such housing is built.

By contrast, Hamlin financed the townhouses with a single conventional construction loan. And ample tax benefits for homebuyers substantially subsidized their purchase.

Mortgage Meltdown

The financing complexities of low-income housing have long been a scandal -- made worse now by the mortgage meltdown. In some cities, foreclosure victims make up more than 40 percent of clients assisted by homeless organizations. Demand for the low- income tax credits has fallen dramatically, lopping more than 35 percent of their value, according to Dave Beer, Common Ground’s director of real-estate development.

“It would be much harder to put together a deal now,” he said.
The Schermerhorn is a project that redefines how to nurture people who have been homeless, rather than just warehousing them. Now it’s time to redesign the way such buildings are financed -- with one-stop lending, as homeowners enjoy, at interest rates that recognize the social services provided, and with simplified tenant subsidies.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601088&sid=ao_yWY18F8Rg

ablarc

September 2nd, 2009, 09:42 AM

Pretty darn nice, but they should have differentiated the units more where three occur in a row.

I guess we should be grateful for small blessings.

Mitch Warner

September 17th, 2009, 02:19 PM

Derek2k3

September 17th, 2009, 08:57 PM

They didn't build a foundation right? I don't think DOB allows developers to leave excavation pits in the ground-which is why many developers complete their foundation and then abandon the site.

The site where Bloomberg Tower stands was an empty foundation for at least 2 years. Once these buildings get built no one will even remember...

BrooklynLove

September 17th, 2009, 10:42 PM

Hi, I noticed that the Johnson St. lot next to Oro, where Oro II/Hilton was originally slated to be built, is being bulldozed and re-filled with dirt. I'm guessing it's far too much to hope this is the beginning of something actually being built there. Does anyone know how to find out? And does adding fresh dirt automatically suggest leaving the lot fallow for the foreseeable future, or is there any chance it could be some preparatory step for building?

Thanks.

It's been almost 6 moths so maybe plans have changed but i spoke to a company rep earlier this year who said that they still planned to build the hotel and that work would start at the end of the summer.

Mitch Warner

September 18th, 2009, 10:39 AM

Thanks, BL. Could refilling the lot with dirt be the first step? I would have guessed that increased excavation (to build foundation, etc.) would be the first step, not re-filling, but could I be wrong? Thanks again--you're always a great source of info!

BrooklynLove

September 19th, 2009, 12:47 AM

Backfill usually not a good sign of any real work to come soon however I think that DOB may now be requiring this for safety reasons at some early stage stalled projects.

Mitch Warner

September 30th, 2009, 10:27 AM

Well, the fence separating the Oro II lot from the street is down. Discouraging. The one thing this neighborhood does not need is an abandoned lot.

BrooklynLove

October 1st, 2009, 08:40 AM

There is simply no financing right now for a project like this. Better this lot than a stalled half built structure. The developers need to do this backfilling in order to retain their NB permits. Strangely, the recent mortgage consolidation seems to indicate that McSam now controls this land so stay tuned for news in the near future.

Stroika

October 1st, 2009, 10:43 AM

^^ worst of all possible outcomes. i'd rather have the stalled half-built structure than another gem from the clown brigade.

zinka

October 15th, 2009, 11:05 AM

Some details on City Point construction phasing, from the Community Board 2 meeting last night:

They have signed an agreement with EDC to split the project into 4 phases. The phases proceed in order from Fulton St towards Willoughby St. They are required to start construction on the Fulton St end by March 2010.

Phase 1A: at least 40k SF of retail/commercial. Construction 3/10-3/12.
Phase 1B: 82-144k SF of retail/commercial, 170-210k SF commercial (I think; my notes are unclear here), construction 3/11-3/14.
Phase 2A: 500k SF, construction 6/14-6/17.
Phase 2B: the balance of the construction on the site. The aggregate amount of all four phases must be between 1375-1587k SF. A residential tower is likely in phase 2B. Construction 6/17-6/20.

There was also a small update on Willoughby Square Park(ing garage). Currently the city is relocating residential and commercial tenants. Once that is done, the development will proceed.

antinimby

October 15th, 2009, 01:05 PM

It will take them until 2020 to finish? That's outrageous, considering they're one of the few projects getting Stimulus money.

zinka

October 16th, 2009, 02:19 AM

It's not ideal, but I don't think it's totally unreasonable given the size of the site and the glut of apartments on that part of Flatbush. Hopefully by 2020 all the other buildings will be absorbed!

The stimulus money is a loan, not a grant. They have to repay it.

BrooklynLove

October 17th, 2009, 10:01 AM

Zinka - thanks for sharing that info. By the way, construction in your favorite location is clipping along nicely w/o any stim.

antinimby

October 17th, 2009, 12:44 PM

zinka, IT IS totally unreasonable. Do you even know what you are saying?

2020 is as far away from today as we are right now from 1998!

Imagine projects that were finished back in 1998 that took until today to completely sell/rent out. If that isn't the very definition of unreasonable, I don't know what is.

As for the Stimulus money being a loan and not a grant. That's hilarious.

Did you want the taxpayer/Federal government to build this project for the developers, too?

Very few developers are able to get construction loans anymore, that Stimulus "loan" is a gift a ton of developers would kill for right now.

Tectonic

October 17th, 2009, 03:26 PM

It does sound insane.

BrooklynRider

October 17th, 2009, 11:24 PM

I believe the stimulus funds were to allow the project to proceed with the Phase 1a and 1b of the project - only.

Without that lot even partially developed, selling down Brooklyn as a business district / city hub of the future becomes very difficult. It is a centerpiece of the Redevelopment Planning.

Merry

October 26th, 2009, 06:47 AM

City Point Phase 1 Heads to Public Design Commission

Construction Expected to Begin in Spring

by Linda Collins

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The first phase of the proposed City Point/Albee Square development in Downtown Brooklyn goes to the city’s Public Design Commission next week, according to a report made to Community Board 2 (CB 2) by the NYC Economic Development Corp. (EDC) last week. That phase, Phase 1A, covers the retail part of the development, according to Janel Patterson, an EDC spokesperson.

“We met with CB 2 to briefly update them on the City Point project,” she said. “The project will be presented to the Public Design Commission next week.”

CB2 board members were also told that in Phase 1A there will be a mix of national and local retail. Additionally, the developer has agreed to offer former Albee Square tenants space before broadly marketing the space, according to Patterson.

“The goal of the CityPoint project is to build on and enhance the vibrancy of the already successful Fulton Street corridor, not to make dramatic changes to the character and makeup of the neighborhood,” she added.
Construction on Phase 1A is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2010.
This was confirmed by Tom Montvel-Cohen, a consultant and spokesperson for developer Albee Development LLC, who was present at the CB2 meeting.

Albee Development is an umbrella organization for several developers involved in aspects of the project, including Acadia Realty Trust, P/A Associates and MacFarlane Partners.

“It’s in the Public Design Commission stage,” Montvel-Cohen told the Eagle, adding, “We cannot release a rendering before it goes to the Design Commission.

As reported in August, City Point — then identified as “a stalled construction site” — was selected by the EDC to receive $20 million in “triple-tax exempt bonds” from the federal stimulus program. The EDC said at the time the program was designed by Congress and the Obama administration specifically to restart construction projects that were stalled.

Also in August, Montvel-Cohen described the first phase as a tower with between three and four floors of retail, and between 12 and 13 stories of residential above them.

The approximately 240 residential units will be a 50-30-20 split between market rate, middle-income and low-income housing, with the breakdown at 120, 72 and 48 units, respectively. Additionally, of the 48 reserved for low-income tenants, 20 percent will be reserved for the very low income.

“We made the decision to put all of the affordable units in the first phase,” he said. “So this is actually an acceleration of the affordable housing element.”

Montvel-Cohen continued, “We’ve been working very hard to move this project forward and we’re pleased that we can begin it soon and we’re very pleased that we can deliver the affordable element in the first phase.”

Originally planned to be a major 65-story tower, the City Point project appears to be scaled down quite a bit, if this 16- or 17-story first phase is any indication.

He confirmed that the project can move forward once the design — by the architectural firms Greenberg Farrow and Cook + Fox — is approved by the city’s Design Commission, which must review all permanent works of architecture (as well as landscape architecture and art) proposed for city-owned property.

http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=31490

BrooklynRider

October 28th, 2009, 02:00 PM

October 29, 2009

Development, Engine of Bloomberg’s Plan, Stalled in Downturn

By RUSS BUETTNER and RAY RIVERA

Over the past seven years, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has presided over a historic re-envisioning of New York City, one that loosened the reins on development across the boroughs and pushed 99 rezoning measures through a City Council that stamped them all into law.

His administration poured $16 billion into financing to foster commercial development and affordable housing and created quasi-local organizations to promote its initiatives and blunt neighborhood opposition.

And when the economy was burning white hot, as it did for several years, the mayor’s plan appeared to be both bold and forward-looking, a prescient decision to remake portions of the city in order to lure companies, create jobs and increase economic vitality.

But that vitality is missing in some sections of New York today, where developments spurred in part by easy credit and in part by city initiatives are now stalled or in danger of collapse.

No question, the upheaval in the real estate world was primarily caused by a recession that Mr. Bloomberg had no role in starting and no power to stop. But Mr. Bloomberg has campaigned as a business visionary, better suited than most to lead in tough times, and any review of his term needs to confront his embrace of development as a stimulus tool.

Administration officials say their development initiatives created jobs and housing and revitalized moribund areas, like downtown Jamaica, Queens. Across the city, residential construction doubled under Mr. Bloomberg, to more than 30,000 units a year from 2004 through 2008, before slowing this year.

Construction spending has also doubled since he took office, reaching a high of $32 billion in 2008, according to the New York City Building Congress. The organization projects a 20 percent drop this year.

And if the skyline seems little changed despite the rezoning of some 8,400 blocks, the impact can still be seen in old, outlying factory neighborhoods where new housing has risen, or in places like Flushing, Queens, and the Bronx, where signature new baseball stadiums were built.

But things have not gone according to plan in neighborhoods like Downtown Brooklyn, which was rezoned to foster development of new office towers to compete with New Jersey. None have gone up and other projects have stalled. Developers knocked down a shopping mall to make way for the grand City Point development: new apartments, a retail boulevard, a tower of commercial space. It has yet to materialize.

Daniel L. Doctoroff, who served as Mr. Bloomberg’s deputy mayor for economic development, said it was naïve to view the initiatives in the short term.

“It’s always tempting to sit there and say, ‘Here we are, we’re at the depth of a recession, and therefore, look at all this stuff, it didn’t make sense,’ ” he said. “That is the kind of thinking that has proven time and time again to be completely fallacious when you look at New York City history.”

Ron Shiffman, a former city planning commissioner, said a flaw in the mayor’s approach was its failure to do enough to reap public benefits from a real estate industry he had so readily fostered.

“He didn’t steer the boom,” Mr. Shiffman said. “He did not direct it in such a way that it benefited a more diverse set of populations in the city of New York, and more diverse income groups. It was basically developer-driven.”

Remapping The Future

The administration’s economic development policies started with a simple concept: New York must grow to compete with other cities.

Development became the means toward that end. Create incentives for developers, the wisdom held, and good things will happen for New York as a whole. Companies will rush to glorious new towers in reinvented neighborhoods, diversifying the city’s economy in the process.

Many mayors have favored the real estate industry, whose campaign contributions are often generous. Mr. Bloomberg lobbied forcefully for developers even though he did not need their money.

“I think a mistake that mayors have made,” said Seth W. Pinsky, executive director of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, “is that they’ve really only been willing to push projects where they would be around to cut the ribbon to open the project, and what this mayor has done is to take the long-term view.”

The first obstacle to remaking the city was the lack of available swaths for large-scale development. Rezoning became the solution, Mr. Doctoroff said. He had headed the committee that sought to bring the Olympics to the city and had become familiar with largely undeveloped tracts outside the Manhattan core, like sites along the Brooklyn waterfront.

“That sort of became the genesis for the effort,” he said in a 2007 interview.

The effort became the most extensive rezoning in modern city history. Much of the land was rezoned to boost its development potential. Fallow factory sites were recast as places for housing or office towers as the city confronted the idea that it was no longer a manufacturing center. In other cases, the city reduced allowable densities in neighborhoods troubled by illegal or unpopular development.

The City Council adopted every rezoning without major revision. So far, one-fifth of the city has been rezoned.

The development zeal was driven by a projection that the city’s population would grow by one million by 2030. The projection, by city planners, was based on many assumptions, some of them overly optimistic, said Andrew A. Beveridge, a demographer and professor at Queens College. But the forecast became a central rationale for encouraging a building boom.

The city hired two consulting firms at a cost of more than $1.5 million to explore how the extra people could be accommodated. Drawing from that work, the administration created its vision for the future, known as PlaNYC, which was released by the mayor on Earth Day 2007 and included a host of environmental initiatives, like planting one million trees.

“Let’s face up to the fact that our population growth is putting our city on a collision course with the environment, which itself is growing more unstable and uncertain,” Mr. Bloomberg said in releasing the plan. “To accommodate nearly a million more New Yorkers, we are going to have to create hundreds of thousands of new homes.”

Seeding Progress

New York City has frequently used money to spur development. Under Mr. Bloomberg, the city drastically increased the low-cost financing it made available to developers, in part because Mr. Doctoroff, a former investment banker, recognized the unrealized potential in some of the city’s balance sheets.

Most of the infusion cost little or nothing to taxpayers. It came in the form of low-interest loans to developers, with money raised by issuing bonds.

The Housing Development Corporation, for example, a public benefit corporation intended to foster affordable-housing construction, has issued $8.1 billion in bonds to support development under Mr. Bloomberg, more than triple the total issued let during the Giuliani administration.

Another quasi-public agency, the Industrial Development Agency, has authorized more than $6.1 billion in new debt since Mr. Bloomberg took office — about 50 percent more than during Mr. Giuliani’s tenure. The largest pieces of that package helped finance new baseball stadiums for the Yankees and the Mets.

The figures for both agencies do not include Liberty Bonds, which were part of the 9/11 federal aid package.

Legally, the city is not responsible for debt incurred by its public benefit corporations, even if the underlying projects fail or stall. But officials said the city may feel compelled to help bondholders so as to protect the ratings on its other bonds.

“For all practical purposes, if H.D.C. went belly-up, there would be some expectation of the city making good on it,” said Doug Turetsky, a spokesman for the city’s nonpartisan Independent Budget Office.
At times, urban planners have questioned whether the Bloomberg administration has gone overboard in offering incentives to developers.

The Hudson Yards on Manhattan’s West Side have been looked at successively as a potential Olympic venue, a football stadium and now an urban village. And the city, through a specially created authority, has issued $2.1 billion in debt to pay for the extension of the No. 7 subway line to the area.

The debt is supposed to be paid from taxes generated by the new development, but if no development occurs, the city could be on the hook for $100 million a year in payments.

A 2007 report by the New York City Bar Association said the Yards financing scheme “bears an eerie resemblance to the development of Battery Park City,” which nearly defaulted and helped plunge the city into a fiscal crisis in the 1970s. And, it asked, if development of the West Side is inevitable, “why should costly artificial economic incentives be offered to encourage that development?”

Bloomberg officials say that much of their lending was done to build or preserve 165,000 units of what the administration considers to be affordable housing, an ambitious plan for which the mayor has received many accolades. They point to vastly reinvented areas outside of Manhattan’s wealthy core, like the Melrose section of the Bronx, where city financing underwrote new housing developments.

But some of the housing has been for families earning more than $100,000 a year, and some of the income limits expire after 15 years. H.D.C. has also provided hundreds of millions of dollars in financing that, in the view of advocates for moderately priced housing, subsidized market-rate apartments because the developers enjoyed outsize savings in exchange for a small number of lower-income units.

Marc Jahr, president of the Housing Development Corporation, said most of the agency’s financing — half of the 43,000 apartments that the corporation has financed through the mayor’s affordable housing program — had been for housing for people who earned 60 percent or less of the area’s median income.

“We think that’s a good, balanced housing plan,” he said, “and one that’s important to the neighborhoods and important to the city to sustain over time.”

Some housing advocates say the gain in moderately priced housing units has been offset by the loss of 200,000 apartments that switched back to market rates under state rent-regulation laws that, they say, Mr. Bloomberg did not push Albany to change.

“Everyone will admit that New York City can’t build its way out of its affordable housing crisis,” said Mario Mazzoni, lead organizer at the Metropolitan Council on Housing, a tenants’ rights organization. “If you are talking about building affordable housing, the way they conceive of it is as a massive subsidy to developers.”

Grass Roots

Redevelopment can look easy on paper, but there are always neighborhood concerns, even in a place like Willets Point, a 62-acre industrial shanty town of body shops and scrap yards near Shea Stadium in Queens. The administration viewed it as an area ripe for economic development if the 225 existing businesses could be cleared.

But such ambitions had flummoxed city planners for decades.

No less a builder than Robert Moses had been unable to make room in the area for the 1964 World’s Fair.

Mr. Doctoroff was determined to do better. In 2006 he enlisted the help of Claire Shulman, who had been Queens borough president and had long thought the area had potential as a business, retail and transit hub. She enlisted local business leaders who supported the idea: Queens people fighting to re-envision Queens.

In reality, though, the organization, the Flushing-Willets Point Local Development Corporation, received half its money from the city. And about half the group’s money was spent doing something not allowed under state law: lobbying city officials. The City Council adopted the Bloomberg plan last fall, citing Mrs. Shulman’s efforts.

The group’s lobbying, has led to an investigation by the attorney general’s office. City officials have said they never authorized Mrs. Shulman’s lobbying, which she has disputed.

That investigation has expanded into the activities of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, which the city helped create in 2006 to help push through development plans initiated two years earlier with a broad rezoning of the area.

The city awarded the group a $6 million, three-year, no-bid contract. The group raised another $1.1 million in private donations, tax records show. And Mr. Doctoroff installed a top aide, Joe Chan, to run it.

“His job was to push everything in Downtown Brooklyn along,” Mr. Doctoroff said in the 2007 interview.

The partnership has become a key voice for the development of Downtown Brooklyn, inserting itself, critics say, into the debate over a plan to build a Nets area and high-rises at the Atlantic Yards. It has spent some $200,000 on lobbying expenses. Councilman Lewis A. Fidler complained last year that the partnership was using public funds to promote Bloomberg’s congestion-pricing plan.

Citing the investigation, city officials declined to discuss the Brooklyn group’s lobbying, as did Mr. Chan.

Arrested Development

For years, Downtown Brooklyn resembled the textbook definition of back-office space. Class B. Schleppy. No buzz.

Even after the MetroTech development began to emerge in the 1980s, and with it major corporations like Chase and KeySpan, the core commercial district excited few people.

In 2004, sparked by a push from local business leaders, the city rezoned 22 blocks there. The new zoning anticipated 4.5 million square feet of office and commercial space that might keep businesses from moving to New Jersey, plus 1,000 new apartments. There were hopes for 18,500 new office jobs and 8,000 construction jobs.

Today, much of this future remains unrealized. There are no new office towers. Luxury apartment buildings went up, but many units remain unsold and retail space is unrented, victims of the downturn and a glut created by new construction.

“It seems like a lot of places the attitude has been like a field of dreams: If you zone it, they will come,” said Robert Perris, district manager of Brooklyn Community Board 2, whose district includes MetroTech. “It’s been kind of a mixed bag here.”

Indeed, companies like Bear Stearns have disappeared. Others, like JPMorgan Chase & Company, have downsized their Brooklyn operations. New condo buildings are becoming rentals. Prices are being cut. Several planned projects are stalled as empty lots. Across the city, officials say, the recession has contributed to the stopping of work at about 450 projects.

James Whelan, the former head of the Downtown Brooklyn Council, which created the rezoning plan, sees the new residential development, especially along Flatbush Avenue, which developers once ignored, as an early sign of success. “Is there a commercial office tower built as part of the Downtown Brooklyn plan as we sit here today?” Mr. Whelan said. “No. When is it going to be built? It’s not clear. But you know development is a long-term issue in New York City.”

A similar predicament is evident in Greenpoint and Williamsburg, two old industrial, waterfront neighborhoods in Brooklyn. A 2005 rezoning set off speculation that sent land prices rising to Manhattan levels. Gleaming glass-and-steel structures went up. Now many of them are nearly empty. Other projects foundered on shaky financing structures.

Some urban policy experts say the city did not do enough to attract concessions from developers for things like enhancing the subway service to that section of Brooklyn, which was already overcrowded.

Now the administration, which rejects that view, is working to rescue struggling projects. The long-stalled City Point development is to get $20 million in recovery bonds.

In July, when scores of other new condominiums were not selling, and developers risked default, Mr. Bloomberg and the Council stepped in to announce a $20 million pilot program to buy the empty units and use them as affordable housing.

“Private developments that sit vacant or unfinished could have a destabilizing effect on our neighborhoods, but we’re not about to let that happen,” said Mr. Bloomberg.

Actually, Mr. Bloomberg most likely fostered some of the real estate speculation with policies that invited development. But even those who say the mayor’s development record is mixed credit him for taking a long view.

“For good or bad, the rezonings will probably be his most significant development legacy,” said Jonathan Bowles, director of the Center for an Urban Future, an independent research group. “They’ve never got as much attention as the large-scale development projects he was pushing, like the Olympic stadium, but the rezonings are what will ultimately transform a large chunk of the city. Developers will be rebuilding on these for years to come.”

Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company

BrooklynRider

November 4th, 2009, 10:13 PM

1. LIRR Station finally has the scaffolding coming down...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/054.jpg

2. Ooh-Aah, a fancy illuminated crown over the entrance and a clock being installed.

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/060.jpg

BrooklynRider

November 4th, 2009, 10:16 PM

Sheraton and Aloft at street level...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/073.jpg

and in the sky...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/074.jpg

_______________________________________________

Avalon Fort Greene - the upper floors are nearing completion...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/069.jpg

Hulking mass of a thing...

http://i220.photobucket.com/albums/dd121/BrooklynRiderRob/076.jpg

BrooklynRider

November 10th, 2009, 10:10 AM

November 9, 2009, 6:05 pm

Five Development Projects to Receive Stimulus Money

By Patrick McGeehan City officials have chosen five more development projects, one in each borough, to receive tax-free financing through the federal stimulus program.

The five projects, which include a hotel, a medical facility and a cement depot, would receive up to $87 million by selling “recovery bonds” through the city’s Capital Resource Corporation. City officials estimate that the projects would create about 600 construction jobs and about 300 permanent jobs, said David Lombino, a spokesman for the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

One of the chosen projects is a 117-room hotel to be built on the former site of the Pepper & Potter car dealership on Flatbush Avenue in downtown Brooklyn, which would borrow $20 million. That project was passed over in September, when the first recovery bonds were approved for the City Point apartment and shopping complex in downtown Brooklyn and another shopping center on Rockaway Peninsula in Queens.

Those projects received a combined $36 million in financing, which left the city with about $90 million in additional borrowing capacity through the stimulus program. Of the $87 million approved, the biggest piece — up to $28 million — would go to a terminal and pier on Staten Island that would receive imports of cement by ship for distribution around the city.

An additional $19.8 million would help finance a parking deck at St. Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx. Up to $17 million of bonds would be issued on behalf of Fleet Financial Group, which plans to build North Queens Medical Center, an 80,000-square-foot treatment facility with a parking garage on Union Street in Flushing. The last $2.2 million would go to My Image Studios for outfitting an arts and entertainment studio in the Kalahari Condominium on West 116th Street in Harlem.

Construction on each of the projects must get under way by the end of next year or the developers could lose the financing, under the rules of the stimulus program, Mr. Lombino said.

“There is no significant construction lending taking place right now,” he said. “But for this program, these projects wouldn’t go forward.”

BrooklynLove

November 12th, 2009, 06:58 AM

This is good news. Building should get finished shortly now and new owner should be able to drop prices to where they need to be in order to move inventory. I suspect that this fund will be able to find some bulk buyers.

http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2009/11/11/brooklyn-condo-scooped-up-by-german-investors-via-atlanta/?mod=realestate

NOVEMBER 11, 2009, 10:52 AM ET
Brooklyn Condo Scooped Up by German Investors, via Atlanta

By Christina S.N. Lewis

Condo vultures have landed in Brooklyn.

Jamestown Properties, an Atlanta investment firm backed by German investors, has bought a mostly completed luxury high-rise condominium in downtown Brooklyn, N.Y., for an undisclosed sum.

The 246-unit condo, named be@Schermerhorn, was the fourth branded condominium project from SDS Procida Development Group, headed by Louis Greco and Mario Procida. The developer didn’t return a call for comment. SDS will continue to manage the property, according to Jamestown.

“We think some of the best opportunities right now are in distressed residential and hotel,” said Matt M. Bronfman, a Jamestown managing director. The firm has raised about $430 million for its fifth opportunity investment fund, which will focus on core markets with good transportation and a high barrier to entry.

Jamestown has been one of the real-estate world’s better market timers. In 2006, the firm sold News Corp.’s Manhattan headquarters for $1.55 billion to Beacon Capital Partners. It paid roughly $565 million for it in 2000, according to a person familiar with the deal.

Mitch Warner

November 15th, 2009, 10:52 PM

Hi, I saw this article indicating that Avalon was going to start letting people move in yesterday: http://curbed.com/archives/2009/11/06/dobro_rental_apocalypse_delayed_by_two_weeks.php

But I walked past there several times this weekend (live in the neighborhood) and didn't see even the faintest signs of anyone moving in. Does anyone know when the building is actually planning to open?

BrooklynLove

November 22nd, 2009, 09:03 AM

Derek2k3

November 22nd, 2009, 09:58 AM

This has been a struggle. It looks like they finally just received partial approval.
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2655/4124082525_5cbf8ef22b_o.jpg
Ismael Leyva
Older, taller design.

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4124082511_042189ff54_o.jpg
Ismael Leyva

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2536/4124082515_6c24e6f96e_o.jpg
Ismael Leyva

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2591/4124082509_1cb08765b0_o.jpg
Ismael Leyva

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2562/4124082507_681d681b0e_o.jpg
Ismael Leyva

BrooklynLove

November 22nd, 2009, 12:00 PM

Derek - you are the Sherlock Holmes of renderings. Thanks for posting those.

Tectonic

November 22nd, 2009, 05:55 PM

Nothing great but a Handsome looking building, in the rendering at least.

JCMAN320

November 23rd, 2009, 09:41 PM

I agree. I think it it looks great. I think I almost like it better than the original rendering.

antinimby

November 23rd, 2009, 10:04 PM

I'm sorry but that's just terrible looking. Levya has really fallen very far. Not that he was that high to begin with.

Although to be fair, this reeks of having the developer tinkering/cost-cutting with his original design.

If 785 Eighth and Independence Plaza mated, that's probably what it would look like.

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/785%208th/090520_785Eighth_03.jpg

http://images.google.com/url?source=imgres&ct=img&q=http://www.urbansherpany.com/Presentation/Media/aptsimages/Building_5138_1189282484.jpg&usg=AFQjCNFd6gsIGuh2bJ2FKKzaE1yruOpYmQ

philvia

November 23rd, 2009, 10:35 PM

it's like it is trying to blend itself into the sterile red-brick metrotech office environment, while being a little racy.

BrooklynLove

November 24th, 2009, 07:44 AM

Definitely seems to play off the latest Metrotech building at Myrtle and Flatbush however this development site is nowhere near Metrotech.

Merry

December 29th, 2009, 09:28 PM

Is this the right place for this?

This new LIRR terminal is on a roll

By Stephen Brown
The Brooklyn Paper

(http://wirednewyork.com/forum/#)http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/33/1/33_01_newlirrterminal02_z.jpg

After nearly six years of construction, the new entrance to the Long Island Rail Road’s critical Atlantic Terminal at Flatbush Avenue is finally open to straphangers.

Commuters looking for the LIRR ticket office will find that it has moved to a new location on the concourse below the ground floor entrance, where natural light shines through glass that spans from the road to the ceiling, offering views of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank tower across the street.

Bringing in natural light to the concourse below street-level was one of the top priorities of John di Domenico, the head architect with the Queens-based firm, di Domenico and Partners, which designed the facility.
“As a commuter, light serves as a timepiece, as well as being pleasant — and free,” he said.

Though the ground-floor entrance is blocked off until next week’s grand opening, The Brooklyn Paper got a sneak peak of the concourse, which can be accessed via LIRR platforms.

One of the distinctive features of the new space a rough-hewn granite sculpture featuring craggy geometric shapes that loom over commuters emerging from train platforms. Designed by Allan and Ellen Wexler, the sculpture is part of the city’s “Arts for Transit” program.

The inspiration for the cubist forms, according to Allan Wexler, came from scenic overlooks at state parks.

“It is a cross between mathematics and nature,” said the artist. “I don’t want it to be clear where the architecture ends and the sculpture begins.”

More than 50,000 commuters come through the station daily, whether via the subway or Long Island Rail Road.

The renovations began in June 2004 with a projected budget of $116 million, according to an MTA press release. A source said that the job was completed $8 million under budget (but then again, the source was “off the record,” so who knows?).

Di Domenico said that the biggest challenge was accommodating that many commuters a day throughout construction.

“We had to design the new entrance without causing additional inconveniences,” said di Domenico.

Despite the five years it took to build the new entrance — which disrupted foot traffic on Hanson Place — di Domenico said the lengthy construction time was a necessary evil.

“There weren’t delays as far as I’m concerned,” di Domenico said. “We had to be safe and make sure the trains ran on time.”

A LIRR spokeswoman had told the New York Times in July that “unforeseen site conditions” caused the construction delays.

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/1/33_01_ac_new_lirr_terminal.html?utm_source=feedbur ner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheBrooklynPaper-FullArticles+%28The+Brooklyn+Paper%3A+Full+article s%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

http://curbed.com/tags/atlantic-terminal

Mitch Warner

January 5th, 2010, 11:00 AM

With the retail space on the ground floor of Toren seemingly getting ready for its close-up, does anyone know anything about possible or hoped-for retailers? It looks like a pretty sizeable space.

BrooklynRider

January 6th, 2010, 03:09 AM

I have no idea, but I do think the location is kind of difficult. The foot traffic just isn't there yet and it is sitting on a lonely island of a block. It's a hard one to speculate.

Tectonic

January 9th, 2010, 11:52 AM

Has anyone driven westward on Myrtle Avenue toward Downtown Brooklyn lately. The skyline view looks pretty good from that angle.

BrooklynLove

January 9th, 2010, 11:58 AM

I have no idea, but I do think the location is kind of difficult. The foot traffic just isn't there yet and it is sitting on a lonely island of a block. It's a hard one to speculate.

Rental car place would make a lot of sense here right now. Dying business model however.

BrooklynLove

January 16th, 2010, 10:12 AM

An interesting article about the Institute of Design and Construction in downtown Brooklyn. I thought that this building was to be cleared to make way for the new parks but that's unclear from this article.

http://www.nydailynews.com/real_estate/2010/01/15/2010-01-15_building_school_learn_the_art_of_construction_a t_a_top_brooklyn_trade_academy.html

BrooklynRider

January 16th, 2010, 12:58 PM

They appealed the rezoning plan and were allowed to keep their home building.

BrooklynRider

February 5th, 2010, 12:01 AM

New Design for City Point Phase IA Gets Preliminary Approval From Design Commission
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
by Linda Collins, published online 02-03-2010
Work on Retail Component on Target for Spring Start Date

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The new design for City Point in Downtown Brooklyn got preliminary approval Monday from the city’s Public Design Commission.

“We’re expecting final approval in mid-March,” said Tom Montvel-Cohen, a consultant for the development team.

Montvel-Cohen told the Eagle on Wednesday there are still a few revisions to be made, so the renderings are not yet available. Additionally, the final construction drawings must be presented to the city to show that the developers are going to build what the city has approved.

“After that, the next step is getting the building permit, then closing the bonds, then we can actually build something,” he said, speaking on behalf of the developer of the former Albee Square site, Albee Development LLC.

Albee Development is an umbrella organization for several developers involved in aspects of the project, including Acadia Realty Trust, P/A Associates and MacFarlane Partners.

The design team includes the architectural firms Greenberg Farrow and Cook + Fox.

Montvel-Cohen had said in October that work would begin in the first quarter of 2010. He still holds to that, if all goes as planned.

Monday’s design approval was for Phase IA, which covers the retail element of the mixed-use development, an estimated 40,000 square feet in a low-rise building facing Fulton Mall.

As reported last August, City Point — then identified as “a stalled construction site” — was selected by the city’s Economic Devel-opment Corp. (EDC) to receive $20 million in “triple-tax exempt bonds” from the federal stimulus program.

The EDC said at the time the program was designed by Congress and the Obama administration specifically to restart construction projects that were stalled.

In October, Janel Patterson, a spokesperson for the EDC, told the Eagle there will be a mix of national and local retail in Phase IA. Additionally, the developer has agreed to offer space to former Albee Square tenants before broadly marketing the space, according to Patterson.

“The goal of the City Point project is to build on and enhance the vibrancy of the already successful Fulton Street corridor, not to make dramatic changes to the character and makeup of the neighborhood,” she added.

Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partner-ship, praised the public/private nature of the venture.
“This would not be happening but for the city’s intervention with this stimulus funding,” he told the Eagle Wednesday. “The city made a wise investment.”
* * *

zinka

February 6th, 2010, 03:27 PM

This has been a struggle. It looks like they finally just received partial approval.
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByNumberServlet?requestid=5&passjobnumber=310172498&passdocnumber=01

Of course, now that 29 Flatbush has received partial approval for its building plans, it appears that it's being turned into an active parking lot. Yesterday, crews were replacing damaged concrete and building what appears to be a shack for a parking lot attendant. GGMC signs are also on the perimeter fence.

Don't expect this one to go up anytime soon.

BrooklynRider

February 8th, 2010, 02:23 AM

I think public funding is being provided for a new hotel across Tillary Street (site of Potter's car showroom). Perhaps this lot will be set up for the construction crews or the hotel itself.

In other news, the Fairfield in over on Third Avenue at Nevins Street is up. Windows are being installed. It is absolutely ghastly and the area around it is mortifying mix of dead man's zone and downtrodden public housing. YUCK!

BrooklynLove

February 8th, 2010, 09:23 PM

Re BAM area:

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100207/FREE/302079987

February 07, 2010 5:59 AM
Curtain rises on Brooklyn arts center
Construction to start on 6 projects in BAM nabe totaling $100M+.
By Miriam Kreinin Souccar

After years of canceled projects and false starts, the cultural district planned for the neighborhood around the Brooklyn Academy of Music is finally gaining momentum.

Over the next year, construction on six cultural and public projects worth a total of well over $100 million is slated to begin in the area between Fulton and Lafayette streets in Fort Greene, Brooklyn.

The projects include the long-awaited new building for Theatre for a New Audience; a renovation of the Strand Theater building; a third theater venue for BAM itself; a new park; and new sidewalks, trees and lighting throughout the area. In addition, BAM is expected to close this week on the 4,000-square-foot retail space on the ground floor of the luxury Forté condos across the street from the BAM Opera House. It will use that space to exhibit its archives and to produce other public programming.

“You are going to see the beginnings of very significant, tangible change within the district this year,” says Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, which is overseeing the cultural development project. “The city is very concentrated on getting projects into construction in 2010.”

But the nascent arts neighborhood has had so many setbacks, it's easy to question whether these projects will be completed as scheduled, especially during a major recession. Started more than a decade ago by former BAM chief Harvey Lichtenstein, development of the cultural district fell so far behind that it was turned over to the city in 2006.

An Enrique Norten-designed Visual and Performing Arts Library was put on hold after the Brooklyn Public Library pulled out of the project in 2007. In a second disappointment, plans for the Brooklyn Arts Tower—a residential building and cultural center anchored by Danspace Project—were tabled last April after the real estate market tumbled. Construction on the new home for Theatre for a New Audience, which has moved sites twice, has been delayed numerous times.

“[Creating the district is] a very complicated undertaking, and the recession has made it more complicated,” says Karen Brooks Hopkins, president of BAM. “But there is renewed momentum now.”

Arts executives say they are convinced that the Brooklyn projects will come to fruition in the near term. Even with the city anticipating a major budget gap, officials say the money for these projects is secure.

DECEMBER GROUND-BREAKING
The city signed off last month on funding that will allow Theatre for a New Audience to hire a construction manager and finish the final stages of design. The theater is planning to break ground for its 27,500-square-foot building on Ashland Place in December. It has raised 83% of the $56.5 million needed to construct the building and set up a $10 million endowment.

“We now have sufficient funds to start construction,” says Dorothy Ryan, managing director of the theater company. “Many cultural projects just take longer than you expect they will.”

BAM is scheduled to begin building its new $50 million property on Ashland Place in June. The money is in hand, and landmark and zoning issues have been resolved, Ms. Hopkins says.

City money is also in place to fund the renovation of the Strand Theater, which houses two nonprofit arts organizations: UrbanGlass and Brooklyn Information & Culture Inc. The revamp, on which the city is spending $24 million, is expected to begin at the end of the summer, according to Dawn Bennett, executive director of UrbanGlass. It will include a new theater for BRIC on the ground floor, and gallery and retail space for UrbanGlass.

Landscape architect Ken Smith, who designed the sculpture garden at the Museum of Modern Art, has been hired to design a small park adjacent to Theatre for a New Audience and to create new sidewalks and lighting for the area. Those projects, expected to cost around $6 million in all, are slated to begin at the end of the year.

One factor that bodes well for these projects is that they are stand-alone cultural buildings, without any housing attached. A housing and arts development planned by Two Trees Management, which is slated for the site where the performing arts library was supposed to go, is moving more slowly.

“Those projects that have had an element of housing attached to them have been subject to the challenges in the residential market that everyone has been subject to,” says Mr. Chan of the Partnership.

lofter1

February 8th, 2010, 09:38 PM

This post ^ might want to go into this thread as well:

BAM Cultural District: (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5657) Theater for a New Audience - by Hugh Hardy

Merry

February 14th, 2010, 01:10 AM

Downtown's population exploding

By RICH CALDER

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/downtown-brooklyn-021210.jpg
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/02/downtown_is_bro_1.php

Brooklyn's fastest-growing residential neighborhood isn't in the Brownstone Belt from Brooklyn Heights to Park Slope -- it's all happening Downtown. New data show that since 2000, Downtown Brooklyn has gone from a struggling business district saturated with 99-cent stores to home to more than 9,000 people (see the map and census information (http://www.nypost.com/r/nypost/2010/02/11/news/content/downtown_bk.pdf)).

A decade ago, only 3,270 people lived within the roughly 60- square-block area bounded by Tillary Street to the north, Cadman Plaza and Court Street to the west, Ashland Place to the east and Atlantic Avenue to the south.

But since 2007, 28 condo and rental apartment buildings have been built, according to data provided to The Post by the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership local development corporation.

These projects totaled about $3 billion in private investment, and there could be many more in the pipeline, as the economic downturn has stalled 30 other projects planned for the area.

The development corporation estimates 16,700 residents in the area by year's end, as recently completed projects like the 510-unit Brooklyn Gold rental complex on Gold Street begin taking in tenants. By 2012, the number could grow by another 4,000 to 8,000.

"It would have been a stretch to call Downtown Brooklyn a residential neighborhood a decade ago, or even a year and a half ago," said Joe Chan, the DBP president. "But I think we are hitting critical mass now, and over the next 18 months we'll be seeing things here that we've never seen before: thousands of people on the street after 8 p.m., new retail stores and additional neighborhood services like drugstores, grocery stores.

"All the things that make the brownstone neighborhoods lively will make their way into the Downtown core."

That core itself -- a roughly 16-square-block area that includes the Fulton Mall, MetroTech complex and the Jay and Willoughby street corridors -- has seen the largest boost. The number of people living there was just 400 in 2000, but today the area is home to 3,500 residents, and the partnership says the number could rise to 7,800 by the end of the year.

While the condo market has struggled, Chan credits Downtown Brooklyn's surge to a strong rental market. Of the 5,367 residential units built since 2004, 62 percent are being marketed as rentals. This includes luxury complexes like Avalon Fort Greene, 80 DeKalb and the Brooklyner.

Chan also said he expects the area to be boosted by the $800 million arena planned for the Nets in nearby Prospect Heights. The arena is part of Bruce Ratner's $4.9 billion Atlantic Yards project, which was slated to bring more than 6,000 new units of housing before lawsuits and the credit crunch held it up.

Whether the rest of Atlantic Yards is built or not, Chan expects that "the impact of the arena will be historic," adding, "It's a game-changer for Downtown and the borough."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/klyn_hot_spot_F1Oz9E1GjgoCf4W8klAPTO#ixzz0fU4FJukl

bklynite

February 24th, 2010, 12:13 PM

Downtown Brooklyn Partnership contract with city is up
No funds allocated to organization for FY 2011

By Stephen Witt
Wednesday, February 17, 2010 8:10 PM EST
Comment (No comments posted.) Email To a Friend

Courier-Life Publications
The public/private non-profit organization charged with marketing and spearheading the drive to make Downtown Brooklyn a 24/7 destination could be losing a major funding stream.

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership Development Corporation is not slated to receive any money, according to Mayor Bloomberg’s preliminary Fiscal Year 2011 budget.

The DBP was created in the late summer of 2006 with a $2 million, three-year contract with the City Department of Small Business Services (SBS).

“The contract commenced in FY 2007 and will expire in FY 2010. We have no funding in the budget beyond FY 2010 for Downtown Brooklyn,” said an SBS spokesperson.

The spokesperson said the organization received $2,099,999 in year one of the contract, $1,919,000 in year two of the contract, $1,275,816 in year three of the contract and $789,806 in last year’s fiscal budget.

The DBP’s revenue since its inception has come mainly from this city contract, along with money obtained from managing the BAM Cultural District and fees from business, cultural and academic institutions.

The DBP also receives administrative money for helping managing the MetroTech Business Improvement District, Fulton Mall Improvement Association (FMIA) and the Court, Livingston and Schermerhorn (CLSBID).

When the contracts were signed with these BIDs, some BID members were upset because they felt that administrative services could be better handled by the BIDs themselves.

The DBP argued that by consolidating some administrative services the BIDs, which are contiguous, could streamline costs.

Fran Schor, president of the CLSBID, refused comment, and MetroTech BID Executive Director Michael Weiss was on vacation.

DBP spokesperson Lee Silberstein said when the partnership was launched four years ago there was a three-year commitment by the city to provide the organization with funding and that was stretched to a fourth year.

“At that time there was no determination one way or another beyond the three-year period. To say they the (DBP) have lost their funding would imply that funding was there and has been taken away and that is inaccurate,” he said.

According to the latest DBP tax filings, several employees are making six figures including President Joe Chan ($220,000), Executive Director of Policy Michael Burke ($148,068) and Director of Planning Katherine Dixon ($101,357).

While the DBP has lost their funding, some political observers noted that there is a lot of time between the Mayor’s proposed budget and when the actual city budget is passed at the end of June. Often allocations are added in the budget negotiation process.

The two city council members who represent the area are Steve Levin and Letitia James.

Levin said he is planning to meet with Chan in the near future.

“I’m still studying the issue and can’t comment now,” said Levin.

James did not return phone calls.

http://www.yournabe.com/articles/2010/02/17/brooklyn/courier-yn_brooklyn_front_page-dbpmoney.txt

zinka

February 26th, 2010, 11:40 PM

I think public funding is being provided for a new hotel across Tillary Street (site of Potter's car showroom). Perhaps this lot will be set up for the construction crews or the hotel itself.

The site I am referring to is at least a mile from the one you're referring to, so I can't imagine the construction crews or hotel using this parking lot over a mile away.

Merry

March 12th, 2010, 10:02 PM

Jay Street MTA Building: Downtown’s Worst Blight?
http://www.brooklyneagle.com/images/1x1.gif

In Center of Rapid Growth, Complex Is Virtually Unused

By Caitlin McNamara

DOWNTOWN — The word “downtown” conjures images of bustling streets and towering buildings, together emanating a sense of commerce and productivity. Brooklyn’s own Downtown, not historically a match to this description, has made vast and stunning improvements to this effect in recent years.

Just since 2006, $3 billion in private investments in Downtown Brooklyn has meant 5,000 new residential units, 1,000 hotel rooms, 250,000 square feet of office space and even more retail space — in total, 7 million square feet of development, according to the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership (DBP). Another $300 million in public improvements are underway.

In the midst of this resurgence, a 13-story building stands inert — dark, scaffolded and abandoned for almost a decade...

complete article (http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=27&id=34119)

Merry

April 2nd, 2010, 06:46 AM

Business Improvement District plans to transform downtown Brooklyn parking lot into art park

BY Jeff Wilkins and Erin Durkin

http://assets.nydailynews.com/img/2010/04/01/alg_brooklyn_reimagined.jpg
A new plan for sprucing up downtown Brooklyn seeks to turn a parking lot into a new
art-themed playground and bring art installations to the area’s many blank walls.

Art it up!

Downtown Brooklyn is set to get an artsy overhaul, with plans to turn a parking lot into an art-themed park and cover the area's drab blank walls with new art installations.

Officials say it's part of an ongoing plan to spruce up the shabby business district and turn it into a round-the-clock hub - which has sparked excitement from some businesses, but left other longtime merchants feeling squeezed out.

"It's a domino effect," said Michael Burke of the Court-Livingston-Schermerhorn Business Improvement District, who said since improvements began in 2004 big-name stores like Trader Joe's and H&M have made deals to move to the area.

"Five or 10 years ago, they would not have considered downtown Brooklyn," he said. "As the physical [look] of downtown Brooklyn improves, it just becomes a more attractive place for private investment."

The newest idea for downtown Brooklyn comes after Burke's group surveyed the area and found it was dotted with unsightly blank walls and too many garages - with 21 acres in the 20-block district used for parking.
"They're unattractive," Burke said. "It creates a sense [in] the district of not much activity going on."

In the coming years, the group hopes to turn a 1-acre parking lot at the corner of Hoyt and Schermerhorn Sts. into an "art park" with art installations and sculpture-like play equipment similar to the Alice in Wonderland sculpture in Central Park.

Abby Hamlin, who owns the lot and is on the BID's board, said she's behind the idea. "This is really a [district] that lacks green space," she said.

More immediately, the group plans to brighten up ugly walls on the area's many fortress-like government and office buildings with colorful art projects - ranging from murals to elaborate laser shows - or even planted with ivy.

Other plans are already underway or coming soon. The popular tables and chairs outside Borough Hall will be put back this morning and expanded. Two new pedestrian plazas on Schermerhorn St. are also in the works, along with a new bike lane on Livingston St.

Nanny Roberta Dominguez, 38, said she was looking forward to the new art park. "It'll make the area look better ... less cold," she said.

Some merchants were skeptical of the group's ongoing efforts, though, and said the changes are putting the squeeze on small businesses.

"Eventually there'll be no small stores left," said Steven Murphy, 45, owner of Bruno's hardware on Court St., who has seen his taxes skyrocket as values go up. "They're making it harder and harder to operate a business."

http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2010/04/01/2010-04-01_from_drab_to_fab_in_bklyn_art_park.html#ixzz0jw 0LYtyB

BrooklynRider

April 9th, 2010, 06:12 PM

City Point's One Dekalb Revealed (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/04/city_points_one.php)

(http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/downtown_brooklyn/)
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/one-dekalb-rendering-0410.jpg
Back in February we got a taste of what the first phase of the City Point build-out would look like in the form of a model presented at a Community Board 2 meeting. Now we've got the tricked out rendering for you from architecture firm Cook + Fox. The 50,000-square-foot retail structure, to go up on the site of the former Albee Square Mall, has been dubbed One Dekalb; the building has been designed to attain LEED Silver status and, according to Albee Development LLC, is expected to get underway later this spring.

vanshnookenraggen

April 10th, 2010, 01:43 AM

That's a pretty tame design from a pretty good firm. Phoning it in?

BrooklynLove

April 10th, 2010, 08:07 AM

It works very well with the immediate surroundings, especially complementing the dime bank building nicely. Have you ever been to this spot?

Tectonic

April 10th, 2010, 10:51 AM

I think DoBro has so much potential, just hope the space does not get wasted.

vanshnookenraggen

April 11th, 2010, 04:14 PM

It works very well with the immediate surroundings, especially complementing the dime bank building nicely. Have you ever been to this spot?

I know I've biked by it many times but I guess I'll have to stop and take it in next time. I do like the scale, just not the design (which I think is too tame).

Merry

April 13th, 2010, 07:19 AM

A Flashier Fulton Mall

With public support, Cook+Fox's City Point set to break ground

by Aaron Seward

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/CityPoint.jpg
The first phase of City Point is designed to respect the neighboring Dime Savings Bank.

It’s springtime, and while much of the New York real estate market may still be frozen, a bud of hope has sprouted on a troubled lot in Downtown Brooklyn. Last week, The Public Design Commission of The City of New York approved a scheme by Cook+Fox for a gleaming new 50,000-square-foot retail building on the otherwise dilapidated Fulton Mall.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/CityPointSite.jpg
The fallow City Point site. The first phase will be built in the
southern portion adjacent the neo-grec Dime Savings Bank.

Albee Development, a consortium of developers that includes Acadian Realty Trust, Washington Square Partners, and others, is developing the project. Known as One Dekalb Avenue, it will rise on the former site of the Albee Square Mall, which the team purchased from Coney Island developer Joseph Sitt in 2004 for $125 million.

In 2007, when the city was still booming, Albee Development proposed a 1.5 million-square-foot mixed-use project for the pentagonal site, which is bounded by Albee Square, Willoughby Street, Flatbush Avenue, Fleet Street, and Dekalb Avenue. Called City Point, it included retail, office, and residential space, and a tower that would have been one of the tallest structures in downtown Brooklyn. When the market went south the project stalled out.

“After that we worked with the city to figure out how to move forward in a very different environment,” said Paul Travers of Washington Square Partners. “We decided to break it up into parts and start with what was probably most important to the neighborhood.” The project also got a boost when it was awarded $20 million in federal stimulus money by the city’s Economic Development Corporation in September.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4053/4371236996_124d2ca198_b.jpg
A model of the project presented to Community Board 2 in February.
Courtesy Wired New York

Part of the reason the city was so eager to see the project move forward was because the original Albee Square Mall had been demolished by the developers in 2008, prior to the project’s stalling. This left a gaping hole in the urban fabric of downtown Brooklyn, a wound the designers at Cook+Fox worked diligently to mend.

“When the project became a phased project, we took a step back and designed a building that held the urban space on Albee Square and Fulton,” said Cook + Fox partner Rick Cook. “The goal was to create something that sits well between The Dime Savings Bank and an adjacent white terracotta building.”

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/220/513350544_fba739d131_o.jpg
The project is replacing the old Albee Square Mall, which was demolished in 2008.

At four stories, the design steps down toward DeKalb and Fleet, opening up to its neighbors a to remain contextual with its neighboring structures. The building’s white terracotta cladding also echoes these edifices. A glazed corner maintains views to the Dime Savings Bank, while the large windows provide places for the advertising that once invigorated the Albee Mall.

The commission’s support opens the way for construction to begin. Previously, Community Board 2 approved the project in February. Travers expects the first phase to break ground in May, and the project’s second, which will include 500,000 square feet of retail and residential space, to move ahead in the next 12 to 24 months.

http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=4414

Merry

April 14th, 2010, 07:35 AM

Building of the Day: 360 Adams Street

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/SupremeCourt.jpg

Address: 360 Adams Street, Cadman Plaza
Name: New York State Supreme Court Building
Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
Year Built: 1957
Architectural Style: Moderne
Architects: Shreve, Lamb & Harmon
Landmarked: No

Why chosen: The architects of the Empire State Building designed this courthouse thirty-six years after their masterpiece. They must have run out of ideas. Francis Marrone’s Architectural Guide to Brooklyn calls it an “unloved building that dominates Cadman Plaza like a limestone beached whale.” The entrance has some charm, with iconic reliefs of Moses dispensing the Law, but the bunker-like appearance of the huge building does not meet the other Moses – Robert’s, hope of Cadman Plaza being Brooklyn’s Piazza San Marco. One thing is certain, however. The building has an excellent air-conditioning plant. The jury duty waiting room is the coldest room I’ve ever had to sit in for days on end.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/04/building_of_the_32.php

vanshnookenraggen

April 14th, 2010, 11:10 PM

If there is a list for "Buildings You Want Torn Down", this has to be number 1 for me.

lofter1

April 15th, 2010, 12:52 PM

In its own way Brooklyn's new-ish Federal Courthouse (http://wirednewyork.com/brooklyn/federal_courthouse/) situated nearby is just as banal.

Look at the Federal Court building recently completed in Eugene, Oregon (design by Morphosis (http://morphopedia.com/news/community-impact-at-the-highest-score)):

"Community Impact at the highest score": Wayne Lyman Morse Courthouse wins The Office Building of the Year US Award (April 7, 2010)

http://www.chi-athenaeum.org/archawards/2007/2007photos/AA07-161.jpg

http://www.uscourts.gov/ttb/2009-08/images/article05_pic1.jpg

MonCapitan2002

April 22nd, 2010, 02:21 AM

I like the way the federal court house in Brooklyn looks. It certainly looks better then the eyesore posted above.

Mitch Warner

April 22nd, 2010, 11:59 AM

From Crain's New York: (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100422/REAL_ESTATE/100429953)

Downtown Brooklyn to get upscale supermarket

Store will take over 11,000 square feet at the base of the Toren, a new condominium tower on the Flatbush Avenue corridor.

By Amanda Fung (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pbcs.dll/personalia?ID=19)

Downtown Brooklyn is about to get its first supermarket and the Toren—a new 240-unit condo development on the Flatbush Avenue corridor—is about to get its first retail tenant.

The store has yet to be named but it is billed as being both upscale and eco-friendly. It will occupy 11,000 square feet of ground-floor space at the Toren, according to the developer of the project, BFC Partners.

The grocery is planned as the flagship for a new supermarket brand that is run by the Goris family, which currently operates several other supermarkets in the metropolitan area.

The Toren is the latest new development in the downtown Brooklyn neighborhood to fill its ground-floor retail space. Earlier this month, a new daycare center for the children of federal workers said it would take 12,000 square feet on the ground floor of BellTel Lofts, a new condo conversion in the neighborhood.

“We're very happy to have found a tenant for Toren's retail space who will bring a greatly needed service to the entire neighborhood,” said Donald Capoccia, a partner at BFC Partners, in a statement. “It will be a great shopping destination for residents throughout downtown Brooklyn.”

The new supermarket is expected to provide fresh foods and produce as well as prepared foods, catering services, a sushi bar and cooking classes. It will also provide outdoor, café-style seating for customers.

Toren is currently 52% in contract or sold. Sales began about two years ago and the building is now ready for immediate occupancy.

bklynite

April 26th, 2010, 03:19 PM

anyone know what kind of tenants are going in there?

BrooklynRider

July 8th, 2010, 05:09 PM

Construction has finally begun on the creation of a landscaped highway median for the Flatbush Avenue Extension. This will go a long way toward making this part of the borough not look like Detroit.

BrooklynLove

July 10th, 2010, 03:04 PM

Work also finally progressing on the reclad of the City Tech building across from the pedestrian entrance to the Manhattan Bridge.

Mitch Warner

July 12th, 2010, 03:12 PM

Has anyone heard any further word about Toren's "upscale supermarket" or Catsimatidis' Duane Reade/supermarket combo on the corner of Myrtle and Ashland? Does anyone know whether work is progressing on any of the above, or anything at all about when they're expected to be complete?

Thanks,
MW

BrooklynRider

July 25th, 2010, 10:06 PM

Call it ‘Fulton Mess’ as city begins major repairs

By Ben Kochman
for The Brooklyn Paper

No, those aren’t toddlers being shepherded through the intersection of Fulton and Jay Streets with a rope; they’re adults on the Fulton Mall, where traffic got even worse last week as part of an ongoing city repair project.

The process began last Monday, when the city closed the mall between Adams Street and Smith/Jay Street — a hub for six MTA bus lines that are now being re-routed. The construction has caused problems for pedestrians and cyclists trying to cross the street safely.

“It’s dangerous!” said lifetime Brooklyn resident Moses Benjamin, who tiptoed his way across the intersection of Fulton and Jay streets on his way to CVS. “The cops are blowing their whistles, and the cars aren’t stopping. I’ve never seen this area this bad in my entire life.”

Half of the intersection has been uprooted, forcing Borough Hall-bound buses to instead make a left onto Jay Street and then to squeeze into a narrowed area, as pedestrians dangle dangerously in the street. The situation has gotten so bad — and Brooklynites so unruly — that the MTA decided on Wednesday to hold back pedestrians with a rope at the corner of Fulton and Jay streets.

“We added the rope to make things safer,” said the MTA superintendent at the scene. “These people just don’t want to walk on the sidewalk. It’s not confusion; it’s New Yorkers.”

Adding to the mess, the southbound bike lane on Jay Street is completely blocked in the area. On a street that Transportation Alternatives estimates hosts “thousands” of bikers a day, cyclists are being forced to swerve left into the busy intersection.

“It [the intersection] always sucked, but now it’s even worse,” cyclist Scott Boyd said. “It’s good that they are rebuilding, but hurry up!”

Impatient Brooklynites like Boyd may not be in luck. The MTA says that the Adams Street to Jay Street work will be finished by the end of this week, but then the area from Jay Street to Flatbush Avenue will be closed off in the next phase of the rebuilding.

The entire process won’t be done until April, 2011, at the earliest.

©2010 Community Newspaper Group

BrooklynRider

July 25th, 2010, 10:25 PM

Joe Chan, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, gave a presentation about the ongoing renovations being made to CB2’s streets. Here’s what he told the board:

Bumpy Fulton Street is going to get rebuilt. Instead of an asphalt road, the city wants to place a poured-concrete road. That should get rid of the bumps, but it would mostly likely require bus reroutes.

(From this CB2 article: http://fort-greene.thelocal.nytimes.com/2010/06/11/cb2-talks-street-construction/ )

BrooklynLove

July 26th, 2010, 08:53 AM

Poured concrete will get rid of bumps until they start tearing up sections to do utility work and then patch with asphalt. This is a waste of money and time.

Mitch Warner

August 12th, 2010, 11:41 AM

Thought I would check one more time: has anyone heard any further word about Toren's "upscale supermarket" or Catsimatidis' Duane Reade/supermarket combo on the corner of Myrtle and Ashland? Does anyone know whether work is progressing on any of the above, or anything at all about when they're expected to be complete?

Thanks for any info anyone has,
MW

Merry

September 2nd, 2010, 06:54 AM

DoBro's Future Park With Parking Will Look Like This

September 1, 2010, by Sara

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/willoughbysquarepark1.jpg

First comes the housing, then comes the green space: Downtown Brooklyn is a little closer to getting Willoughby Square Park, a one-acre public space with an underground parking garage on Willoughby Street. The Economic Development Corporation first solicited proposals (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/regional/item_cAqtjmMh0IerkupeaLKqFJ;jsessionid=1C7EC0B690B 90E23F564C5A2B0F993A5) for the project back in 2007, and has now chosen the above Hargreaves Associates design, Brownstoner (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/09/behold_willough.php) notes. The "Bryant Park of Brooklyn," part of the neighborhood's 2004 rezoning plan, will have landscaping and seating but no space for recreation.

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/willoughbysquarepark2.jpg

Behold Willoughby Square Park (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/09/behold_willough.php) ['Stoner]
Willoughby Square Park (http://www.nycedc.com/ProjectsOpportunities/CurrentProjects/Brooklyn/WilloughbySquare/Pages/WilloughbySquarePark.aspx) [NYCEDC]

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/09/01/dobros_future_park_with_parking_will_look_like_thi s.php#more

Derek2k3

September 15th, 2010, 02:55 AM

The existing buildings on the site of the future Avalon Willoughby Tower are all set for demo. This should end up being Brooklyn's tallest building. The three tallest buildings in Brooklyn will all be less than one block from each other...at least until the Albee Square tower is completed, Shame they all look terrible, but I can't think of anyplace in Manhattan where 3 50+ story residential buildings rise so close to each other. Just the amount of residents these buildings will bring in will totally change the area.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4086/4992457262_38208bd937.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/4991851309_9ebb688809_b.jpg

388 Bridge is a huge hole in the ground.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4151/4992457104_b6e3b3425c.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4130/4992457188_1b5ecb0c52_b.jpg

antinimby

September 15th, 2010, 01:14 PM

Outside of the Toren, almost all of the new buildings in Downtown Brooklyn are horrible looking.

lofter1

September 15th, 2010, 01:22 PM

And the Toren ain't so pretty either.

antinimby

September 15th, 2010, 01:44 PM

Matter of opinion but I think most would agree that it is...pretty.

Most of the others such as the Avalon, Brooklyner and the ones you see above are just cheap, boring or just downright ugly.

Tectonic

September 15th, 2010, 09:57 PM

Downtown Brooklyn has a lot of untapped potential I think. Lots of transportation...shopping with room for improvement...same for entertainment. The foundation is there.

Stroika

September 17th, 2010, 12:27 AM

^^ Agreed, but doesn't that just make it more of a shame that such a great area with admirable architecture, transport links and location is being squandered as crap like whatever Avalon Bay is up to or the "Brooklyner" get built?

Derek2k3

October 1st, 2010, 03:29 AM

Toren
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4087/5040551199_7d1dfbeec7_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4104/5041173886_359d1455b9_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4127/5040551715_fb6f7a61ea_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4112/5041173298_a8e4d8f6d1_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5041173476_f2012b6aaf_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4128/5041174292_3bae5ddbbf_b.jpg

388 Bridge Street
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5040551595_9534621337_b.jpg

Avalon Willoughby
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4125/5040551339_6ea3ac1660_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4105/5040551931_027c8e37de_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/5041174828_3787d3dcca_b.jpg

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4094/5041174694_8e32a269ba_b.jpg

Nice building next door.
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4131/5041174460_c8a5a2ce4c_b.jpg

Stroika

October 1st, 2010, 03:22 PM

Sad about the Avalon development -- it's rough seeing those beautiful old tenements (which, if scrubbed and given a French restaurant on the ground floor in place of a check-cashing joint, would look like something out of one of Forbes' top zip codes) replaced by the modern-day housing projects that Avalon builds.

I'm crossing my fingers and hoping that the project falls through. Unfortunately, Avalon seems to be a cockroach in nuclear winter and never appears to have financial troubles. I'd put them up as a latter-day Robert Moses for their ability to turn neighborhoods permanently ugly in the name of progress.

Merry

October 29th, 2010, 08:26 AM

This will include the marvelous Court-Chambers building (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=22256&p=307629&viewfull=1#post307629) at Livingstone/Court Streets :).

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4044/4548506181_e0f8e32ede_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/paul_lowry/4548506181/

Looking up! City plans 'Skyscraper district' in Downtown

City plans 'Skyscraper district' in Downtown

By Andy Campbell

A new historic district would protect the borough’s tallest architectural wonders in Downtown and Brooklyn Heights, the city announced this week.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission this week proposed the “Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District,” which encompasses 20 buildings — including Borough Hall and the Municipal Building — along Court Street from Montague Street to Livingston Street, extending half a block west into Brooklyn Heights and east into Downtown.

The plan would effectively protect the face of this handsome handful of early-1900s Romanesque Revival and Beaux-Arts buildings — and preserve the architectural history in the district, which is characterized mostly by tall commercial structures.

“The district contains many of the borough’s most architecturally distinguished business buildings,” the city noted in its proposal, whose timeline is not yet clear. “Designed in a range of styles, the structures in the study area represent the work of an impressive group of architects.”

The district, which sits directly adjacent to the swank and ancient Brooklyn Heights Historic District of brownstones, stakes its claim as the heart of commercial growth in Downtown. Shortly after the business boom surrounding Brooklyn Heights in the late 1800s, buildings in the district, such as the cloud-reaching Romanesque Chamber of Commerce Building at Livingston and Court streets and the Temple Bar Building on Court and Joralemon streets, began cropping up.

Of course, the “skyscraper” in the district’s name is a bit misleading. Several buildings, like the Municipal Building and Borough Hall, are far from tall in comparison to their surroundings. And after all, isn’t Manhattan, not Brooklyn, defined by its tall buildings?

Answers to these and other questions await the lengthy landmarking process.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/looking_up_city_plans_skyscraper_NsHpohDCtAA2g337t 6gjJK?CMP=OTC-rss&FEEDNAME=#ixzz13kH0JWv5

MidtownGuy

October 29th, 2010, 02:56 PM

BrooklynLove

November 27th, 2010, 06:09 PM

388 Bridge Street
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4147/5040551595_9534621337_b.jpg

AKA man-eating pit from Return of the Jedi

BrooklynLove

November 27th, 2010, 06:10 PM

Work on this project is plodding along.

http://www.derscutt.com/images/projects/Voorhees_Hall_Jay_St_to_NW_day.jpg

lofter1

November 27th, 2010, 06:22 PM

What is it? A Clinic?

antinimby

November 27th, 2010, 10:54 PM

Whatever it is, can it be reversed?

BrooklynLove

November 28th, 2010, 10:24 PM

It's a City Tech building, and reclad is universes better than the current iteration.

Merry

December 6th, 2010, 07:57 AM

Details on the Borough Hall Skyscraper District

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/Skyscraper-District-map-120310.jpg (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/Skyscraper-District-map-120310.jpg)

The creation of the Borough Hall Skyscraper District had been in the works for at least five years (we reported on it being discussed at a Brooklyn Heights Association meeting back in 2005) before it was officially presented at a Landmarks hearing on October 26. But we had yet to see a proposed map of the district until Community Board 2 sent out the materials yesterday for next Tuesday's meeting. (Turns out it's been available on the LPC site for a while though.) In addition to running the map above, we've cut-and-pasted the text of the district description that was also included in the mailing below. We'd be surprised if it wasn't ultimately approved, but, as Crain's (http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20101128/REAL_ESTATE/311289990) and The Post (http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/historic_pitch_klyn_heights_xzTLFPjVyB9IAgN4hP9ghJ ) have pointed out, not everyone is wild about the idea.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, especially following the chartering of the City of Brooklyn in 1834 and the completion of its new City Hall in 1848, a distinct civic and commercial center began to crystallize along the eastern edge of residential Brooklyn Heights. As the city continued to grow during the 1850s and 1860s—in the process becoming the nation’s third-most populous urban area—the streets immediately adjacent to City Hall were taken over almost exclusively by businesses. In the later decades of the nineteenth century transportation improvements further encouraged commercial development in the area. The Brooklyn Bridge, which opened in 1883, directly connected the neighborhood with Manhattan’s financial center. Soon newer—and often much taller—buildings began to rise on the surrounding streets, including the impressive Romanesque-Revival Franklin Building that survives at 186 Remsen Street.

Brooklyn’s commercial heart continued to grow in the years following the consolidation of Great New York in 1898. The Temple Bar Building, for example, was erected in 1901 at the corner of Court and Joralemon Streets and was intended to attract the city’s leading lawyers to the borough. Other office buildings soon followed including the speculative venture at 32 Court Street that was completed in 1918.

The conception and construction of the Brooklyn Municipal Building—originally planned in 1909 but not completed until 1927—lead many to speculate that the area surrounding Brooklyn’s Borough Hall would become a financial center to rival that of Lower Manhattan. The area’s tallest and most architecturally intricate skyscrapers were erected during this period, particularly the stately, 35-story Montague-Court Building at 16 Court Street and the handsomely detailed Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce Building at 75 Livingston Street, both completed in 1927.

The proposed Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District, comprising approximately 20 properties, is characterized primarily by tall commercial buildings erected in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Designed in a range of styles from the Romanesque-Revival to the Beaux-Arts to the Modern, the structures in the study area represent the work of an impressive group of architects including Helmle, Huberty & Hudswell; McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin; George L. Morse; the Parfitt Brothers; Schwartz & Gross; H. Craig Severence; and Starrett & Van Vleck. It contains many of the borough’s most architecturally distinguished business buildings, as well as its two most significant civic structures—the Brooklyn Municipal Building and the individually-designated Brooklyn Borough Hall.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2010/12/details_on_the_2.php#more

Merry

December 22nd, 2010, 07:06 AM

Here's What DoBro's Next Wave of Towers Will Look Like

December 21, 2010, by Joey Arak

http://ny.curbed.com/uploads/2010_12_dobrotowers.jpg
Left: 388 Bridge Street by SLCE Architects; right: 29 Flatbush Avenue by Ismael Leyva.

Downtown Brooklyn's new skyscrapers: They're so hot right now! The world needs more of them, and developers are ready to oblige. Today the Brooklyn Eagle talks up a trio of Brooklyn residential projects that just received state funding in exchange for including affordable housing, and two are long-stalled DoBro high-rises. First we have 388 Bridge Street, a toxic little address near Willoughby Street that is not to be confused with developer AvalonBay's taller tower plan (which sports a similar design) across the street. We're looking at 49 floors and 234 rentals on this one.

Next up is 29 Flatbush Avenue, at Nevins Street near BAM, which is a long-in-the-works project from the Dermot Company. The latest plan calls for 44 floors and 333 rentals, though Dermot's website still says it will be 42 stories. As for the designs, well, neither is going to challenge Toren for the title of DoBro's craziest.

Renderings Revealed for Two More Residential Towers in Downtown Brooklyn (http://www.brooklyneagle.com/categories/category.php?category_id=5&id=40259) [BK Eagle]

http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2010/12/21/heres_what_dobros_next_wave_of_towers_will_look_li ke.php

antinimby

December 22nd, 2010, 01:59 PM

The stuff from Ismael Leyva sure is becoming tiresome.

lofter1

December 22nd, 2010, 02:06 PM

Amen. He loves those silly knife-sharp balconies.

BrooklynLove

December 23rd, 2010, 08:29 AM

Brooklyn!

Tectonic

January 4th, 2011, 08:42 AM

I would like to see the corner of Flatbush Av and Fulton on the 29 Flatbush side (SE side) improved or redeveloped. I looks a bit run down right now, a tall building may be tough because of all the train lines, so I guess a low rise clean structure with a nice plaza would have to do.

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=66+Fenimore+St,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11 225&ll=40.688562,-73.980625&spn=0.010283,0.022638&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.688462,-73.980556&panoid=bC2BgZjUS6rutNQWsXylDA&cbp=12,110.85,,0,-4.64

http://maps.google.com/maps?ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=66+Fenimore+St,+Brooklyn,+Kings,+New+York+11 225&ll=40.688513,-73.979959&spn=0.010283,0.022638&z=16&layer=c&cbll=40.688465,-73.979838&panoid=ds_jBp2hZI0JGqV86HyOFA&cbp=12,252.36,,0,-3.62

BrooklynLove

January 5th, 2011, 10:33 PM

Sleepy's space is vacant now so who knows what the future holds ...

stache

January 5th, 2011, 11:30 PM

I wish they would make those subway exits wider there.

Merry

January 14th, 2011, 03:53 AM

Suddenly, a Brooklyn Skyline

By JAKE MOONEY

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/01/09/realestate/cov-web/cov-web-articleLarge.jpg
Brooklyn’s new towers include, from left, Oro, Avalon Fort Greene, Toren and DKLB BKYN.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2011/01/09/realestate/09cov-map/09cov-map-popup.jpg

THE view north across the East River from a high floor at Oro, a new 40-story condominium tower at 306 Gold Street in Downtown Brooklyn, is eye-popping, a panorama of clouds, bridges, water and skyscrapers in Manhattan. But gazing to the south and west from the same perch reveals a more traditional Brooklyn landscape: here a cluster of bank offices, there a line of cars at a Flatbush Avenue traffic light, set against a distant backdrop of low-rises and brownstones.

Oro is part of a recent wave of downtown development, much of it residential, that looks to high-rise Manhattan rather than brownstone Brooklyn as a model. It is changing the borough’s face and bringing thousands of new residents to a once mostly commercial area.

In addition to Oro, which started selling in 2007, at least half a dozen high-rises have recently opened or broken ground downtown, a sprawling area broadly defined by Cadman Plaza on the west, Atlantic Avenue to the south, Flatbush Avenue and Fort Greene to the east and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway to the north. They are drawing Manhattanites lured by low rents as well as locals who want modern amenities and a change from brownstones and low-rises.

Yet the swift pace of development — abetted by a 2004 rezoning — has worked in tandem with the recent recession to produce growing pains. Many of the new buildings, hobbled by slow sales in 2008 and 2009, had to reduce prices drastically. And some new residents bemoan the lack of a supermarket, among other services.

The Brooklyner, a 51-story fully occupied rental building at 111 Lawrence Street, is now the tallest building in the borough. On or just off nearby Flatbush Avenue are: Avalon Fort Greene, a 650-unit, 42-story behemoth whose rents range from $2,132, for a studio, to $4,241 for a three-bedroom penthouse; DKLB BKLN, a 36-story rental building at 80 DeKalb Avenue; and Toren, a 38-story glass tower at 150 Myrtle Avenue, where a one-bedroom is available for $475,000 and two-bedrooms can be found from $695,000 to $1.2 million. And all around the neighborhood, recent additions that languished half empty as recently as last year are steadily filling up.

Even Flatbush Avenue itself, at its worst a river of traffic flowing onto and off of the Manhattan Bridge, is looking better: Freshly planted islands in its median were part of $100 million in city-financed streetscape improvements.

One of downtown’s new residents, Skip Mooney, bought a unit in Toren last year after 16 years of renting in the West Village. Living in a new building has been good for his allergies, Mr. Mooney, 50, said in an interview. And he called the two-bedroom two-bath apartment, where he lives with his partner Kevin Guyer, a good deal: around $600,000, in a real estate climate that included low interest rates and a 25-year tax abatement.

Still, Mr. Mooney, who 25 years ago lived a few blocks away in pregentrification Fort Greene, says he has stood at his 22nd-story window and entertained some misgivings.

“I just said to myself, ‘After 25 years, am I coming full circle and moving back to this neighborhood that I really hated when I lived there?’ ” he recalled.

The anxiety mostly passed, he said, when he considered the building’s amenities, the abundant public transportation options and the ways that Fort Greene, to his east, has changed. To the west, he said, he still wishes there were more neighborhood services, like restaurants, a dry cleaner and a supermarket.

Even so, Mr. Mooney added: “I think everyone understands that at some point it’s going to come; it’s only a matter of time. There’s a lot of retail spaces in the ground floors of those buildings that are going to be filled.”

Not long ago, the fate of Downtown Brooklyn’s newest buildings was far from a foregone conclusion, as many opened just before the recession hit.

Oro opened for sales in 2007 and did brisk business. It was more than 50 percent sold (a figure that includes closed sales and sales in contract) well before the building was finished. “People were purchasing as they were pouring the floors,” said Edward Azria, the manager of sales at Rose Associates, the building’s marketing and sales agent.

When the financial crisis hit, though, buyers fled. By September 2009, the building was only 28 percent sold. That was when the building’s sponsor, Greenfield Partners, replaced its original marketing agents at Prudential Douglas Elliman with Rose. The new agents re-evaluated the empty apartments, unit by unit, and lowered prices by an average of about 16 percent, Mr. Azria said, though some were reduced far less and others, like a studio, were cut 28 percent. Studios start at $365,000, one-bedrooms at $465,000 and two-bedrooms at $538,000, according to the Rose Web site. A three-bedroom is available for $1.225 million.

Buyers responded, and a little over a year later, about 70 percent of the building’s 303 units have been sold, Mr. Azria said.

Other buildings around the neighborhood also took out the scissors. At Be@Schermerhorn, a 246-unit condominium building at 189 Schermerhorn Street, the building’s original sponsor refunded early buyers’ deposits in the fall of 2009, after early sales momentum flagged. The following spring Jamestown Properties bought the building and, in consultation with marketing agents at the Corcoran Group, overhauled its sales strategy. Seeing price reductions of 20 to 25 percent or more, buyers returned.

“As soon as we opened the doors, it was like gangbusters,” said Aaron Lemma, a vice president of Corcoran. Six months after the price cuts, Mr. Lemma said, the building is now almost 80 percent sold, with sales on half its units closed.

The sharpest turnaround may have been at the Forte, a 30-story, 107-unit condo three blocks west of Flatbush Avenue on Fulton Street. There, after a bank takeover and a rebranding assisted by Corcoran — the building is now known by its address, 230 Ashland — prices were reduced by an average of 40 percent. A high-floor two-bedroom, in particular, was cut to $585,000 from $975,000. That was just after Thanksgiving 2009, and the building is now 100 percent sold, said Adam Pacelli, a senior associate salesman at Corcoran.

Among the buyers are Mr. Pacelli’s mother and stepfather, who bought a two-bedroom two-bath unit in July, moving from a poorly lighted one-bedroom on East 46th Street in Manhattan. Much of the new building’s appeal has to do with its being on the edge of Fort Greene, according to David Woodrow, Mr. Pacelli’s stepfather. He said that when he walked downtown it was usually to pick up something at Duane Reade or to catch a bus to nearby Dumbo. Still, he added, the area’s work-in-progress feel makes it an interesting place to explore.

“It’s been a very pleasant discovering experience,” Mr. Woodrow said.
With so many new residents in place, planners and officials hope a more well-rounded neighborhood will soon coalesce. The goal of the 2004 rezoning that made much of the new construction possible was to create a mixed-use environment with thriving office and retail components in addition to residences, said Joe Chan, the president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, a not-for-profit development corporation.

The area, Mr. Chan said, has not had as much commercial development as he would have liked. But, he added, “having thousands of talented, highly educated people living in Downtown Brooklyn makes a compelling case for more companies to move to the area.”

Some new tenants in creative industries have already moved in, he said, including the architect Michael Van Valkenburgh and the literary agent Jill Grinberg. Similarly, the area’s retail districts are seeing new life, with a branch of H & M and a Shake Shack outpost preparing to join a recently opened Aéropostale apparel store on the Fulton Mall, and a wine store close to opening on the ground floor of Oro.

Mr. Chan says his neighborhood wish list also includes a home furnishings store, an Apple computer store and more mundane neighborhood retail services, like coffee shops, groceries and pharmacies. There is good news, at least, for residents craving a supermarket: A deal to bring a grocery store to the ground floor of Toren has been resurrected after falling through in the spring. Don Capoccia, a principal of BFC Partners, that building’s developer, said the store was now set to open late next summer.

Finally, the area’s already strong transportation infrastructure is improving. Most of the city’s subway lines pass underneath, and in December the Metropolitan Transportation Authority completed a project of many years to connect two major stops, Jay Street and Lawrence Street.

There is even talk of new buildings: In December, plans became public for a 234-unit, 49-story tower on Bridge Street, and a 327-unit, 42-story building by the Dermot Company broke ground last month at 29 Flatbush Avenue. Both are to be rentals, and combined, they will receive nearly $200 million in state money in exchange for including affordable-housing components.

So much residential growth is occurring, in fact, that some people in the neighborhood worry it may be too much. Robert Perris, the district manager of Community Board 2, which represents the area, said the benefits of residences along Flatbush Avenue were clear. But, he added, so are the benefits of a strong commercial district — and strengthening the commercial district was one of the chief goals of the rezoning. When residential buildings are erected in commercial zones, he said, their lots are lost for commercial purposes.

“There are only so many development sites,” Mr. Perris said. “If these sites get developed for residential, they’re gone forever.”

Mr. Chan urged patience about the arrival of nonresidential development.

“Has everything been realized in the six years since the rezoning?” he asked. “No, but that was never the plan.” He said what was most important was that “over the last year, we have seen Downtown Brooklyn hit critical mass as a residential community.”

Mr. Capoccia, of BFC Partners, said the Downtown Brooklyn experience had been a net positive one — though not one, he said, that his company had plans to repeat. Toren was not exempt from price cuts, he said, but did well by entering the market slightly later than its neighbors, with prices set accordingly. The result, Mr. Capoccia added, was that the company made an average of just over $690 per square foot on the units it sold, less than 10 percent off its initial projections of around $750 per square foot.

“Our plan, of course, was to have been sold out here a long time ago and moved on to our next project,” he said. Still, it is some consolation to have the best-selling building in the city in terms of units sold, at least according to a Crain’s New York Business analysis of numbers from PropertyShark.

“I think the thought and planning that went into it is paying off today,” Mr. Capoccia added. “Not paying off like I expected it to pay off, but it’s not a burden.”

Meanwhile Mr. Mooney, one of his buyers, was happy to hear plans for a supermarket were back on track.

“People are going to be thrilled — I’m going to be thrilled — when that’s there,” he said. “If it’s there.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/09/realestate/09cov.html?ref=realestate

Tectonic

January 14th, 2011, 08:33 AM

Downtown Brooklyn has huge development potential still.

BrooklynLove

January 16th, 2011, 10:58 AM

When all is said and done, the visual parallel along the Broadway and Flatbush corridors will be striking. In Manhattan you'll have the Financial District and Midtown clusters, and in Brooklyn you'll have the Borough Hall and Flatbush-Atlantic nexus clusters.

Merry

February 11th, 2011, 08:46 PM

Building of the Day: 81 Willoughby Street

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/81%20Will%203.jpg
(Photo: Jim Henderson/Wikimedia)

Address: 81 Willoughby Street, corner of Lawrence St.
Name: Former NY and NJ Telephone and Telegraph Building
Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
Year Built: 1897-98
Architectural Style: Beaux-Arts
Architect: Rudolph Daus
Landmarked: Yes. Individual landmark, designated 2004.

Why chosen: We don’t have any grand buildings that celebrate the personal computer. I’ve never seen Microsoft HQ, or Apple’s main office celebrated as great architecture. When the telephone became a new staple of our society’s existence, one hundred years ago, we got buildings like this, that showed everyone how important the telephone and telegraph were. The NY and NJ T&T was founded in 1883 as a subsidiary company of Bell Telephone. They served Long Island, Staten Island and northern New Jersey. By 1895, they had telephone lines as far out as Patchogue, and were working on extending them to Sag Harbor and beyond. By the first decade of the 20th century, they were already laying lines underground with the subways, and were modernizing their service in their entire service area. This building was built to house offices, as well as an enormous switching exchange. Since clean air was important in maintaining an ideal environment for the equipment, the building had an elaborate filtration system that drew air in from the roof, down to the basement, through multiple cloth filters, and forced up by means of fans and ducts. The building was also super fireproofed to protect the valuable switching equipment.

The architect, Rudolph Daus, was very well respected in his field. A graduate of the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, opened his own practice in 1885. He designed both private homes and public buildings, including four of the Brooklyn Carnegie Libraries, hospitals, churches, banks and corporate headquarters. His largest building is the 13the Regiment Armory on Sumner and Jefferson, in Bedford Stuyvesant. The NY and NJ Telephone and Telegraph Company liked Daus’ work, and employed him several times, including other locations in Brooklyn. As mentioned earlier, this building, in the majestic Beaux-Arts style, was mean to impress, with its best features being the multi-storied arched windows flanked by columns on the upper floors, and the rounded bay with the striking round window surrounded by an elaborate cartouche. The terra-cotta trim on the building is quite beautiful, and feature motifs of early telephone equipment; wires, receivers and earpieces. Even though the building is now offices and a trade school, it has been maintained quite well, and is still one of the most impressive structures in Downtown Brooklyn.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/81%20Will%201.jpg
(Photo: Carl Forster for LPC)

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/81%20Will%202.jpg
(Photo: Carl Forster for LPC)

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/02/building_of_the_235.php

Merry

April 6th, 2011, 07:04 AM

24/7 in Downtown Brooklyn

By JOSEPH DE AVILA

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-AW317_nyopen_G_20110401174639.jpg

Full-service buildings with easy subway access have attracted new residents to Downtown Brooklyn. Above, Columbus Park near Borough Hall.

During the past decade, Downtown Brooklyn started losing its reputation as a neighborhood that ran on banker's hours and shut down as soon as the shoppers, office workers and students went home.

The change began as more residents moved into the neighborhood's shiny new condo and apartment towers. Retailers soon followed the new residents, who wanted Manhattan-style full-service buildings with easy subway access.

The area still has a way to go to become a true 24-hour neighborhood. Depending on the location, some residents need to venture to adjacent neighborhoods to find decent restaurants and grocery stores. And foot traffic can still be nonexistent on some streets after 6 p.m. But that is becoming less and less the case as more people make Downtown Brooklyn their home.

Prior to Downtown Brooklyn's residential shift, most of the area was made up of office buildings, courthouses and several academic institutions. In 2004, the city rezoned the area to pave the way for high-rise residential buildings and to upgrade its retail corridors.

Since then, the neighborhood has added more than 20 commercial and residential buildings. The number of housing units has jumped by 4,400. A proposal to designate a portion of the neighborhood as a historical district is pending as well.

Of the 288 residences currently listed for sale on real-estate site StreetEasy.com, the median asking price is $529,825, or $678 a square foot. In neighboring Brooklyn Heights, it is $783 a square foot, and in Dumbo, it is $923, according to StreetEasy.

The Toren at Flatbush and Myrtle avenues is among the new condo buildings that have recently been built. People started moving into the 38-story building in late 2009. A little more than 70% of the building's 240 units have been sold or are in contract, according to Vanessa Connelly of Halstead Property. Studios in the building start at $307,000, one-bedrooms at $453,000, and two-bedrooms at $464,529.

New rental buildings are also altering Downtown Brooklyn's skyline. The Brooklyner with 51 floors is now the tallest building in the borough. The tower has 490 apartments and is mostly occupied. Most of the residents are from Manhattan or other parts of Brooklyn, said Elanna Jochimek of Equity Residential. Studios start at $1,930 a month, one-bedrooms at $2,695 and two-bedrooms at $3,595.

http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/NY-AW289_OPEN_d_NS_20110401180928.jpg

A number of commercial buildings in the neighborhood have also been converted into residential housing. The BellTel Lofts was built in the late 1920s as a New York Telephone Co. building. The 27-story Art-Deco building was converted into condos in 2005. Now the historic landmark has 250 residential units with dozens of different floor plans. Prices there range from $299,000 for a studio to $1.89 million a three-bedroom unit.

There is another conversion building at 110 Livingston Street. The 18-story building was previously used as an Elks Lodge and later as office space. It was converted to condos in 2006. A gym was added along with shared outdoor space. There is a three-bedroom unit on the market there for $1.34 million.

Schools: Downtown Brooklyn schools are in District 13. It includes Freedom Academy High School, City Polytechnic High School of Engineering, Architecture and Technology, and George Westinghouse Career and Technical Education High School. Also in the area is Brooklyn International High School and Urban Assembly High School of Music and Art.

In 2010, 41.6% of District 13 students in grades three through eight received a proficient score on the math exam, and 35.4% of students received a proficient score on the English Language Arts exam. In 2006, the results were 48.2% for math and 43% for reading.

Private schools in the neighborhood include Brooklyn Friends School, a Quaker school running from preschool to high school, St. Joseph High School and A. Fantis Parochial School, a Greek Orthodox Christian school. Also in the area is School of Creative & Performing Arts, which offers summer programs for high-school students.

Parks: There isn't much green space in Downtown Brooklyn. A new 1.25 acre park is being planned called Willoughby Square that would sit atop a parking garage.

In the middle of the civic center, there is also Columbus Park. It hosts a farmer's market on Tuesdays and Saturdays, and has free Wi-Fi. Also nearby is Walt Whitman Park, measuring about three acres. It's currently being renovated. Other parks in surrounding neighborhoods include Fort Greene Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Entertainment: Downtown is home to the New York Transit Museum where visitors can learn about the history of the city's subway system. Also in the area is Brooklyn Ballet, a performance space. In the nearby BAM Cultural District, there is the Brooklyn Academy of Music, which has cinema, concerts and theater.

Shopping: The Fulton Street Mall is the main shopping corridor in Downtown Brooklyn and has apparel and shoe stores, banks and a Macy's. Nearby on Atlantic Avenue there is a Barney's Co-op and a Trader Joe's.

Dining: While high-end restaurants are still far and few between in Downtown Brooklyn proper, there is one standout: The Chef's Table at Brooklyn Fare is the only Brooklyn restaurant to receive two Michelin stars. Along Atlantic Avenue there is Bedouin Tent Restaurant, serving Middle Eastern fare, and Rothschild's, which has Cajun food.

And of course, Junior's on Flatbush Avenue has been serving its famous cheesecake since 1950.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703806304576236762270013134.html?m od=WSJ_NY_RealEstate_LEFTTopStories

Derek2k3

April 12th, 2011, 03:17 PM

Another look at the future tallest for Bk.

http://www.edzuck.com/project_images/2008-16_2009-01-27_01-small.jpg

http://www.edzuck.com/project_images/2008-16_2008-11-17_03-small.jpg

http://www.edzuck.com/project52.htm

Edwards & Zuck is working with the prestigious developer Avalon Bay Communities and architectural firm SLCE on this 58-story, 860 unit residential project. We are proud to add this residential project to our portfolio as it is pursuing LEED® Certification.

Project Type: New Building - Residential, Retail/Mall, Parking Garage

Client: Avalon Bay Communities Inc.

Architect: SLCE

Size: 850,000 GSF

Project Highlights:

•58-Story New Residential Building, consisting of 860 apartment units
•66,000sf parking garage
•20,000sf retail space
•Pursuing LEED Certification: Green sustainable features will include high efficiency gas fired condensing boilers and co-generation plant.

lofter1

April 12th, 2011, 09:04 PM

Sucking Garbage.

ZippyTheChimp

April 12th, 2011, 09:20 PM

So you don't like it? :)

stache

April 12th, 2011, 10:21 PM

Could be worse.

lofter1

April 13th, 2011, 12:22 AM

On the other hand ...

futurecity

April 13th, 2011, 01:40 AM

Looks fine. DT Brooklyn is obviously not going to get supreme design any time soon. Has to start somewhere.

RoldanTTLB

April 13th, 2011, 01:54 PM

If it manages to be bright white (not unlike 123 Wash), it'll certainly stand out in a pleasant way.

marnegator

April 13th, 2011, 03:28 PM

Blah. Hopefully it doesn't come out to bad, like the aforementioned 123 Washington, but I don't think it'll even reach that level, with its (probably cheap) asymmetric facade and sections of blank wall.
66,000 sf for parking? Around the downtown Brooklyn area? More retail space should be added in lieu of all that parking.

BrooklynLove

April 13th, 2011, 11:57 PM

Edwards & Zuck is working with the prestigious developer Avalon Bay Communities and architectural firm SLCE on this 58-story, 860 unit residential project. We are proud to add this residential project to our portfolio as it is pursuing LEED® Certification.

This is like 2000 residents in one building. That's a lot of business for the new Target and H&M down the block. And the Gap, Banana Republic and J Crew that are sure to follow within five years at the F.Mall.

Go Nets.

ASchwarz

April 14th, 2011, 11:26 AM

66,000 sf for parking? Around the downtown Brooklyn area? More retail space should be added in lieu of all that parking.

Underground retail space, many levels below the street? Sounds far-fetched. Garages in NYC are almost all below street-level.

And that's hardly a lot of parking. This is a million square foot building.

I would agree that no parking would be ideal, but this really isn't alot in the grand scheme of things.

futurecity

April 14th, 2011, 09:52 PM

On second thought, this building looks like something the cat spit out. It's more Denver than NYC.

Tectonic

April 14th, 2011, 11:11 PM

I've grown to accept Avalon Fort Greene, this looks better. Brooklyner I will never get over.

marnegator

April 16th, 2011, 04:35 PM

Underground retail space, many levels below the street? Sounds far-fetched.

Why not though? It could be done as the beginning of a city-wide effort to make a New York RÉSO!

Tectonic

April 19th, 2011, 09:05 PM

Development Watch: 29 Flatbush Avenue

Categories: Development (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/development/), Downtown Brooklyn (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/downtown_brooklyn/)
http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/29flatbush42011.jpg
While no steel has risen above the construction fence at the site of the Dermot Company's in-the-making tower near BAM, a look behind the construction fence shows a big hole's been dug in anticipation of foundation work. Recently, politicians have asked the developer (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/02/pols_push_dermo.php) to increase the number of affordable housing units at the 42-story build. The plan, as of early January (http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/01/more_details_on_4.php), is for the development to have 327 rental units, of which 20 percent are slated to be affordable. The 'scraper is supposed to be finished in early 2013.

Brownstoner: http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/04/development_wat_700.php

Sid

May 7th, 2011, 08:52 AM

Does anyone know what happened to this project? Was it built? Is it being built? I can't find any even remotely recent articles about it. Google Streetview shows an empty lot, but it's probably from a couple years ago. It was supposed to contain 240,000 square feet of retail with residential above.

Gulcrapek

May 8th, 2011, 07:32 PM

On second thought, this building looks like something the cat spit out. It's more Denver than NYC.

Please don't insult my cat's vomit.

RoldanTTLB

May 9th, 2011, 05:42 PM

There's actually something like 4+ plots being built on here. All of them by the Gristedes owner (Catsimatidis). Some of them have been built, others less so. I do not believe the tower part of the development has been built, but 218 Myrtle (the Andrea) was finished and completely rented. I suspect 202 isn't quite done yet, and the others will all follow.

http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2009/03/development_wat_384.php

Sid

May 9th, 2011, 11:46 PM

Hopefully H&M will trigger a flood of better retail/restaurants on Fulton Mall. All the sneaker shops, discount clothing stores, nail salons, wig shops, cell phone stores and the like in the area are so tacky. I have nothing against those type of businesses, but when they combine to make the majority of retailers on a street, it's just tacky. You can see the same thing on Bergenline Avenue around Union City, NJ.

BrooklynLove

May 15th, 2011, 12:06 PM

The retail on Fulton Mall is already changing pretty rapidly. Aeropastale, Syms, Filenes, H&M here and on the way. Rudimentary Mad Libs skills are sufficient to predict the merchants to follow in the future.