brownstoner.com
Today on the Forum
09.01.2009 12:17
brownstoner.com
Here are some of the topics posted on The Forum today: Plumber Problem Resolving ECB Violation Recs for Plumber for Small Projects Help with Carpeting Steps Recs for Wallpaper Removers/Painters
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Development Watch: 31 Kosciusko a Year Later
09.01.2009 12:17
brownstoner.com
Things aren't looking too great for 31 Kosciusko Street, the 12-story, 23-unit development in the no man's land near the Bed Stuy Home Depot. Comparing a photo of the project from a year ago to one from the day shows that there hasn't been a whole heckuva lot of progress. There are no Stop Work Orders on the property right now either. One for the dead pool? Development Watch: 31 Kosciusko Street 1/08 [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Open House Picks
09.01.2009 10:18
brownstoner.com
Brooklyn Heights 5 Columbia Place Douglas Elliman Sunday 12-2 $3,695,000 GMAP P*Shark Park Slope 97 Park Place Brown Harris Stevens Sunday 12:30-2 $1,999,999 GMAP P*Shark South Slope 148 14th Street Warren Lewis Sunday 12-2 $1,095,000 GMAP P*Shark Bedford Stuyvesant 608 Madison Street Corcoran Sunday 2-3:30 $699,000 GMAP P*Shark
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Open House Picks: Six Months Later
09.01.2009 10:17
brownstoner.com
Comment: Nice job on Waverly! Open House Picks 6/20/08 [Brownstoner] Previous Six Months Later Posts [Brownstoner]
New York
Construction & Real Estate
What's Going On at 43 Empire Boulevard?
09.01.2009 10:17
brownstoner.com
Does anyone have any idea what the story is with this shuttered gas station at 43 Empire Boulevard? It hasn't changed hands since 1985, according to public records, and there are no building permits filed for it. Any ideas? While it's not exactly the high-rent district, it is located at quite a high-traffic intersection. GMAP P*Shark
New York
Construction & Real Estate
High Hopes for Hoyt Street?
09.01.2009 08:29
brownstoner.com
We'll confess to not having a great grasp of retail rents around the borough, but, with the economy tanking, we are increasingly interested to see how stores, and the cost of renting them, react. A friend of ours in Boerum Hill recently commented to us that he'd noticed a handful of stores for rent on Hoyt Street across from the Gowanus Houses and, perhaps overly-optimistically, noted that he thought the stretch might be ready for an upgrade in retail offerings. One of the spots currently for rent is the former Abreu Grocery at 244 Hoyt Street; the monthly asking rent for the 950-square-foot space is $3,000. Do any locals share this optimism? Ideas for businesses that could work? 244 Hoyt Street [Rapid Realty] GMAP Photo by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Horror Show Friday
09.01.2009 08:29
brownstoner.com
These two beauties come to us from Crown Heights and Canarsie, respectively. It almost looks like they could have been designed by the same person. Love those doors and peaked roofs! Condos in Crown Heights [Craigslist] 1280 E 100th St [Craigslist]
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Carroll Gardens Atrocity Finally Gets Price Cut
09.01.2009 08:29
brownstoner.com
The Carroll Gardens Atrocity, what Pardon Me For Asking describes as the "poster child for what-not-to-do with a brownstone," has finally gotten a much needed price reduction after more than two years of languishing on the market. The upper duplex is now $1,295,000, down from $1,495,000 and the entire house can be had for $2,590,000 instead of $2,995,000. Interested? Carroll Gardens Hunchback Still Languishing on Market [PMFA] The House That CG Loves To Hate Gets Price Cut [PMFA] 45 Third Place Not Moving [Brownstoner] 45 Third Place Open House: Yuck! [Brownstoner] Condos of the Day: No Buyers for 45 Third Place [Brownstoner] A Current Look at Third Place Horror Show [Brownstoner] Price for CG Atrocity a "Fantasy" [Brownstoner] Real Photos of Carroll Gardens Bastard [Brownstoner] Carroll Gardens "Bastardization" Hits Market [Brownstoner] CG Atrocity: There Goes the Neighborhood [Brownstoner]
New York
Construction & Real Estate
City Spends Almost $40 Million on Two Downtown Lots
09.01.2009 08:29
brownstoner.com
The action keeps getting hotter in Downtown Brooklyn. In recent days we've reported several significant transactions between United Land and Avalon Bay on the block bounded by Bridge, Willoughby and Duffield. Now comes news of two mega-deals one block east between Duffield and Albee Square. At the end of December, the City of New York paid $23,500,000 to buy 213 Duffield Street, a 16,500-square-foot lot with about 200,000 square feet of buildable floor area; in a separate transaction, the city also dropped $15,000,000 for a contiguous 8,746-square-foot lot at 408 Albee Square with about 100,000 square feet of air rights. All told: $38,500,000 for 300,000 buildable square feet. Anyone know what the city has up its sleeve? Update: As per the first commenter, this does look like where the city is planning to create Willoughby Square Park; there is, we believe, also supposed to be a parking garage underneath the park. Thanks, Zinka. 408 Albee Square [Property Shark] GMAP 213 Duffield Street [Property Shark] GMAP
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Goldman: NYC Prices Have a Ways to Go
09.01.2009 08:29
brownstoner.com
"New York apartment prices are very high relative to the observable fundamentals. Using three alternative yardsticks—price/rent, price/income, and affordability—we find that prices would need to decline by 35%-44% to return to the valuation levels seen in the 1995-1999 period, before the start of the recent boom." — Goldman Sachs via Curbed
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Atlantic Yards Scaled Back, Gehry's Role in Question
09.01.2009 08:28
brownstoner.com
All three major newspapers are reporting that Forest City Ratner is scrambling to reduce the project's costs while continuing to claim that starchitect Frank Gehry is still on board. “Frank Gehry has not been removed from the project,” said Joe DePlasco, a spokesman for Forest City. “We are continuing to speak with many arena experts and working hard to find ways to build a world class venue in an incredibly difficult economic environment.” FCR has brought in "value engineering" firms, reports the Daily News, and Atlantic Yards report is saying that the arena could end up looking more like Newark's Prudential Center than the fanciful renderings of Gehry's circulated for the past couple of years. Sounds like another bait-and-switch. Or, as Gowanus Lounge put nicely, "it would seem Brooklyn was promised an SL-Class Mercedes, but now, it turns out that a Ford Focus may be delivered." Atlantic Yards Developer Denies Removing Architect [NY Times] Cutbacks for Arena, Architect May Go [NY Daily News] Nets Arena To Be a Little Less Frank [NY Post] ESDC: Gehry to Control Aesthetics [AY Report] Photo from the Atlantic Yards webcam
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Foreclosure News Mixed in Fourth Quarter
09.01.2009 08:28
brownstoner.com
Foreclosures in New York City were up year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2008 but down from the third quarter, not surprising results given the moratorium around the holidays; overall, rates of foreclosure in New York remained far below Los Angeles, Miami and Seattle. In Brooklyn, there were 83 foreclosures in Q4 2008, down from 108 in Q4 2007 and 165 in Q3 2008. For 2008 as a whole, there were 555 foreclosures in 2008, versus 534 throughout 2007. Queens continued to hold the crown for most foreclosures; there was not a single Brooklyn neighborhood represented on the list of Top 15 zip codes. Quarterly Foreclosures Report: Now With More Charts! [Curbed] Property Shark 4Q Foreclosure Report [Curbed, PDF]
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Weekend Events
09.01.2009 08:28
brownstoner.com
Winter Pop-Up Flea The Flea is back! For the the next 12 weekends--Saturdays and Sundays--find 25 vendors with all kinds of stuff you want and/or like to drool over at the Winter Pop-Up Flea in Dumbo. The Flea will feature 25 top vintage/antique vendors of furniture, clothing, objects, jewelry, curiosities, accessories, art, lighting, and more. For more details on all the vendors, click here. Saturday, January 10 and Sunday, January 11. 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 76 Front Street (corner of Washington Street). Eating Local in the Big Apple Ever wonder how to eat local foods in this urban city? Join Leda Meredith for tips and insights from her 250-Mile Diet Plan (eating only foods grown or raised within a 250-mile radius of her Brooklyn apartment). Learn where to source local ingredients, how to eat local on a budget, how to eat local in the city in winter, and how to handle time and space shortages. Sunday, January 11. 12-3 p.m. $39 member/$44 nonmember (fee includes $5 materials charge). Brooklyn Botanic Garden, 1000 Washington Avenue. Rally to Save The Brooklyn Bridge Opponents of Two Trees Management's plans to build an 18-story residential tower at Dock Street in Dumbo are holding a rally on Sunday on the bridge. Sunday, January 11. 10:30 a.m. Meet at the corner of Washington Street and Prospect Street. Please send your events listings to events@brownstoner.com
New York
Construction & Real Estate
Friday Links
09.01.2009 08:28
brownstoner.com
Citi Reaches Deal With Lawmakers on Home Loans [NY Times] Holiday Sales Were Dismal, Data Shows [NY Times] City to Create Rigorous Bike Parking Rules [NY Post] Downey, Law Filming 'Holmes' in Brooklyn [NY Post] Thor Brings Its Hammer Down on Lola Staar [NY Daily News] Dock Street Fight of Walentas' Life [Brooklyn Paper] Photo of Bishop Loughlin by lazysundae on Flickr
New York
Construction & Real Estate
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