Scarano tower touches the heart of many

Like it or hate it, this idea of a South Portland Tower is really making a big bang. A few sites have linked to it, including the New York Observer's Real Estate and even Gawker.

The Washington Condos - 28 now sold

From the Real Deal, we learned of this Daily News article on Prospect Heights and the condo boom there.

Aguayo & Huebener are quoted in the article as saying 28 units out of 39 have now sold, all from floor plans.

Note that the highest priced unit they've sold is a 3 bedroom with terrace for $844K.

Peggy Aguayo and her brokers at Aguayo & Huebener have been able to
sell 28 of the 39 condos at The Washington just by showing architectural plans.
Construction is nearing completion on the building at 35 Underhill Ave.

Because of strong demand, they've been able to raise the prices five times.
The biggest deal they've done so far is for a three-bedroom apartment with a
terrace — which is under contract for $844,000.

Condo and co-op prices are on the rise in Prospect Heights, said Aguayo, who is Brendan's mother. They're now $575 to $700 per square foot. Still, they're less than neighboring Park Slope's $625 to $800 per square foot.

The protest hits the streets

Washington Condos - the definitive update

As we head into the last week of January, our estimated closing date at the Washington Condos of December 2005 and January 2006 has come and gone. We can pretty much write off February and March. So all buyers can bank on probably May or June 2006. (start extending your current leases!) Of course, this is just one person's opinion, as we haven't heard a peep out of the much-maligned firm of Aguayo & Huebener. Absent of any news, update or direction from A&H, we're left to our own devices. Thankfully, in this day and age, everything is electronically submitted, so we visited the DOB site.

Herewith, are the 36 open items left before any buyers may close on their units.

1. Borings/test pits , 2. Subgrade 27-723, 3. Underpinning, 4. Welding, 5. High strength bolts table, 6. Fire stops, 7. Ventilation system-engineer/installer, 8. Noise control tests, 9. Spray on fireproofing-new installation, 10. Reinforced masonry table, 11. Masonry units, 12. Concrete, 13. Concrete design mix, 14. Concrete test cylinders, 15. Chimneys, 16. Heating system/boilers, 17. Ventilation/Air Conditioning, 18. Lt. gauge steel/wood fl. truss/lam. i-beam, 19. roof detention, 20. certificate of occupancy, 21. site survey: final, 22. bpp: final signoff, 23. final plumbing signoff, 24. final elevator signoff, 25. final electrical signoff, 26. final const. signoff, 27. verify tax lot, 28. co obj:verify address, 29. violations search, 30, open applications search, 31. folder review, 32. tax lot: final lot number issued, 33. highway letter, 34. microfilm, 35. detector- smoke -certificate of installation, 36. sprinkler test

We're reaching out to the reader-base to see if they have any updates. Plus, feel free to join the still-nascent yahoo group (search thewashingtoncondos). Hopefully we can reach critical mass like some of the other buildings out there, like 70 Washington and even the Kent Ave condos in Clinton Hill.

Scarano throws down the gauntlet re: S. Portland tower

Robert Scarano, via brownstoner commentary, has served up notice to the real estate world. Unlike Santiago Calatrava's 80 South Street megaproject, he claims that his South Portland Tower will actually be built.

He goes on to dig a stake into Brownstone Brooklyn's heart by saying that not only was the address incorrect, the height is also. It's not going to be only 190 feet, but a whopping 360 feet! He notes that this is a good 15 feet taller than J Condo, the currently tallest planned residential building in Brooklyn.

More and more, I think this is going to be on the site of Ashland and Fulton, on top of the fish and chips restaurant, the storefront church and the Hot Yoga place.

Apologies to Sean Meenan for calling him a sell-out.

How to buy in DUMBO for only $618 psf

A reader has tipped us off that Corcoran has lowered the asking prices on the beacontower @ 85 Adams. Earlier this week, all the listings were removed, but they have shown up today and you can now get a 1,165 square foot 2 bed, 2 bath for a bargain basement price of $720K.

Given the negative press on Boymelgreen from this past Sunday's scathing article on 57 Front, this is another golden opportunity for buyers to go in for the kill.

70 Washington overrun with rats

The citywide problem with rats is no longer the problem of the low-income. Word comes from a tipster that shoddy construction at 70 Washington has resulted in rats invading the apartments at 70 Washington.

Just wanted everyone to know that the building is having seriousrodent
problems. On Sunday morning my boyfriend saw a large rat inthe sixth floor
hallway. later that night we heard a rat in ourmaster bathroom. It got into the
cabinet under the sink through apanel that was never properly sealed and ate
through some bathproducts.

15+ story building to rise at South Portland/Fulton

Tipped off by Brownstoner, we've learned that there is to be a new 190 foot tall, 80,000 square foot mixed use tower at South Portland and Fulton. The building, according to Scarano, will be constructed on a currently vacant lot.

To us, that means the lot on which Habana Outpost now stands. I guess Sean from Habana Outpost must've sold that lot for a pretty penny. This is big news.

Prices for three more properties in Brooklyn reduced

We just noticed that the Highpoint Condos in South Slope have been reduced by about $10-20K per unit.

In addition, this 'best of Newswalk' apartment went from $849K to $805K.

We also get word that the 85 Adams units in Dumbo are 'negotiable.'

Supply is plentiful and demand is ostensibly low. Time to go in for the kill, buyers. Impatient developers are firing their brokers/marketers and giving it to their competitors. See: L3 condos to Corcoran, Florentine Brownstones to Brooklyn Properties, and probably several other examples.

57 Front at forefront of a Dumbo heavyweight fight

Back in July 2005, we reported on the 57 Front project in Dumbo by Boymelgreen. That post led to an unprecedented 45 comments, mostly by people who were in contract on a unit there. That subsequently led to the formation of a yahoo group, of which we were a part of, until we were unceremoniously dumped off the group. The reason was that all purchasers were closing ranks due to a brewing firestorm in which several units in a specific line in the building were being told that their $800K one-bedrooms were soon to become $800K studios!

That, in a nutshell, was the background. Apparently, there was an easement on the building, unbeknownst to to Shaya Boymelgreen. Now, we find out that David Walentas, the godfather of Dumbo owns the lot next to it and used the building and its' buyers as hostage in his nasty fight with Boymelgreen. Not only that, Walentas is planning on erecting a steel sculpture right in front of all the windows, unless Boymelgreen sells him a building nearby!

Ding ding..round three coming up.

Here's the fascinating New York Times article.

Ft Greene in the New York Press

The blogosphere is all over the new Brooklyn issue of the New York Press. The Fort Greene article is written by a Nicole Davis, who seems to be a writer who specializes in Fort Greene. Among other tidbits, she goes off on the usual bit about gentrification:

There are frightening signs of change, of course, like the atrocious Greene
House condos and the “children’s clothier” on Fulton selling designer threads
for tykes—a sure sign of strollers to come. But some things are changing for the better. Whereas once there were days you couldn’t find a lemon in the local Associated, there is now fennel, Odwalla and Annie’s Organic macaroni and cheese.

We say: fair enough that you don't like the Greene House Condos (we certainly do), but the organic groceries come with the territory. Who do you think is buying the organic Annie's-- people living in the Walt Whitman Houses? No. It's the much more-monied folks moving into the $800K condos.

Continued signs of slowdown

A few things we've noticed recently in the slowing market ... or could it be called tactics to 'prime the pump?'

• The Florentine Brownstones, which were originally marketed by Corcoran, are now being listed by Brooklyn Properties. Note the abundant use of black in this project, from the cabinets to the staircases.
• The Faculty House Condominiums on St. James and Atlantic are now allowing 95% financing. See http://www.ahrlty.com/ for details. We haven't seen any new condominiums that allow less than 10%. What's next--buyers not having to pay for the property transfer tax on new condominiums? Let's hope.

The rising cost of parking in NYC

There is an article in Bloomberg today that talks about how Manhattan parking rates are starting to match the residential rents in some cities, such as Greensboro, NC, Austin, TX and Cincinnati, OH. At the AOL Time Warner Center in Manhattan, monthly parking spots cost about $550 to $600 a month, which is more than the typical rents in the cities listed above.

In addition, licensed parking facilities in Manhattan fell 6% while building permits more than doubled in 2004. The continued development of residential housing, many times on what used to be parking lots, has caused average daily parking rates to climb up to $40 a day in the city.

The article also says that one lot that used to hold 100 parking spots was replaced by a rental building that only had room for 60 cars.

Home Depot does Bed Stuy

Today's NY Times business section has an article on the new Home Depot that opened up on Dekalb Ave in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The front picture depicts an African-American male shopping next to a Hasidic Jew from the nearby Williamsburg neighborhood.

A few choice quotes in the article:

1. "The project helps satisfy pent-up consumer demand in Bed-Stuy and neighborhoods beyond it. Bed-Stuy has fantastic housing stock and lots of do-it-yourselfers. The store should be very successful."
2. "It's an underserved community with a lot of redevelopment and people investing in their homes. It's a very family-oriented neighborhood with a lot of brownstones and single-family homes. A lot of communities look to us for home improvement."
3. Clara McDonald, a customer who owns a brownstone nearby on Hancock Street, said she "couldn't be happier." She had driven to the store with her friend Betty Jones from Crown Heights, who was searching for a part for an old thermostat.
4. Another customer, Vurnell Martin, said he had spent about $20,000 at the store on numerous items including cement, jigsaws, beams and handsaws, for the renovation of his brownstone in Prospect Heights.
5. "We fully believed we engaged the community and answered all their concerns. We had personnel staff at an on-site hiring office to assist applicants," who were required to pass a test to gain employment. "

Incidentally, the store is a few blocks from S&W Appliances and Electronics, a Hasidic-owned and employed store that sells some fabulous high end appliances, like Bosch ovens, washers and dryers with great prices.

New vegetarian restaurant to open at Adelphi and Dekalb

The Red Bamboo Vegetarian Soul Restaurant is opening up at Adelphi and Dekalb. From the looks of it, it may be the Brooklyn offshoot of the Manhattan restaurant at 140 West 4th Street. Check out the website for the menu. Jobs at the new restaurant are also available here.

Corcoran to market 647 Washington Condos

The Corcoran new developments website announces that they will be marketing the 647-649 Washington Avenue condominiums.

The only information on the site is a somewhat cryptic, 'Comfort is Key in this Prospect Heights newcomer.' It will be interesting to see how the quality is for this new project, which is a block and a half from the Washington Condos.

Restaurant Gia remodeling and Ralph's expanding

The word on the street is that Restaurant Gia on Lafayette Avenue is remodeling and turning their restaurant into a members-only bottle service lounge. Has anyone else got any news behind this morsel?

In other news, looks like Ralph of Meat Corp has taken over the space that used to be Boo's Bagels on Fulton St. Does anyone know what Ralph's sells? It can't be any worse than Boo's Bagels.

Ratner trying to buy some street cred

Forest City Ratner is sponsoring two local basketball tournaments this weekend in Brooklyn. According to the Brooklyn Eagle (free membership required), on Sunday at 1PM, there will be a high school tournament at the LIU campus in downtown Brooklyn. The tournament is the Seventh Annual Brooklyn Basketball Challenge.

Monday night mugging on Waverly and Lafayette

A poster on the yahoo groups listserv said that she was mugged on Monday night at 11:30pm on the corner of Waverly and Lafayette by a few female gang members. She was punched and her bag was taken. The cops were notified.

Be alert, folks.

Myrtle revitalization in the future

A 3-to-4 block long strip of Myrtle Avenue off of Flatbush is turning residential. From Prince St. to Ashland Place, the residential units will be a mix of low-, moderate- and market-rate housing. The plans were announced today in Crain's.

Surprisingly, preliminary plans called for a 400-foot tower with about 500 condos or luxury rentals by Flatbush Ave. Extension and smaller 160-foot towers on the Myrtle Ave strip.

Along with the 28-story residential/hotel project on Ashland and Fulton, reported here, this is sure to change the landscape of the Fort Greene skyline in the near future.

Thawing of the Prospect Heights market

It was well-documented when potential buyers slept outside the Toy Factory lofts waiting for
units to go on sale or outside the Developers Group sales office in DUMBO waiting for units
at the Nexus to go on sale. These days, a Brooklyn broker, Aguayo & Huebener gets an exclusive to sell condos on St. Marks Avenue. A few months later, we find out that Corcoran now has the listings as well. There are 3 units for sale on the Corcoran site.

The 98 St. Marks Condos range from 842 square feet to 1100 square feet and range in price from $639K to $749K.

Madiba opens up in Miami

The Dining Section of the NYT reports today on the new Madiba that has opened up in Miami. They call Madiba the 'FUNKY South African hole in the wall that ignited Fort Greene's restaurant row with a taste of post-apartheid cuisine has spread its palate to South Beach.'

They also reveal that the owner and his wife used to cook at their apartment and then carried the food across the street to the restaurant. The author also states the obvious, that Fort Greene used to be 'grittier' than it used to be, but is now a 'racially diverse neighborhood.'

More flips at 70 Washington

Here's a listing for a high-floor apartment on the G line. Asking price is $1.975MM for a 1,737 square foot 2 bedroom plus home office, 3 bath.

On the 70 Washington site, the 12th floor G unit is asking $1.9MM, while the 8th floor unit is asking $1.77MM.

Here are a few more potential flip units.

New year, new progress @ the Washington Condos

2006 has brought signs of progress at the Washington Condos at 35 Underhill Avenue in Prospect Heights. Clockwise from the upper left,

1. Rails have been installed to separate the entrances into the B building duplex townhouses. The doors to these apartments are still non-existent-- they are covered by plywood.
2. The glass entrance has been put up at the entrance into the A building.
3. The (none-too-pleasing) green facade has appeared on the front of the B building. In addition, windows have been installed on the curved living room areas of the A building at the corner of Washington and Dean on every floor except one.
4. Most impressively, in my opinion, the translucent glass has been placed that will separate the building from the driveway. I do believe this is the design of Durukan Design, who was hired to design the interiors of the Washington. If this is indicative of what will go into the workmanship of the Washington, I think it's a great sign.
   

Renovation at 53 Underhill

Workers were busy doing work on this renovation at 53 Underhill. Does anyone know what this will be? Condos or did someone buy the lot, raze it and is in the process of building something? Hopefully it's something as innovative as the firehouse renovation we profiled here earlier.

Retail for rent on South Portland

Corcoran has the listing for this 2400 square foot retail space nestled between Pequena restaurant and the residential building to its' left. The listing has a few pictures of the interior and states that it is ideal for 'lounge, coffeehouse, or dry retail.'

It is renting for $5,500 a month. Sounds intriguing for the entrepreneur who's looking for a spot. Personally, I think a boutique sneaker shop would do well in this spot. It would fill the void that Premium Goods left.

Sundance Institute and BAM in deal

Robert Redford was in Fort Greene yesterday to announce a deal between his independent film institute and BAM to showcase films at the movie theater. Under the deal, which begins in May, films shown at the Sundance Movie Festival would also be shown at BAM. Details are unclear.

Among the luminaries at BAM yesterday, as reported by the NY Times, were Steve Buscemi and Bob Vila. And of course, the invenerable Marty Markowitz was in attendance.