Brooklyn Law Dorm at 184 Joralemon to Become Condos

By on January 7, 2011 1:20 am in Brooklyn Heights, Development, News, Real Estate

Brooklyn Law School has sold its dormitory at 184 Joralemon Street to a developer who intends to convert it to condos.

The Wall Street Journal: Brooklyn Law School has signed a contract to sell a residence hall in Brooklyn Heights for $12 million, according to people familiar with the deal.

The law school entered into an agreement with city-based BCN Development to hand over its 12-story Beaux Arts building at 184 Joralemon St. BCN Development intends to convert the residence hall into 24 two-bedroom condos.

According to the Journal article, the condos will sell for $1 million and up. The developer plans extensive renovations to the living units and lobby, beginning next summer after students move out. The building is located in the proposed Skyscraper Historic District, and Brooklyn Law has opposed its inclusion in the district.

1.10 update: Curbed reports that a third party, United American, has brought a lawsuit seeking to block the sale on the grounds that it has an earlier contract to buy the building for $9.2 million. Brooklyn Law, however, denies having executed the contract.

Share this Story:

, , ,

  • Andrew Porter

    These two posters have beads for brains…

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Andrew: what two posters?

  • Joe2: The Joe-ening

    Hmm. The question then becomes whether BLS will try to pick up another building in the area as a dorm, or just have a larger percentage of its class fend for themselves in the real estate world. Any idea which option is in the lead?

  • EHinH

    I call for a moratorium on new apartment buildings. We cant even sell what is currently on the market here…

  • http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com Flashlight Worthy

    If the developer had any sense of the neighborhood, he’s build some of these as 3 and 4 bedrooms. There are plenty of families that want to live in Brooklyn Heights long-term but don’t want the work (or cost) of owning a full brownstone.

  • Stickler

    Andrew’s not crazy. When this article first went up very early this morning, there were two comments, one from “Beads” and another from “Wholesale Beads,” the former offering the definition of a bead, the latter delving a bit into its history.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com Claude Scales

    Thanks, Stickler. Obviously Homer did his constabulary duty early this morning, before I had a look.

  • http://www.myhomebrooklyn.com Donald Brennan

    If WSJ piece is accurate – ie “. . .$3 to $4 M to renovate the lobby and each of the apartments.” – I would not be too concerned about the windows being altered nor do I think “posh” would be an appropriate adjective to describe the frackin’ finishes. $144 per square foot on a gross basis doesn’t get you to posh. It appears buyer is getting a sweet deal if any of the reported numbers are close to being correct. As a developer not so sure I would want go on the record so early in the process with a “condos will start at $1,000,000″ claim. Don’t understand the upside in that.

    More importantly and in all seriousness – since when are 2-bedroom condos 1,000 sq ft? I don’t think 2-bedroom rentals even go as low as 1,000 sq ft. 166 Montague’s 2-bedrooms average 1,250 sq ft. And I hear buyer’s telling me all the time that they are small. Is this the future?

  • http://www.myhomebrooklyn.com Donald Brennan

    sorry about the confusing reference in my previous post. cut and pasted a comment I made on another site and inadvertantly hit Submit before getting a chance to edit. if you are intersted in the posh reference then I guess you can look on that Brooklyn real estate related site. I forget the name.

  • Lady Lawga

    Rumor has it that BLS is trying to unload their non-Feil Hall “campus” housing in order to save up enough money for another mega-“on-campus” apartment building. Where they think they’re going to put such a project is beyond me.

  • http://loscalzo.posterous.com Homer Fink

    @ll St. George Hotel?

  • WillowtownCop

    Aren’t people a little old to live in dorms by the time they get to law school?

  • Arch Stanton

    Considering the maturity level of much of today’s youth, they could be in dorms through medical school…

  • T.K. Small

    Brooklyn Law School also owns the property at the end of Fulton Street & Boerum Place, on the south side where the HSBC bank is located. In fact, they might own the entire triangular block. When I was a student at BLS, there was a ongoing rumor that the whole block would be leveled and something substantial built.

  • Jorale-man

    BLS also owns a couple large brownstones on the corner of Clinton & Aiken Place. The buildings have seen better days and the stoop to one of them is covered in graffiti. It’s probably no great loss to the block that they’re giving up 184 Joralemon.

    It does make you think about the degree to which the area colleges and universities act as good neighbors. The question has come up with St. Francis College and NYU as well. Can they do more to foster good community relations? I will say that the BLS students keep a quiet profile in the area from what I’ve seen.

  • Joe2: The Joe-ening

    @Jorale-man: They certainly do. I went to law school in DC, and I can sadly report that we kept a much higher profile in the neighborhood – for the worse – than do BLS students here. I’ve been impressed.