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Eagle: 101 Clinton Flipping Some Units Residential

by Homer Fink on 25. Aug, 2010 in Commercial Real Estate, Development, Real Estate

BHB photo by C. Scales

The Brooklyn Eagle notes that 101 Clinton Street (aka 165 Joralemon Street), following the example of nearby 75 Clinton, will be flipping some units from commercial to residential:

Brooklyn Eagle: With Eagle staffers and other passersby noting that the building is ”scaffolded and shrouded” (with netting), a check of Department of Buildings (DOB) documents was made.

That search revealed that a permit has been issued for the conversion of the second-through-sixth floors of the six-story building. (more…)

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Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Council: Tobacco Warehouse Should Stay Public, Multi-Use Facility

by Homer Fink on 05. Aug, 2010 in Brooklyn Heights, Development, Government, Landmark Preservation

BBPCC rendering of proposed alternative use of Tobacco Warehouse open space

Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Tobacco Warehouse must remain a public, multi-use facility and maintain its current mix of indoor/outdoor space, says The Brooklyn Bridge Park Community Council in a report provided exclusively to BHB.

The BBPCC, a coalition of neighborhood groups and supporters of the park, states that, “the Tobacco Warehouse should remain a stabilized, architectural ruin, activated with enhancements that allow it to be a flexible, public, multipurpose outdoor space accommodating a wide variety of activities, and not dominated by one use or group.” It includes proposals for enhanced use of the space as well as a historical perspective from Francis Morrone.

Read the full document after the jump. (more…)

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Silent Protest: Coffin on Hicks

by Heather Quinlan on 22. Jul, 2010 in Development, Health

video-30-0-00-03-01 No, 187 Hicks St has not become a funeral parlor. See the reason for the coffin after the jump.

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Brooklyn Heights People: David Kramer

by Julie Kanfer on 09. Jul, 2010 in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Real Estate, brooklyn bridge park

d_kramer Raised in what he calls the small town of the Upper West Side, Brooklyn Heights resident David Kramer now builds small towns of his own. Sort of.

As a principal in the Hudson Companies, a real estate developer of rental and sale units around New York City, Kramer has garnered much attention lately for the innovative Inside Third & Bond blog on Brownstoner.com. Started 138 weeks ago, the blog has detailed an abnormally honest account of the building, marketing, and selling of Third + Bond, a townhouse-style condominium apartment complex in Brooklyn.

“The world has become so transparent, and blogs are a manifestation of that,” Kramer said over the phone from his office during a recent workday. By interacting with Brownstoner readers, many of whom are real estate junkies and prospective buyers, Kramer was, he said, “attempting to lead the parade, versus being dressed up at the end of the parade.” (more…)

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City Chemist Opens Friday at Noon

by Heather Quinlan on 08. Jul, 2010 in Commercial Real Estate, Development, Real Estate, Shopping

While taking a stroll to Häagen-Dazs, I saw that there was great activity in the City Chemist shop on the corner of Henry and Montague. I couldn’t pass up the opportunity for a sneak peek, so I dropped Homer Fink’s name and was promptly led inside.

City Chemist was nothing like I’d imagined; it was bright, welcoming and cheery, with TV monitors, makeup, a candy corner … and that was before I got close to the pharmacy. This place was almost like the Oz of pharmacies. It reminded me a bit of Boots which they have in the U.K. and which I longed for back here. CVS may have self-serve kiosks now, but I still feel like I’m gearing up for battle when I walk in. Photos after the jump, including one of the workers waiting to hear Lebron’s decision. Oh, and the soft opening is at noon with Marty Markowitz.

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BQE Rehab Update: Some Perspective from the BHA

by Heather Quinlan on 14. Jun, 2010 in Brooklyn Heights, Development, History, Landmark Preservation, News, Real Estate

There’s been much discussion over the past several days about plans to widen the BQE. BHA President Jane McGroarty had this to say on the subject:

As part of NYS Department of Transportation’s study to rehabilitate the triple Cantilever portion of I-278, the DOT is taking a preliminary look at a number of options that include repairing, reconstructing or relocating the highway between Atlantic Avenue and Sands Street. At the last Stakeholder Advisory Committee Meeting on May 26th, the consultant and the State presented some initial sketches: (a) keeping the existing highway alignment with very minor changes, (b) keeping the existing alignment and fully compliant with DOT roadway design criteria; and (c) a tunnel alignment.

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DUMBO Residents Challenge Dock Street in Court

by Claude Scales on 22. May, 2010 in Development, Landmark Preservation, Legal, Real Estate

Wednesday evening, the DUMBO Neighborhood Foundation held a meeting at 66 Water Street to discuss the litigation that DNF has begun in an attempt to have the courts reverse the City’s decision to let the Dock Street project proceed. Barry Silverstein and Gus Sheha, neighborhood residents and principals of DNF, spoke about the various aspects of the case. Silverstein and Sheha, along with DNF itself, are the petitioners-plaintiffs in the action, and the respondents-defendants are the City of New York, various City branches and agencies (including the City Council, the Planning Commission, and the School Construction Authority), and Two Trees (the Walentas’ development company). (more…)

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Park Developers Agree to Carousel Plan

by Claude Scales on 20. May, 2010 in DUMBO, Development, News

The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation has agreed to accept Jane’s Carousel at the location desired by its donor, Jane Walentas, in the former Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park.

YourNabe.com: DUMBO doyenne Jane Walentas has reached a final deal with the developers of Brooklyn Bridge Park to donate her lovingly restored 1920s carousel to a waterfront spot behind the old Tobacco Warehouse — but the controversy over the plan is just beginning.

Some neighborhood leaders decried park planners for allowing Walentas, the wife of real-estate titan David Walentas, to not only pick the spot where her carousel would be sited, but also choose the architect to design the transparent, glass-walled pavilion where it will be housed.

Opponents of the siting argued that the carousel enclosure, designed by prominent French architect Jean Nouvel and designed to be illluminated at night, would interfere with views of the Brooklyn Bridge from Main Street and further north in the Park. The Brooklyn Paper, in an editorial today, implies that this opposition stems from anti-Walentas animus incited by the proposed Dock Street project (about which more in a subsequent post) and by David Walentas’ “treat[ing] the neighborhood like his own little fiefdom”, and that the opponents have “seized on the announcement as another chance to take a deep quaff from the mug of Haterade.”

Update: Here’s Curbed’s take on the subject, with a great photo-montage.

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Dock Street Opponents Host Meeting Wednesday Evening

by Claude Scales on 17. May, 2010 in DUMBO, Development, Legal, Real Estate

The efforts of the DUMBO Neighborhood Foundation to fight the Walentas’ proposed Dock Street project in court are continuing. This in from the DNF:

DNF is hosting an informative discussion and presentation regarding the Dock St. lawsuit. The event will take place on Wednesday, May 19th at 7:00pm and will be held at 66 Water Bar and Grill (66 Water St., DUMBO). DNF Board members will provide information regarding the merits of the lawsuit and provide an update on the legal developments and expected proceedings. Wine and hor[s] d’oeuvres will be served.

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Fun with the Hole in the Ground

by Heather Quinlan on 17. May, 2010 in Development, Fun

Since the hole in the ground at Clark and Henry doesn’t seem to be going anywhere fast, we thought we’d learn how to make the best of it.* Here, we have Barbie basking by the hole showing off what’s hot in this season’s swimwear.
barbie