Brooklyn

This two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment occupies the top floor of 335 Carroll Street, a Gowanus warehouse converted not long ago to rental apartments. Asking $5,317/month, the apartment has shed its former warehouse skin for a much more modern aesthetic, which includes a chic designer kitchen.
Check it out

May 13, 2016

Brooklyn-Queens Streetcar Gets a New Website With More Details and Images

By Diane Pham

Friends of the Brooklyn Queens Connector launched a brand new website yesterday, revealing not only more images of how the streetcar could fit in with the various neighborhoods it would serve, but also the names of the developers, transportation experts and civic organizers involved in pushing the lightrail project forward. As listed on the site, members of the advocacy group include former MTA head and mayoral candidate Joe Lhota, big names hailing from the likes of Tishman Speyer, Steiner Studios and Two Trees Development, and a number of local groups, including the Fifth Avenue Committee, Industry City and DUMBO BID. According to DNA Info, over the next 16 months, the committee will attempt to get additional neighborhood groups and residents along the streetcar's 16-mile route involved in the city's public planning process, which in turn should drive more support and funding.
More photos of the Connector this way

Transit

May 12, 2016

Preserved Stuyvesant Heights Brownstone Was Jackie Robinson’s First Home in Brooklyn

Besides being a newly-hot neighborhood, Brooklyn's Bedford-Stuyvesant holds one of the city's finest collections of historic brownstones. Though many beautiful homes didn't survive the neglect of the late 20th century, many that did have been remarkably preserved or painstakingly restored to their original splendor. One of the highest concentrations of those impressive townhouses can be found in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District in the south-central part of the neighborhood. It's here that you'll find this landmarked four-story home at 407 Stuyvesant Avenue, just arrived on the market for $2.875 million. According to the listing, baseball icon and civil rights pioneer Jackie Robinson lived here, and the brokers tell 6sqft that this was his first residence in Brooklyn. They add that when the current owners moved in, they found a treasure trove of memorabilia. So let's just say this 20-foot-wide Romanesque Revival-style brownstone hits it out of the park when it comes to intact historic detail and unspoiled 19th century architecture.
Explore this central Brooklyn treasure

May 12, 2016

A Mini-Solarium Brings Serious Sunlight to This $835K Kensington Apartment

It's not everyday you find a condo apartment with its own solarium—especially in the quiet, suburban-like neighborhood of Kensington, Brooklyn. This is the top floor apartment at 734 East 5th Street, an eight-unit, four-story development built in 2005. A wall of complete glass lines the east end of the apartment, creating a small solarium above the dining area. It leads out onto a patio, which isn't even the only outdoor option in this sun-flooded space.
See all the outdoor spaces

Distinctive Homes

May 12, 2016

Interview: RAMSA’s Paul Whalen Reflects on the Unique Design of 15 Central Park West

By Diane Pham

For good reason, hundreds if not thousands of articles and books have been published on 15 Central Park West, the “Limestone Jesus” designed by famed architect Robert A.M. Stern. This modern icon is credited with not only elevating the New York City luxury market to a level no one before dreamed it could reach, but […]

May 12, 2016

Leasing Begins at Downtown Brooklyn’s One Duffield, No-Fee Units Begin at $2,400/Month

By Ondel Hylton

Within the human-scaled oasis between the Manhattan Bridge and the BQE, a 57,000-square-foot church conversion has wrapped up construction, releasing 84 brand-new no-fee rental apartments to the Downtown Brooklyn market. Named One Duffield, for its address at the corner of Gold and Duffield streets, the five-story building uses some of the structural bones of a prior two-story church and completely re-imagines its aesthetic into a varied composition of brown and orange brick, metal siding, and large square windows. Nataliya Donskoy of ND Architecture and Design P.C. is the designer of the building and "The Bridge Building LLC" is listed as the developer in permits.
Get pricing and see inside

May 11, 2016

Behind This $1.25M Greenpoint Duplex Is a Barefoot Backyard Paradise

You're thinking of living in Greenpoint; you've fallen in love with the neighborhood. If the magical words, "two bedrooms plus office," and "outdoor space" don't get you to investigate further, you're not trying hard enough to make it happen. This nicely-outfitted duplex at 687 Leonard Street in the heart of north Brooklyn's waterfront paradise may not turn heads from the outside, but there are some pleasant surprises within.
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

May 11, 2016

Clinton Hill Mansion Designed by Iconic Brooklyn Architect Hits the Market for $3.85 Million

Once upon a time, Clinton Hill was a neighborhood of mansions designed by some of Brooklyn's most prominent architects. Many have since been demolished and replaced with either townhouses or apartment buildings. But this one at 186 Clinton Avenue still stands, on a stretch that was known as the neighborhood's "mansion row." Montrose Morris, a prolific Brooklyn architect, designed it in 1891 for William H. Beard, the son of the third wealthiest man in Brooklyn, William Beard, Sr. It's so massive it's been divided into several apartments—the property being offered is only one-half of the mansion, which holds eight units.
Take a look

May 10, 2016

400-Bed Designer Dorm Headed for Williamsburg

When you spend your student years living in an architect-designed former car radio button factory in the ultra-hip Berlin neighborhood of Kreuzberg, face it, you’re just going to be a little spoiled for everything else. And it should come as no surprise that, thanks to a developer specializing in student living, students in de facto hipster sister city Williamsburg will be getting a similar opportunity to live in architectural bliss rather than institutional semi-squalor. New York City-based real estate development company Macro Sea piloted the design-friendly dorm—outfitted with found furniture and slatted ladder-style stairs–in Berlin's Kreuzberg district last year. FastCompany quotes company principal David Belt: "Most people build student housing and they want to build it as cheaply as possible and the furniture to be as rugged as possible, because they think that students will wreck it." Diverging from this idea, Belt's company "sought to create an environment that treats students as savvy global citizens rather than wards of an institution."
Student housing or co-living for adults, what's the difference?

Real Estate Trends

May 10, 2016

The Elegantly Designed Interiors at This Carroll Gardens Brownstone Can Be Yours For $3M

The location of this lovely Brooklyn townhouse at 357 Hoyt Street is a dream combination of breezy, funky Gowanus and quaint, historic and classic Carroll Gardens. Everything surrounding it is either pretty or cool (or both), and on top of being subway adjacent, the borough's flagship Whole Foods market is within just a few blocks. This enviable home is about as perfect as you can get if you’re a brownstone buff and you're not looking for four stories or a big yard. At three stories and 2,360 square feet, it's not huge, but space is used efficiently and it's still more spacious than many apartments at its asking price of $2.9 million. Renovated to perfection, the home’s interiors - designed by mother-daughter design team McGrath II - have been featured in both the New York Times home and garden section (according to the listing) and recently on 6sqft.
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Distinctive Homes

May 9, 2016

Williamsburg Unsurprisingly Tops List of NYC’s 15 Fastest Gentrifying Neighborhoods

Williamsburg has become the poster child for the hipsterfication of Brooklyn and NYC gentrification in general, but behind the beards and beet smoothies are actual facts to back it up. NYU's Furman Center released a report that identifies the city's 15 gentrifying neighborhoods, out of 55 total, and finds that Williamsburg/Greenpoint comes in at number one (h/t DNAinfo). Of course, it's difficult to define gentrification, but the study looks at areas that were relatively low-income in 1990 (among the bottom 40% in the city), but experienced higher rent growth over the past 20 years than other neighborhoods, a trend that the Furman Center feels is of "greatest concern in lower-income neighborhoods." Williamsburg and Greenpoint had a startling 78.7 percent jump in rent over this time period, followed by Central Harlem at 53.2 percent and Chinatown/Lower East Side at 50.3 percent.
See the full list here

May 9, 2016

Two Cabanas Combine Into One Glorious Roof Deck at This $675K Clinton Hill Pad

With the weather warming up, nothing looks better than the roof deck that comes with this Clinton Hill apartment at 27 Quincy Street. There's an entire 625 square feet of private outdoor space, nearly as large as the 775-square-foot, one-bedroom pad. Two cabanas were combined into one and decked out with everything from a built built-in bar to planters to furniture. The inside of the apartment isn't too shabby, either.
See photos of the deck

Distinctive Homes

May 9, 2016

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Brownstone Purchase LLC Tells of Escaped Slaves’ Brave Journey

Atlantic Writer, National Book Award winner and MacArthur Foundation Genius Grant recipient Ta-Nehisi Coates recently made an appearance in real estate news; Coates, who is among today's most prominent writers on African-American issues, and his wife recently purchased a landmarked five-bedroom townhouse in Prospect-Lefferts Garden for $2.1 million. Not one to miss an opportunity to explore a facet of cultural history, the couple worked an interesting story into the LLC they used to purchase the property, DNAinfo tells us. Buyers commonly register Limited Liability Corporations (LLCs) to purchase property in order to conceal their identities (celebrities, for example, or when making a big-ticket buy), and LLC names are often mundane, using the name of the property itself. But the Coateses LLC, "Ellen and William Craft Excursions LLC” has an inspiring tale behind it: The Crafts were an escaped slave couple from Georgia in the 19th century. Disguised as a white male slave owner and his slave, they escaped to Philadelphia in 1868.
Find out more

May 6, 2016

Former Bushwick Factory Gets a Stunning Designer Upgrade, Asks $3.5M

Bushwick has gained an international reputation for its creative and innovative culture; artists have lived and worked here for decades (long before Vogue magazine ponounced it hip), and the neighborhood's low-rise industrial infrastructure lent itself to the creation of open workspaces. Though we'd be more likely to see an impeccably designed carriage house on the market for $3.5 million in a neighborhood like Cobble Hill, rising property values and creative residents have always been inseparable. This converted two-story Swiss Army knife of a building at 326-328 Menahan Street justifies its ask by offering the "ultimate live/work home." The home's renovation was undertaken by its current owners, Norwegian artist Haavard Homstvedt and Stine Christiansen Homstvedt, an interior designer. Its 6,000 square feet are definitely configured unconventionally; the meticulous remodel that created this unique property is as modern and as creative as the pair behind it.
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Distinctive Homes

May 5, 2016

$250M Penthouse at 220 Central Park South Will Officially Be NYC’s Most Expensive Apartment

For over a year, it's been a guessing game with just how expensive 220 Central Park South's penthouse will actually be. Initial murmurings put the price at $175 million, but later reports that claimed hedge fund tycoon Ken Griffin was the buyer upped it to $200 million. The guessing is over, though, as The Real Deal has obtained an amended offering plan filed with the New York Attorney General, which shows that the 23,000-square-foot, four-floor "billionaire's bunker" will cost a mind-boggling $250 million (or $11,000 per square foot), making it by far the city's most expensive apartment.
Check out the insane floorplans

Uncategorized

489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

Photo via Wiki Commons

May 5, 2016

489 New Units of Affordable/Elderly Housing to Rise on Land in Brooklyn and the Bronx

The de Blasio administration is expected to announce plans to lease New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) land to build nearly 500 apartments for low-income and elderly tenants in three buildings of up to 16 stories within existing housing projects in Brooklyn and the Bronx, according to the New York Times. The sites, on parking lots and grasslands within the projects, were included in the housing authority's initiative to improve deteriorating public housing, as well as increase the number of new affordable units. More controversial plans are also in the works to add market-rate housing within public housing projects in prime real estate locations.
Find out more

Affordable Housing

May 4, 2016

East River Skyway Proposal Gains Steam, Would Only Cost Riders $25/Month

With public meetings about the impending L train shutdown beginning this week, much of the conversation is centered around alternate ways to shuttle people between downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn. One solution is the East River Skyway, an aerial gondola system that would run along the Brooklyn waterfront and into Manhattan, bringing commuters over the river in just 3.5 minutes. The proposal from Dan Levy, president and CEO of CityRealty*, first surfaced in 2014, then referencing the Brooklyn development boom that will bring tens of thousands of new residential units to the borough in the coming years. But now with a possible years-long shutdown of the L, along with skyrocketing subway ridership, the Skyway is drumming up support from investors, DNA Info reports. Levy told 6sqft, "We've completed some preliminary engineering and design work around the cars and the stations and how they could meld with their respective locations — and more broadly the city skyline. Given their high visibility we want to be context sensitive." He also revealed that, although the project would cost up to $134 million (per estimate from engineers), an unlimited monthly pass would cost only $25.
READ MORE

May 3, 2016

Alison Jennison’s Greenpoint Townhouse Reflects the Neighborhood’s Eclectic Vibe

By Rebecca Paul

From its residents to living spaces, Greenpoint has become a diverse neighborhood across the board, and this cozy townhouse from designer Alison Jennison reflects these same vibes. The interior combines a modern color palette with an eclectic and well-curated mix of furniture and art, creating a balanced and comfortable place to call home.
See the full space here

May 2, 2016

Two Buildings and a Central Courtyard Make Up This $2.6M Williamsburg Property

It's a two-for-one deal at a Williamsburg townhouse property at 164 Ainslie Street. The lot holds both front and back buildings separated by a large, south-facing garden courtyard. They've been broken up into apartments with a total of 20 rooms, 11 bedrooms and six full bathrooms. And there are still some great historic details preserved inside, like fireplaces and carved wood mantlepieces.
Take a tour

Distinctive Homes

May 2, 2016

First Look at StudiosC’s McGuinness Duo Near the Foot of Revamped Pulaski Bridge

By Julian Friedman

Since the Pulaski Bridge's two-way protected bikeway officially opened on Friday, real estate values in Greenpoint are likely to see an increase. And at the foot of the bridge's Brooklyn side, a pair of well-positioned buildings are underway, ready to take advantage of the new and improved connection to Long Island City and its G-train free access to Manhattan. The duo uniquely spans three narrow lots along the western side of McGuinness Boulevard between Green and Eagle Streets, near where the bridge begins its rise above street level.
More renderings and details

April 29, 2016

Charming $1.15M Greenpoint Garden Duplex Arrives Just in Time for Spring

If you find yourself drawn to the idea of living in Greenpoint, you're definitely not alone. An afternoon in the neighborhood that was until recently a sleepy north Brooklyn Polish enclave on the waterfront with artists' lofts and good schools would convince almost anyone that it's a perfect place to call home. There's a building boom happening along the river, new ferry service has arrived and the G train is becoming the popular underdog. All of that makes this two-bedroom condominium at 182 Huron Street a hot prospect, though the 1,250-foot duplex with a landscaped garden makes a good case all on its own.
More Greenpoint living this way

Distinctive Homes

April 29, 2016

Lovely Williamsburg Loft in a Former Guitar Factory Seeks $1.55M

This apartment at The Gretsch condo building, at 60 Broadway in Williamsburg, is a loft lover's dream. For $1.55 million you get 1,150 square feet of space with 13-foot ceilings, big windows looking out from the sixth floor of the former warehouse, and a totally open living, dining and kitchen area spanning nearly 24 feet.
See more of the loft

Distinctive Homes

April 28, 2016

Live in a Lofty Triplex Apartment at a Former 1880s Firehouse for $4,500/Month

Before 735 Dean Street was anybody's home, it was the post of Engine Company 219, who moved in when the firehouse was built in 1880. The historic structure in Prospect Heights has since been converted to apartments, one of which is this 1,400-square-foot triplex being offered for rent. From the inside, though, you wouldn't guess this was in an old fire station; it looks like your typical Brooklyn loft.
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April 28, 2016

New Williamsburg Condos Tout Parisian Style and Industrial Craftsmanship

By Ondel Hylton

Near the corner of Union Avenue and Conselyea Street in East Williamsburg, a modestly sized six-floor condominium is underway. Addressed 476 Union Avenue, the project is designed and developed by the Meshberg Group, who purchased a four-story, walk-up building formerly at the lot for $2.4 million. Rising from the structural bones of the prior building, the 8,650-square-foot development will offer nine condos that the team proclaims are where "Parisian style meets industrial craftsmanship."
More details ahead

Lottery Launches for 181 Affordable Units in Pacific Park’s Modular Tower

Photo of the construction progress at 461 Dean Street in January, via Field Condition

April 27, 2016

Lottery Launches for 181 Affordable Units in Pacific Park’s Modular Tower

After suffering delays, lawsuits, leaks and alignment issues, Pacific Park's 461 Dean Street (aka the B2 Tower) is finally wrapping up construction and has just launched its affordable housing lottery. The 32-story structure from SHoP Architects will be the world's tallest prefab tower, and of its 363 units, 181 will be available to low- and middle-income households. This will range from $559/month studios to $3,012 two-bedrooms and from individuals earning $20,675 annually to families of four earning $144,960.
Get a look at the apartments and find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 27, 2016

Cheery Two-Bedroom in Boerum Hill Asks Less Than a Million