Brooklyn

In the coveted environs of north Park Slope, steps from Prospect Park on a pretty tree-lined and landmarked block, this Brooklyn townhouse beauty at 594 Second Street has all the historic details homeowners here work so diligently to preserve, yet with every modern comfort in place. Understated luxuries–like tall french doors that open out to a landscaped garden, two decks, three wood-burning fireplaces, a sauna, an upstairs family room and a laundry room make this historic house a home–albeit an expensive one. Starting in July, you can rent this regal residence for an equally regal $17,500 a month (furnished or unfurnished).
Tour the townhouse

April 18, 2016

$1.4M Parlor-Level Co-op Looks Pretty and Roomy in Clinton Hill

This apartment at 385 Clinton Avenue in Brooklyn's Clinton Hill calls itself a parlor-floor co-op, but it's not actually in a brownstone. The apartment comes from a 16-unit co-op, with the listing boasting that it's "much larger and brighter than a brownstone floor-through." Indeed, it has three large bedrooms, an office and windows throughout this pretty, historic space.
Check out the rest

Distinctive Homes

April 18, 2016

Robert A.M. Stern’s 220 Central Park South Gets Stoned; New Renderings and Construction Shots

At the forefront of Midtown's high-rise sierra, a new peak is emerging. Simply addressed 220 Central Park South, the two-winged development is being designed by celebrated historian and poet of the city's skyline Robert A.M. Stern and developed by commercial and retail heavyweights Vornado Realty Trust. The tower portion of the complex has already ascended some 300 feet above street level and is noticeable from many parts of Central Park. Ultimately, it will stand 66 stories, 950 feet high, making it among the tallest residential buildings in the city. The exclusive, Central Park South-fronting wing, dubbed "The Villas" is up to the third of 17 stories and will be topped by a palatial quadplex penthouse. Earlier this month, the tower's warm limestone cladding was being applied to the lower mechanical floors, which will have 18- to 24-foot-high ceilings, boosting the building's height by more than 100 feet and allowing nearly all its residences to possess Central Park views. To coincide with the construction work, Vornado recently published a collection of new renderings in a property portfolio, showing us for the first time several new looks at the project, including three full-scale views from Central Park and close-up looks at the base, porte-cochere, and an upper-level interior.
Check out the renderings and construction shots right here

April 18, 2016

Live Across the Street From Michelle Williams in Ditmas Park for $679K

If you think it's pretty cool that Michelle Williams bought an historic townhouse in Prospect Park South and is restoring it to its former glory, here's a chance to live across the street at 1409 Albemarle Road–and maybe pick up a few renovation tips. You won't need them, though, as the two-bedroom co-op has been thoroughly renovated by previous owners, so you can move right in. The picturesque yet convenient neighborhood is no secret, but nearby destinations like The Farm on Adderley, Lark cafe and a host of others continue to draw attention and new neighbors.
Check out this co-op in a landmarked building

Distinctive Homes

April 15, 2016

Bed-Stuy Townhouse Beauty With Modern Upgrades Asks $2.75 Million

Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn is known for its stock of townhouses, many of which still retain incredible amounts of historic details. This one, at 17 Madison Street, has been renovated in a way that tastefully retains features like woodwork, parquet floors, marble mantlepieces and wainscoting. And beautiful interior design, on top of that, is the icing on the cake.
Take an interior tour

Distinctive Homes

20-Unit Brooklyn Heights Apartment Building Hits the Market As a $22M Mega-Mansion

Photo by Rich Caplan

April 15, 2016

20-Unit Brooklyn Heights Apartment Building Hits the Market As a $22M Mega-Mansion

If 2015 was the year of the nine-figure condo sale, 2016 may be the year of the makeshift mega-mansion. From Roman Abramovich's troubled attempt to combine three Upper East Side townhouses to a $50 million Tribeca spread with 18 toilets, wealthy New Yorkers are going to great lengths to create their dream homes. The latest over-the-top offering is in Brooklyn Heights, where a five-story, 20-unit rental building just hit the market as a $22 million single-family residence. As noted by the Wall Street Journal, the building at 50 Orange Street just sold in January for $13.5 million to Benchmark Real Estate Group, who quickly hired Lee Stahl of design/build firm The Renovated Home to draw up plans for how it could be converted to a single-family dwelling. These plans include four bedrooms (only four?), a gym, an 800-bottle wine cellar, and a roof terrace and would cost an additional $10.6 million to complete over a 16-month period.
But what about the tenants?

Distinctive Homes

April 15, 2016

Find Your Neighborhood on This Interactive Map Made From Local Brooklyn Litter

There's no shortage of trash in NYC–even better than seeing it picked up is when someone is doing something interesting with it. Atlas Obscura introduces us to artist-cartographer Jennifer Maravillas, who has transformed the litter found in neighborhoods throughout the 71 square miles (the map is called "71 Square Miles") of Brooklyn into a map of the borough. Each neighborhood on the map is made up of paper litter–like flyers, advertisements and notes–found in that same neighborhood. The result is a bright, multicolored collage on which each bit of litter corresponds the place Maravillas found it. You can enter your address and find it on the interactive map, along with the trash you might see every day.
Check out the trash on your block

Events & Things To Do

April 15, 2016

For $920K, a Park Slope Floor-Through With Old-World Brooklyn Charm

For just under $1 million, this two-bedroom condominium at 307 7th Street in Park Slope is a modern and comfortable home on the third floor of a classic prewar Brooklyn building. Built-ins, brick and a wood-burning fireplace join split-system zoned A/C, a thoroughly updated custom kitchen and two baths in a prime Center Slope spot steps from Fifth Avenue.
More this way

Distinctive Homes

April 14, 2016

There’s Room for the Whole Crew in This Pretty Brooklyn Heights Co-op, Asking $2.7M

The neighborhood's gorgeous, the block is gorgeous, and all the gorgeous things Brooklyn Heights is known for (the Promenade, shops and cafes on Montague Street, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Pierrepont Playground) are steps away -- and the inside of this $2.7 million apartment in the historic co-op at 61 Pierrepont Street has no trouble living up to its surroundings. With a gracious and logical layout, the three-plus bedroom apartment is tastefully renovated and custom-configured beyond the standard bedrooms-and-common-space, all kind of squished together. There's a living room and a dining room. Not only are the bedrooms on opposite sides, but one has a cozy den next door. Find an office. Find a guest suite. Got kids? No problem. In-laws? Did we mention the thing about the bedrooms being well separated? And, there's an elevator.
Take a look around

Distinctive Homes

April 14, 2016

LAST DAY to Win a ‘Burgopoly’ Board Game, A Williamsburg-Themed Monopoly!

By Diane Pham

The Bronx has its own hot sauce, Bushwick has its own candle, and now Williamsburg has its own board game, thanks to Compass broker and Williamsburg resident Ralph Modica! "Burgopoly" is a BK-themed version of the classic real estate game Monopoly, taking players through the trials and tribulations of living in NYC—think bedbug infestations, your tub overflowing and the end of tax abatements on your condo (eek)—while setting them in Brooklyn's trendiest neighborhood. Although the game isn't for sale (Ralph created it for clients who meet him at the closing table), 6sqft has paired up with the Modica team to give away THREE Burgopoly board games to THREE lucky readers. The last day to enter is Thursday, April 14, 2016.
Enter to win a burgopoly + read 6sqft's interview with ralph

Architecture And Design

April 13, 2016

Apply for 86 Affordable Apartments in Brownsville’s Prospect Plaza, Starting at $689/Month

Through tools like rezonings, the city has been trying in recent years to increase affordable housing opportunities in lower-income Brooklyn neighborhoods like East New York and Brownsville, and the latter now has 86 brand new apartments available through the city's affordable housing lottery. The units are part of the much larger Prospect Plaza development by Dattner Architects, which altogether will transform a 4.5-acre site into 364 units of affordable and public housing, as well as a 22,000-square-foot supermarket, 12,000-square-foot community facility, and a rooftop greenhouse. The first batch of units to come online, located at 1740-1760 Prospect Place and 396 Saratoga Avenue, range from $689/month one-bedrooms to $1,181/month three-bedrooms for families earning between $24,995 and $63,060 annually. They'll feature "exquisitely finished kitchen and bathrooms," energy efficient appliances and fixtures, on-site laundry rooms, a fitness room, and parking for an additional fee.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 12, 2016

Miko Mercer Is Building a 160-Square-Foot Tiny House in Crown Heights

Brooklyn resident Miko Mercer, 30, joined the Tiny House Movement, and she's done more than just take a passing interest. The New York Times recently visited Ms. Mercer and the 160-square-foot DIY dwelling she's constructing, not on a homesteader's plot, but inside a big Crown Heights warehouse. Mercer, who runs the skin care division at popular beauty subscription service Birchbox and draws a six-figure income, still found that, as a single person, she couldn't afford to buy a home in a city where the average price of an apartment is $1.7 million. She ordered a trailer bed, leased the warehouse space and got to work, designing the house herself using a 3-D modeling application called Sketchup, meticulously managing the budget using a spreadsheet. She puts the estimated cost of her tiny house at about $30,000.
Find out what's in the plans for this tiny home

Architecture And Design

April 11, 2016

Last Chance to Apply for 282 Middle-Income Apartments at Downtown Brooklyn’s 250 Ashland Place

Today is your last chance to apply for 282 affordable housing units at 250 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn. The 52-story skyscraper rises from the heart of Brooklyn's cultural district and is near a multitude of subway lines, the Atlantic Terminal transit hub, and the Barclays Center. Developed by the Gotham Organization, the skyscraper encompasses 580,000 square feet of space and soars 568 feet into the burgeoning Brooklyn skyline, making it the second tallest in the borough after the nearby rental tower AVA DoBro. Designed by New York-based FXFowle Architects, the building is sheathed in a contextual brick and glass exterior, relating both to the charming brownstones of Fort Greene and the dynamism transforming Downtown Brooklyn.
Find out if you qualify

April 11, 2016

VIDEO: Take an Aerial Tour of Prospect Park

If this temperamental April weather has been keeping you from enjoying NYC's great outdoors, you can now visit Prospect Park from the comfort of your couch. Plus, you'll get to experience the 585-acre park like you never could on foot -- from the aerial view of a drone. As first noted by Curbed, "the creator is drone enthusiast Airtistry," and it features "both time-lapse and real-time photography." The video was taken on April 2nd, so though it's a bit gloomy, there are some cherry blossoms in bloom to brighten things up, and the fact that the background music is a remix of a-ha's "Take on Me" doesn't hurt either.
Watch the full video here

Uncategorized

April 8, 2016

New Renderings of Park Slope’s Parking Garage Condo Conversion at 800 Union Street

In 2014, plans were announced to convert a cherished Park Slope parking garage at 708-804 Union Street into residential apartments. Slopers complained that the 260-car garage's removal would increase traffic and that the underway development would overcrowd schools. Nonetheless, the longtime property’s owner Lewis Meltzer secured a zoning variance and building department approvals to convert the 85-year-old structure into residential units with retail space at ground level. Now, Midwood Investment & Development and Hailey Development Group are bringing the project to fruition, redistributing the parking garage's 52,000 square feet of bulk across six high-ceilinged floors and carving out 28 high-end condo units and 11,153 square feet of retail.
Learn more about the new condo

April 7, 2016

You Can Now Investigate the Unseen Microbiology of the Gowanus Canal With the BK BioReactor

After all these years of jokes about catching syphilis or turning into a green mutant alien, it's hard to imagine the Gowanus Canal as a pollutant-free place, but beginning this year it will undergo dredging and sub-aquatic capping as part of the USEPA Superfund Cleanup plan. This also includes the Gowanus Canal Sponge Park, "an 18,000-square-foot public space that will be built with engineered soil to absorb (hence “sponge”) stormwater that would otherwise pollute the canal, as well as plants to break down toxins and floating wetlands," as 6sqft previously reported. But before the notoriously toxic canal turns into the Venice of Brooklyn, a group of microbiologists want to catalogue and draw attention to exactly what type of unseen organisms have accumulated over the past 150 years, as they feel it's important for work at other polluted urban environments. To do this, they've created the BK BioReactor, a roving watercraft that takes samples from 14 specific points along the canal. This data has been turned into a "mobile library," complete with an interactive map that shows which microorganisms are located where and how heavily distributed they are. For example, Atrazine, a herbicide affecting the hormonal system, is present in most of the sites, as is Epsilonproteobacteria, which inhabit the digestive tracks of animals.
See what else is lurking in the Gowanus Canal

Uncategorized

April 6, 2016

1846 Townhouse Featured on the Brooklyn Heights House Tour Asks $4.95 Million

This picture-perfect Brooklyn Heights townhouse, at 2 Sidney Place, has been around since 1846 but is still in great shape. Since then, it's gone through a major remodel and modernization although it retains six of its fireplace mantels, all of which add an elegant and historic touch. The landmarked townhouse, in fact, is impressive enough to be featured on the popular Brooklyn Heights House Tour. But now the question is if it'll impress a buyer enough to bring in nearly $5 million.
Take a look around

April 6, 2016

This $1.6M Co-op in Park Slope’s Ansonia Court Has a Factory Past and a Colorful Present

We recently mentioned south Park Slope's coveted Ansonia Court at 420 12th Street when we featured a compact loft in the Carroll Gardens Mill Building. The two are somewhat similar on the outside; this former clock factory is also a converted industrial building in a neighborhood of pre-war apartments and row houses. But this two-bedroom co-op is far from small. It could easily be converted to three bedrooms, and its four-rooms-on-paper have outsized proportions. The home's current owner has made a colorful home in the high-ceilinged, brick-and-window lined loft, but whether quirky, minimalist or rustic, the original factory construction wouldn't go unnoticed.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

April 5, 2016

$770K Industrial Carroll Gardens Loft Is in a Converted 1938 Jute Factory

You might not associate Carroll Gardens with industrial loft buildings, but rather with quaint brick row houses and the charming landscaped front gardens that give the neighborhood its name. But the Mill Building at 376 President Street is a fine example of the former (There's a building by the same name in Williamsburg that was once home to supermodel Agyness Deyn, if you're confused). Similar to Park Slope's Ansonia Court, which so many love for its rustic, almost-gritty Brooklyn factory charm, this 55-unit former jute factory offers a rare warmth and period details unique to this kind of converted industrial building. It's no less a modern condo though, with an elevator, parking and central A/C. This compact one-bedroom loft, asking $770,000–it last sold for $440,000 in 2012–has been updated with custom interiors that make the best of the apartment's factory bones.
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

March 31, 2016

26-Foot Ceilings and Stained Glass at This Brooklyn Heights Church Turned Condo

If the idea of living in a former church intrigues you, there are plenty of options on the market. Just yesterday, 6sqft featured a $3 million Williamsburg condo with soaring cathedral ceilings. But the 26-foot ceilings at this $6,900/month Brooklyn Heights church turned condo are some of the most spectacular we've yet to see in the residential realm. Located at 99 Clinton Street in the old Presbyterian Church, the architecture is downright holy, with many of the 19th century cathedral details like stained glass windows incorporated into the interior. And the exterior still boasts its historic stone facade.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

March 31, 2016

$8M Park Slope Brownstone Is Historic and Luxurious With a Professional-Grade Gym

It's pretty rare to come across an historic home that manages to be "sophisticated and elegant" with "prolific original architectural details" and also be a block from Prospect Park. But this amazing Park Slope townhouse, a restored Romanesque brownstone, "perfectly integrates historic detailing with a modern sensibility" and boasts a professional-grade gym in the basement and a private landscaped rose garden. The 6,000 square feet of perfection at 178 Eighth Avenue, which probably already has plenty of offers over its $8 million ask, is luxurious in the best possible way, from gorgeous chandeliers to wall treatments that have plenty of flair but never veer into the whimsical or look "decorated." There's not an ostentatious frill or questionable architectural choice in sight; no Hermès leather walls. No spotlit purse-cochere. It's almost too understated in places, but not even close to austere.
Take a look at the house and fail to drool.

March 30, 2016

$3.3M Williamsburg Condo in a Converted Brick Church Has Soaring Cathedral Ceilings

When this listing calls this condo "one of a kind," they aren't kidding: This apartment was carved from the former Pentecostal Church at 541 Leonard Street  in Williamsburg. (These day's it's not at all uncommon for religious buildings to go residential.) The building holds three apartments total, all with three bedrooms and three bathrooms, boasting keyed elevator access, 20-foot wood-beamed ceilings and access to private outdoor space. This particular apartment is now on the market for $3.3 million.
See the rest of the interior

Distinctive Homes

March 29, 2016

Three People Share What It’s Like to Live in Common’s Co-Living Concept in Brooklyn

By Michelle Sinclair Colman

What if your home was more than just a place to live? What if it took care of the tedious parts of everyday life (like cleaning, paying utility bills, and shopping for the basics) and there were always a bunch of interesting and like-minded people hanging out in your living room? Brad Hargreaves, CEO of Common, has structured his co-living housing company to be just that. While we've reported on Common before (as well as WeWork's similar new shared housing setup in FiDi), today we're going behind the scenes at Common's first outpost located in Crown Heights. We asked three residents why they chose to live at Common, if this catered style of co-living beats the standard New York roommate setup, and, of course, what we all really want to know—with 10 different personalities under one roof, just how "Real World" do things get?
Meet residents Jason, Kamilah and Adam here

March 29, 2016

Renovated Top Floor of a Carroll Gardens Townhouse Asking Just Over $1 Million

Nine years and a renovation will really make a difference for real estate in Brooklyn -- just take this two-bedroom co-op at 188 Degraw Street in Carroll Gardens. It sold in 2007 for $595,000 according to public records. The current owners then spiffed up the top-floor apartment and have just listed it for $1.095 million.
See the rest of the reno

Distinctive Homes

March 28, 2016

New Views and Renderings of Eliot Spitzer’s ODA-Designed Williamsburg Mega-Development