Development In Our Neighborhood Chugging Like A College Frat Boy

Leave it to dogged DNA.info reporter Rachel Holliday-Smith to put together a comprehensive list of new buildings 'round here. Be sure to click on the article though to see some great photos and the whole story. It's hardly worth noting at this point where the Q stands on the issue. A zoning study, which was to have begun presently after community comment, is on hold while some members of the neighborhood seem to think that a revised zoning resolution would somehow stop the onslaught or limit its size or its effect on community displacement. Fiddling while Rome burns? Perhaps fanning flames while home churns? I'll note that a bunch of these projects are happening right near me, and where they are in context, I'm resigned to the changes. I wish more folks were realistic when it comes to the City's growth, and would be willing to discuss thoroughly with Planning how best to accommodate it, deal with the City services needed to absorb it, extract maximum affordable units and plazas, and lessen its other more negative effects on the community. And rather than fight their neighbors, fight the practices of unscrupulous landlords using race and class as a weapon against longtime residents. THAT, I would hope, is something we could ALL agree on, and work for.

You may want to note that at 626 Flatbush, 40-50% of AMI would mean families of 4 making roughly 33K to 41K. Though it should be noted that not many of these apartments would be comfortable fits at that price. Couples would fare better, and combined incomes of $25K would be truly affordable - using the standard ration to gross income. Apartments would come in under $1,000, as low as $700 or so. Not perfect...but save supportive housing, I don't know that we could do much better right now. AND supportive and full affordable buildings are possible through City and State funding. To get that going, you need buy-in from electeds. Who it might be nice to work WITH rather than against. Oh God, there I go again...

267 Rogers Ave.

Construction is underway on a five-story, 112,000-square-foot residential building on this large lot near Carroll Street, where St. Ignatius Roman Catholic Church stood from 1920 until earlier this year, when it was razed to make way for the new project, according to property records. Renderings of the project show a geometric, grey facade with square windows accented with bright blue and yellow paneling.

995 Washington Ave.

Work has begun on a four-story residential building set on this vacant sliver of land between Washington Avenue and the Franklin Avenue shuttle. The triangular lot sold for just under $77,000 in 2009, but in spring of this year, it was turnd over to “Washington Ave Dev LLC” for almost $330,000, public records show. Plans for the new 3,300-square-foot, triangle-shaped building were approved this summer by the Department of Buildings, according to records. Though a Bond New York listing asking $2.5 million has been removed since it was posted online in July, a sign on the property said the site is still for sale.

626 Flatbush Ave.

After facing multiple legal challenges to build this 23-story, mixed-use residential tower, construction of the Hudson Companies project is well underway. When completed, the building will have 227,000 square feet of space, almost all of which will be residential, according to plans filed with the Department of Buildings. Eighty percent of the building’s 254 units will be market-rate, according to the company, with the rest set aside for tenants earning 40 to 50 percent of the Area Median Income.

About ten stories have been constructed already at 626 Flatbush Ave. in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, which will ultimately be 23 stories tall, according to building plans.View Full Caption

DNAinfo/Rachel Holliday Smith

31 Lincoln Rd.

This L-shaped, eight-story building has been in the works since 2012 when Anderson and Associates, the developer behind the project, first filed plans for the 75,000-square-foot, mixed-use residential property. Construction is now well underway at the site, which is located between Flatbush Avenue, Lincoln Road and the tracks of the B, Q and shuttle trains. The Prospect Park train station on Lincoln Road is located directly next to one of the building’s two entrances. When complete, the property will have 87 units, almost 5,000 square feet of commercial space and 68 indoor parking spots, according to plans.

651 New York Ave.

This project by HELLOLiving will bring a six-story residential building with 40 “luxury” units to New York Avenue between Fenimore and Hawthorne streets, according to building plans and the company’s website. The company broke ground on the project this summer and construction is ongoing at the site. When complete, the 30,000-square-foot building will have indoor parking spaces, a gym and private elevator access directly into each units, the company said.

329 Sterling St.

Construction of a six-story residential building on this lot located directly next to a city playground on Sterling Street between Nostrand and New York avenues is underway, with I-beams set around the footprint of the building’s foundation. When complete, the building will have roughly 20,000 square feet of residential space, according to plans filed by “Jacquelyn 327, LLC,” the building’s owner. A rendering of the project posted on construction fencing shows a stone and brick facade with large glass windows and six small terraces.

Planned New Construction:

834 Nostrand Ave.

Currently a two-story commercial building with a T-Mobile on the first floor, Helm Equities bought this lot on the southwest corner of Nostrand Avenue and Eastern Parkway in 2008 for $2.4 million and plans to turn it into a seven-story, mixed use project, according to property records. The firm filed plans with the Department of Buildings on Sept. 30 to demolish the structure and build a 29-unit, 33,500-square-foot building in its place, two-thirds of which will be residential space. The plans were first reported by the real estate blog New York YIMBY. It’s unclear when construction will begin; the Buildings Department rejected the construction application on Oct. 3 due to “incomplete drawings.” Helm Equities did not answer inquiries made about the project.

111 Clarkson Ave.

A Victorian home once described as a “fantastical three-story concoction,” by the New York Times and “the Haunted House of Clarkson” by local blogger Tim Thomas was razed earlier this year, to be replaced by two buildings on the same lot with a total of 50 residential units, said developer Seth Brown ofAspen Equities. One building at 520 Parkside Ave. will be seven stories tall with 22 residential units, according to property records, while the adjoining, now-vacant lot at 111 Clarkson Ave. will become an eight-story, 28-unit residential building. The lots are currently surrounded by construction fencing and Brown said work will being “in the next few months.”

149 Clarkson Ave.

After a single-family home was demolished here earlier this year, the Department of Buildings approved plans for a new, five-story residential building with 10 units, property records show. The owner who filed the plans, “149 Clarkson Ave. LLC,” bought the property for $660,000 in October of 2013, records show. Construction fencing surrounds the now-vacant lot, but no work on the new building has begun.

50-54 Clarkson Ave.

Three single-family homes were demolished earlier this year to make room for an eight-story, 27,000-square-foot residential project, according to plans filed in January by Bushberg Properties. The three homes had been bought in late 2012 and early 2013 by “Prospect View LLC” for a total of $1.75 million, according to property records. The plans for the new, 48-unit residential complex are under review by the Department of Buildings.

Future Development Sites:

371 Lincoln Rd.

Last October, this 2,000-square-foot vacant lot on Lincoln Road near Nostrand Avenue sold for $100,000, according to property records. Less than six months later, the lot sold for $255,000. Now, it’s on the market for $849,000, according to a listing from TerraCRG, the brokerage firm in charge of the sale. The lot is zoned to accommodate a residential building of up to six stories, according to the Department of City Planning. TerraCRG has architectural plans for the lot that call for four floor-through units and a duplex penthouse, a spokeswoman said, though those plans have not been filed yet with the Department Buildings.

1550 Bedford Ave.

In a previous life, this large lot on the southeast corner of Bedford Avenue and Eastern Parkway was a Gulf gas station. But after the service station was razed in the beginning of the year, the 19,000-square-foot lot was put on the market for an undisclosed price by the realty firm Massey Knakal. Currently, the lot is still up for sale, said Michael Amirkhanian, Director of Sales at Massey Knakal, but he said there has been “a great deal of interest from traditional retail developers, as well as hotel interest.” The lot is zoned for commercial development only according to the Department of City Planning.

1 Sullivan Pl.

This vacant chunk of land on the corner of Washington Avenue a block east of Prospect Park was put up for sale for $5 million earlier this month by a developer who is looking for the right buyer — but plans to build on the land himself if one doesn’t come along, said Jonathan Berman, VP at Ariel Properties, who is handling the sale. The developer, “Sullivan Garden LLC,” already has plans for an eight-story, 20,000-square-foot residential building on the site, according to Department of Buildings records filed in late September. The plans for the lot were first reported by the real estate blog Buzz Buzz Home.

931 Carroll St.

This one-story brick structure has sold to a “veteran developer” who will “likely do a rental development” there, according to Amirkhanian, who oversaw the March deal that included the sale of a nearby laundry facility at 46 Crown St. (see below). Both buildings had once been owned by the laundry company Central Laundry Service Corporation, previously known as Sea Crest Linen, according to property records. Central Laundry sold the building to “931 Carroll LLC,” for $2.5 million, according to a deed filed on March 27. The site can accommodate a building of up to about 53,000 square feet, according to a listing by Massey Knakal that asked $10 million for the property. Currently, no building permits have yet been filed on the property.

46 Crown St.

This 38,000-square-foot former commercial laundry facility near Medgar Evers College had been used by Sea Crest Linen, later renamed Central Laundry Service Corp., since at least 1935, according to building records. In March, Cornell Realty Management bought the 38,000-square-foot site for $14.5 million, according to public records, but it’s unclear what the company plans to do with it. No building plans have been filed at the location, though the site is zoned to accommodate a residential building of up to seven stories. An inquiry made about the site to Cornell Realty — which has a history of multimillion-dollar development projects in Brooklyn and Manhattan — was not returned.