New York City Real Estate Blog

Atlantic Yards Construction to Begin

"Construction crews were expected to take the first steps today toward building the huge Atlantic Yards project near downtown Brooklyn, according to an aide to Bruce C. Ratner, the developer. The first stages of the work will involve subcontractors removing contamination from a bus depot, then demolishing that structure. Forest City Ratner Companies will build a temporary Long Island Rail Road yard in its place, so that a giant platform can be built above the permanent rail yard to support much of the $4 billion development.

The city and state approved the project despite heated opposition from residents who said it would overwhelmingly congest the local streets and transit system. The development will include thousands of apartments, commercial buildings, a hotel and an arena for the Nets, the basketball team Mr. Ratner owns."
Brooklyn: Atlantic Yards Construction to Begin(NYT)
Atlantic Yards

6,000 New Apartments in manhattan

 

Rockrose is constructing 44-story and 24-story apartment buildings on opposite sides of 10th Avenue, between 37th and 38th Streets, in what has been officially renamed the Hudson Yards district. “Once people see that we are indeed going forward,” Mr. Elghanayan said, “you’re going to see an explosion of growth in that whole area.”

Builders are already flocking to the once-sleepy Hudson Yards, an area crisscrossed by bus ramps and Lincoln Tunnel entrances.

Indeed, a half-dozen developers plan to start residential projects there in the next six months, with a combined total of nearly 6,000 apartments, 20 percent of which will be for low- and moderate-income families.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/04/nyregion/04west.html?ref=nyregion

 

Looking for a Condo in Ft. Greene

• The 182 condos in the Williamsburgh Savings Bank at One Hanson Place range in price from around $400,000 to $2 million.
• The 30 floors of the Clarett Group's Forté will offer 108 units hitting the market by early 2007, selling for around $750,000 to $1 million each.

Space-age architecture is just part of a general residential explosion in Fort Greene. Plans for 739 new condo units were submitted to the state Attorney General's office for approval this year through the third quarter, the most of any other any Brooklyn neighborhood other than Williamsburg, which had 812 units. In the last two quarters, new unit plans for Fort Greene outpaced those for Williamsburg.
Condo plans submitted to the Attorney General's office include more than 500 total units at the 40-story 306 Gold Street and its sister tower, the 35-story 313 Gold Street. Those projects won't hit the market until 2008. The towers are being built by developers Ron Herscho and Dean Palin, who are presenting them as located in Downtown Brooklyn.

via: http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/DECEMBER_2006/1164959314.php

 

 

Atlantic Yard Pitcure .....

http://www.theslatinreport.com/story.jsp?StoryName=1221yards.txt&Topic=Opinion&fromPage=

 

 

Technorati tags: Atlantic Yard, Bruce Ratner

The last hurdle for Atlantic Yard....can the cranks stop the projects!

"There have been numerous other New Yorkers, like Dustin Hoffman’s Ratso Rizzo snarling, “I’m walking here!” in Midnight Cowboy, who have held their tenuous ground against the seemingly implacable forces of commerce and taxicabs. Some might call them cranks. To others they’re saints. Foremost among these is Jane Jacobs, who would not get out of the way of Robert Moses’s no-doubt neighborhood-killing Lower Manhattan Expressway. Jacobs has been justly lionized for saving downtown, but brutally overpriced Soho shoe stores have yet to erect a plaque in her honor.

Much in this crank-saint tradition are Daniel Goldstein and Shabnam Merchant, who bought a condo at 636 Pacific Street in 2003 only to find out that their new home was situated within the celebrated “footprint” of Bruce Ratner’s mammoth, colossally controversial Atlantic Yards project. There was nothing to be done about it, city officials said. With much shock and awe, the Forest City Ratner Company bought out the vast majority of local residents. But Goldstein and Merchant refused to move. Immune to deal sweetening, the couple have been the lone residents of 636 Pacific Street since 2005, spending most of that time trying to stop the $4.2 billion project.

Now the battle may be entering its final stages. Along with ten other plaintiffs, including Freddy’s Bar, the community icon where the White Stripes’ “There’s No Home for You Here” is a popular choice on the jukebox, Goldstein and Merchant have filed suit against Forest City Ratner (which, as fate would have it, redeveloped the Queens Macy site, walling the space once occupied by Mary Sendek’s house). “Our last, best shot,” says Goldstein, who’s banking on recent Supreme Court rulings pertaining to eminent domain, the basis by which Ratner claims the right to replace 636 Pacific Street with an arena for the Nets to play in. "

 

http://nymag.com/news/articles/reasonstoloveny/2006/25603/index.html

Atlantic Yard a go.....

A state oversight board voted yesterday to approve the Atlantic Yards project near Downtown Brooklyn, removing the last regulatory hurdle for one of the biggest real estate projects in the city’s history.

The vote by the Public Authorities Control Board capped three years of battles between opponents and supporters of the $4 billion project. The version approved yesterday — eight million square feet over 22 acres along Atlantic Avenue — includes a huge residential housing complex with about 6,400 market-rate and subsidized apartments, a basketball arena for the Nets, and a smattering of office space, with a design punctuated by elaborate towers that dwarf nearby residential neighborhoods.

The approval of Atlantic Yards, which would be built by Forest City Ratner Companies, came after several other ambitious development projects in New York City — like a West Side football stadium and the Moynihan Station, both in Manhattan — were rejected or stalled by community opposition and political rivalry. Atlantic Yards still faces two lawsuits, with more probably on the way, but Forest City officials say they are confident that they will prevail in court.

Yesterday’s vote followed days of intense negotiation between officials at the Empire State Development Corporation, which is overseeing the project, and aides to Sheldon Silver, the speaker of the State Assembly, who has one of three votes on the control board. Gov. George E. Pataki and Joseph L. Bruno, the State Senate leader, control the other two votes on the board, which must vote unanimously for a project to be approved.

In recent days, Mr. Silver expressed concerns about the financing of Atlantic Yards. But on Tuesday, the development corporation provided his staff with a detailed accounting of about $554 million in infrastructure costs, of which $200 million will be paid for by the city and state, and a full analysis of the project’s expected tax revenues, which the development corporation recently revised downward by about one-third.

As yesterday’s vote approached, Forest City also offered new concessions to sweeten the deal. At least 200 of the market-rate condominiums will be subsidized and made affordable to first-time homeowners, and Forest City agreed to spend $3 million to improve parks near the development.

The developer also agreed to shrink considerably the complex’s highest tower — the 620-foot building called Miss Brooklyn by the project’s architect, Frank Gehry — so that it will be shorter than the nearby Williamsburgh Savings Bank, Brooklyn’s tallest building at 512 feet. But critics said the changes were far too modest to allay their concerns over the project’s size and scale.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/21/nyregion/21brooklyn.html?hp&ex=1166763600&en=297f40b5f75200a0&ei=5094&partner=homepage

Would you like to live here -

 

http://www.northsidepiers.com/

And this is how it looks now!

 

Urban living in Westchester

According to Martin Ginsburg, the developer, Marbury Corners was designed to attract two kinds of buyer: either those priced out of Manhattan, or those seeking a city-type residence in a suburban setting. All but a handful have been sold, he said.

The largest structure, an elevator building called the Marbury Club, has studios and one- and two-bedrooms units, many with balconies or terraces, and offers concierge service. Underground parking is available for a monthly fee of $100; a second space for the same unit costs $200.

In the loft building, each of the six units has two bedrooms, a double-height living room and contemporary-style kitchens and baths, and they seem to attract distinctly younger buyers. The master bedroom is on the third floor, and the second bedroom on the fourth. Enclosed parking, on the entry level, is free.

The five units in the third building are also on four levels. Each has two bedrooms, an eat-in kitchen, cathedral ceilings, a sleeping loft and a bonus room. Parking is free here, too.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/realestate/10wczo.html?ref=realestate

Links:

http://www.thejournalnews.com/LivingHere/westchester/features/pelham.html

http://westchester.com/Westchester_News/Westchester_Real_Estate_News/Pelham's_Marbury_Corners_Wins_Award_200612017178.html

http://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/advertorial/11536/index.html

http://www.gdcllc.com/project_10.htm

One Unit for sale - http://www.pelhamny.com/listings/stf313.shtml

Location

 

Soaring Ceilings Command Higher Prices

Loft 124 in Harlem has a unit with 25-foot ceilings.
"High ceilings, long a selling point for New York apartments, are getting even higher, with the tallest being out of reach for all but upper-end buyers who don't have to stretch their dollars.

"A high ceiling in New York used to be a nine-foot ceiling in the mid-'80s, and the average height then was 8 or 8 1/2 feet. Now 10 feet is very good, 11 feet is spectacular, and 12 feet is a dream," says Michele Conte, a senior vice president and managing director at Brown Harris Stevens.

As developers get savvier about what sells an apartment, consumers -- especially in the luxury market -- are equally savvy. They're also willing to pay more for features that add to both the value and beauty of a property."
Elevated ceilings get farther from the floorTheREalDeal

One Prospect - Brooklyn with Cachet

Description:

Richard Meier On Prospect Park

Richard Meier On Prospect Park will be the borough’s premier address, gracing the heart of Brooklyn at One Grand Army Plaza.

Steps away from over 500 acres of natural parkland, 52 acres of garden, and a rich urban infrastructure, Richard Meier’s iconic residential building will embody the highest standards in personalized service, privacy and space with a sophisticated set of services and amenities.

The 114 condominium residences provide spacious urban living with the warmth of its lavish surroundings. The privilege of space is demonstrated through thoughtfully planned layouts, large balconies with Ipe hardwood decking, and expansive Jet Mist granite paved terraces - all offer an abundance of natural light and the most spectacular park and cityscape views.

Richard Meier has created forty distinct plans that maximize space, heighten vistas and an overall sense of openness. Duplex penthouses celebrate the vast size of brownstone living: ranging in sizes up to 3,084 sf, respectively. Three-bedrooms are as large as 2,450 sf; two-bedrooms, up to 2,400 sf; and exceptional one-bedrooms range from 1,050 sf to 1,150 sf. Floor-to-ceiling wall-to-wall glass offer stunning, unobstructed views.

 

Sample Listing:

Condo   1 Beds 1.5 Baths  1,195 sq ft  -  $790,000

Condo 2 Beds 2 Bath   1,547 sq ft  - $1,550,000

 

About Richard Meir:

Richard Meier is well known and respected around the world for his architecture and designs. He has been awarded major commissions in the United States and Europe including courthouses, city halls, museums, corporate headquarters, housing and private residences. Some of his best-known projects include The Getty Center in Los Angeles, the High Museum in Atlanta, the Frankfurt Museum for Decorative Arts in Germany, the Canal Plus Television Headquarters in Paris, the Barcelona Museum of Contemporary Art, The Hartford Seminary in Connecticut, and the Atheneum in New Harmony, Indiana.

Recognized with the highest honors available in architecture, in 1997 he received the AIA Gold Medal from the American Institute of Architects as well as the Praemium Imperiale from the Japanese Government, in recognition of a lifetime achievement in the arts. In 1995, he was elected Fellow to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He received the Deutscher Architekture Preis in 1993 and in 1992 the French Government awarded him with the honor of Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, and in 1989, the Royal Institute of British Architects, of which he is a Fellow, awarded him the Royal Gold Medal.

In 1984, Mr. Meier was awarded the Pritzker Prize for Architecture, considered the field's highest honor. He was the youngest recipient of this award in the history of the prize. In the same year, Mr. Meier was selected architect for the prestigious commission to design the $1 billion Getty Center in Los Angeles, California.

Since receiving his architectural education at Cornell University, he has been awarded honorary degrees from the University of Naples, New Jersey Institute of Technology, The New School for Social Research, Pratt Institute and the University of Bucharest.

About "Working with Glass"

With his Lower Manhattan projects complete, Meier is turning to Brooklyn. One Prospect Park will be a 15-story glass tower with 119 condos, located along Plaza Street and Eastern Parkway facing Grand Army Plaza and overlooking Prospect Park. It's scheduled to be completed in summer 2008.
Until now, the price of living in a glass project designed by Meier was reserved for the very rich. Not so with the Prospect Heights project. "What we're doing in Brooklyn is not a luxury building," he said. "It is all glass, which may seem luxurious, but it is not out of the realm as far as what is economically feasible as far as construction costs."

http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/FEBRUARY_2006/1138384955.php

 

Links: 

http://www.sdsprocida.com/  - Developers behind 1 Prospect Park

http://www.therealdeal.net/issues/FEBRUARY_2006/1138384955.php  - The Real Deal

http://www.onprospectpark.com/  - Project Website

http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?p=128465 - Forum

http://www.richardmeier.com/ - Richard Meier's website

 

 

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