People can finally move into the Novo Park Slope. Repeat...The long delayed Shaya Boymelgreen development on Fourth Avenue finally gained a temporary certificate of occupancy on Friday. Apparently it was just in time, as buyers would soon have been allowed to walk away from contracts. The certificate is only good through the 25th, though, and there are 23 requirements to be met before the building really gets the green light. [Brownstoner]
There are two schools of new buildings on the boom Fourth Avenue corridor with the bricked out Novo Park Slope look being at one end and the new Karl Fischer revealed recently being at the other. The new building, which will be going up at Fourth Avenue and Eighth Street (formal address 202 8th St.) definitely falls into the latter category. It will actually be good friends with the Argyle, which is under construction. It comes from DJ Associates and will clock in with 12 stories and 43 apartments. Our tipster says the plans "show underground parking, gym/lounge on 1st floor, and two large outdoor garden spaces. they already poured a piece of the foundation so they have 421a," meaning buyers will still get a big property tax break. Brownstoner had an earlier, even glassier, version of the building a while back.
· Slope Getting a Big Hot Karl: Novo's Friend Revealed [Curbed]
· Curbed Price Chopper: Everything Left at Novo Park Slope [Curbed]
The most interesting thing about the new PriceChops on the remaining units at the Crest in Park Slope may not be what they'll do move the rest of the inventory in the building, but what they'll do to its friend just down the block, the Novo Park Slope. Novo itself has seen major buzz saw action and, worse still, is beset by delays in allowing buyers in that they are on the verge of mutiny. The tipster who brought our attention to the PriceChops listed on Streeteasy writes:
Whenever there was a Novo discussion, Crest always came up as a convenient comparison. Looks like they are ready to put it to sleep once and for all by attempting to clear out the remaining inventory with a wave of pricechop. If the chop succeeds in selling out the building before Novo even gets its C of O, it'd be another straw on Novo contract holders' backs.
All the residents of the Argyle, Novo Park Slope (well, someday), the new Fourth Ave. Hot Karl and other buildings going up on Brooklyn's new Park Avenue are going to have to wait a long time for the local subway station to gets its extreme makeover. As it turns out, the Brooklyn Paper reports the ambitious plan to "renovate the shabby Fourth Avenue station in Park Slope into a glittering, light-filled, Euro-styled stunner" is getting moved to the trash folder. Was it only last fall that the reno was trotted out as one of the few pieces of good news about the work that will close the Smith-9th Street Station and leave Slopers that use the F Train thinking warmly about commuting by L Train? Yup. Alas, the overall $250 million project has gotten a BudgetChop from $250M to $187.8M and the Fourth Ave. plans have been deleted.
· Fourth Avenue left waiting at the station [Brooklyn Paper]
· Slope's Fourth Ave. Station to Offer Views of New Park Avenue [Curbed]
Earlier, we noted that there's some sentiment to sell the most famous piece of real estate at Smith Street and Atlantic Avenue. Now, we turn our attention to 75 Smith, the slow movingShaya Boymelgreen development that offers panoramic views of the big house. Given the level of discontent that was developing earlier in the year, it's definitely worth noting that the Luxe + Pop residence actually has residents. There are blinds in windows, blankets draped over some to cover them and moving trucks outside. Workers are still putting the final touches on the exterior and the retail space hasn't been leased, but even the hotel portion of the development looks like it's nearing completion. This leaves the Novo Park Slope as the major Boymelgreen development in the general area that is not showing much life.
· Luxe + Pop + Rumors + Questions = The Smith [Curbed]
· Checking In: Luxe + Pop + Some Progress at The Smith [Curbed]
Don't look now, but real estate types say that a lot of people buying on Fourth Avenue (aka Brooklyn's New Park Avenue) are from up the hill in Park Slope. Specifically, Bradley Hope reports in today's Sun that sales directors say that half of the first buyers in 20 new buildings come from the more traditional Park Slope parts of the Slope. The story notes that Fourth Avenue "is on the verge of becoming one of the densest new residential areas in Brooklyn." There are close to 1,000 apartments under construction on "a 1.4-mile stretch of six-lane road known for its car repair shops, gas stations, and big box stores." One buyer at the Argyle says he blew a shot at a two-floor apartment in Park Slope for $110,000 in the 1990s and that he bought on Fourth Avenue because he's "tired of missing opportunities." His sixth floor 1BR at the Argyle cost $500,000. Not all is good, though. The story notes that only 40 percent of the units at the Novo Park Slope are sold and the recent PriceChopping. $110K for two floors in the Slope? Make the pain go away, please.
· Park Slope Residents Head to Fourth Avenue [Sun]
· Interesting Question: Does Brooklyn's New Park Avenue Suck? [Curbed]
· Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue as the 'Next Park Ave.' [Curbed]
There is major PriceChopping action at the Novo Park Slope on Fourth Avenue. Just last week, it was revealed that the ground floor tenant wouldn't be a retailer or a restaurant, but an ambulatory care center for Methodist Hospital. The tipster who pointed out Ye Olde PriceChops wrote that it "looks like having a Methodist Hospital on-site is bearish to property value." In any case, the carnage on streeteasy is mere hours old in most cases, but ten of the 12 units still listed at the building have gotten a serious shave. A 3BR, for instance, has gotten a $105,000 PriceChop down to $905,000. A 2BR takes a $50,000 hit down to $799,000. A 1BR gets a $30,000 trim to $565,000. Big discounts, plus medical help will only be steps away.
· Novo Park Slope Listings [Corcoran]
· Full Novo Park Slope Splendor Finally Revealed [Curbed]
The crew over at Streets Blog, which normally spends its time on topics like congestion pricing, takes a look at the new Fourth Avenue between Park Slope and Gowanus and decides that, in a word, it pretty much sucks despite the fact that Borough President Marty Markowitz called it "a grand boulevard of the 21st Century." They say the Novo Park Slope "looms fortress-like over the playground next door." The Crest, on the other hand, "greets passersby with man-sized industrial vents." And, Hotel Le Bleu? It "meets the sidewalk with a parking lot fit for a suburban dentist's office." Oh, and there's also discussion of streetscapes, livability, mixed use development and whether the development cycle might peter out before Fourth Avenue has a chance to become the next Park Avenue.
· New York Can Do Better Than the "New Fourth Avenue" [Streets Blog]
· Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue as the Next Park Avenue [Curbed]
The scaffolding is down at the Novo Park Slope, finally giving the full effect of developer Shaya Boymelgreen's Fourth Avenue development. The special correspondent who sent word of the de-scaffolding along with photos writes:
Novo Park Slope lost its scaffolding yesterday, revealing itself in all its hideousity. Not sure if it looks like Soviet Russian architecture at its finest, or early 1960s American Hospital.
The Brooklyn Paper today takes stock of developer Shaya Boymelgreen's projects along the Fourth Avenue Park Slope/Gowanus DMZ, as well as some of his other goings-on, including (from L-R) The Crest, Park Slope Gardens, City View Gardens, NewsWalk and Novo. The real fun comes at the end, where two architects offer their assessments of the buildings. Here are some of those critiques, presented out of order:
1) "They’re trying to be arty, but it’s really lame, it’s really terrible." 2) "Maybe I wouldn’t vote for it in a competition, but at least I would say, 'Thank you for trying.'" 3) "It’s always amazed me what passes for luxury in New York." 4) "At least this has usable terraces, but in terms of style, it’s … just so bad." 5) "It’s sort of more honest. I don’t think this is because of the architect, but because zoning prescribes this box, and the owner encouraged the architect to stay in the box."
When developer Shaya Boymelgreen was planning his Novo Park Slope vision for Fourth Avenue (top left), did he have even an inkling that the building would turn out to be Brooklyn's main attraction? The emails about the development/hypebeast keep coming in, and this weekend was the first big open house for the newly-finished model units. Commence reader report:
Went to the open house today, where cutely, you got to ride up in an outside construction elevator wearing a hard hat onto the one half-completed floor, and a pair of 2 BRs were for sale. Nice size and layouts, the interiors were ok, not insanely nice. Anyway, ALL of the 1 BRs in the first offering (all 5 of them) and the one studio had contract out by 2:45, as did half of the 2BRs and 3BRs. This place is gonna go quickly; they must've had >200 people show up today.
That ain't no lie. Post Home editor Andy Wang also stopped by the open house (which we just mentioned in It Happened), and he blogs, "By 2:30, four of the six one-bedroom units released for sales were no longer available. Three two-bedroom units were also spoken for. The reason for these quick transactions -- and for the dozens of people still waiting outside at 3 p.m. when the open house was supposed to be ending -- is quite simple: This building is priced right."
And for you rental fans, a report on Tribeca's 88 Leonard.
More information is trickling out of Leviev Boymelgreen's Novo Park Slope (sorry, that sounded kinda gross). We've got a three-pronged superupdate on the oft-mocked dormitory/mental institution on Brooklyn's fabulous Fourth Avenue, so get ready for the pronging! (1) The full Novo Park Slope website is up and running, carrying a nice easy-listening tune and the slogan, "the energy of 5th and 7th Avenues," you know, without being on either of those streets. (2) As you can tell by the picture, there are now some model units to look at, and there's an Open House on Sunday from 1-3! Pack up the kids! (3) Corcoran now has a bunch of listings posted on their site, including one 1,500-square-foot three-bedroom that just cracks $1 million. Says our unbiased tipster: "Asking prices seem to range between $600 and $675 psf. Seems a little high for the nabe, but I’m sure the upper floor units have great views."
· 'New Park Slope' is Not Like the Old One [Curbed]
· Novo Park Slope [Corcoran New Developments]
· Novo Park Slope [Official Site]
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