There was a time, up until a month ago, when this would have beendestructoporn. The scene is in Maspeth at St. Saviour's Church, the battle for which we returned to many times. What appears at first glance to be destructoporn in this photo sent by a tipster is actually a brand new genre: deconstructoporn. Per an agreement that was finally reached after a long community battle, St. Saviour's is being moved to a new location. Apparently it is being taken apart to be relocated. Condos will most likely eventually rise on the site, which used to look a little different.
A couple of weeks ago, we noted activity at one of our favorite Burg obsessions, 184 Kent. We were especially interested in the light coming through the windows that could be seen from Kent Avenue. A tipster went up into the Northside Piers tower and sent along some photos of the pit in the middle of the building, writing:
I went to Toll Advantage Day yesterday primarily to peer down into 184 Kent. It's been pretty much demolished. The model apartment in the Toll building was nicer than I thought it would be, but not very unique.
The building on 14th and 8th that housed the former McKenna's bar and Tequila's restaurant has come down. Today there is nothing but a pile of rubble, but earlier this week, Tequila’s ragged, hot-pink walls were exposed, creating a surreal Third World war-zone scene on 14th Street. On the broken wall, a no smoking sign and a poster for Mexico, love, and Bud Light. A 30,000 square foot luxury condo is supposedly on its way. According to the Real Deal, the 245-247 West 14th Street property sold for $12.75 million to Millennium NY in an all-cash sale by the Cornerstone Development Group who hyped this property as “just a couple of blocks from the heart of the Meatpacking District.” Stay tuned as MePa Creep travels down 14th Street all the way to the East River.
This is the possible future of 40 Berry Street in Williamsburg, AKA 34 Berry, which will be a rental building with 142 units on seven floors. The 96,000 square foot building at Berry & N. 12 Streets comes from Perkins Eastman. It's unclear if these renderings on the architect's website (which seem to mistakenly bear the address of the building next door) are the final design, but they're sure interesting. New plans for the building were, literally, filed yesterday. The development will require a significant amount of demolition, including the take down of a rather nice old industrial structure at 99 N. 11 Street, for which demolition permits have been issued. The bottom line: More new friends for 55 Berry in this once quiet and lonely corner of the Burg.
· 40 Berry Street [perkinseastman.com]
· Big Rental Planned Near McCarren Park [Brownstoner]
It could be that 111 Kent will be the Williamsburg waterfront's sleeper development. While much attention has been focused on Northside Piers, the Edge and North8 (to the left in the photo), 111 has been quietly coming along. The building doesn't have a name or marketing campaign, and it's undergone a fairly radical remake from its original rendering. What it does have going for it, though, are amenities like a rooftop pool, and a location across the street from East River State Park, which means that most of the killer views from its 57 apartments won't be going away. In the meantime, it's almost at maximum height of 7 stories.
· Construction Watch: 111 Kent Avenue Comes Into View [Curbed]
· Rendering v. Rendering: New Burg Building v 2.0 [Curbed]
Whether things have been going well for TreeTop Development in Williamsburg, we suppose, depends on one's point of view. The company did get $7.95 million from Dermott Company for its 30-unit rental building on S. 1st Street called the Triangulum, but that means that it has also shed one of its biggest projects. Meanwhile, its condo a few blocks away was tied up with a Stop Work Order for so long that it had started to take on the look of a stalled development. The order was lifted not long ago and work is underway again. According to the TreeTop website, sales on the Keap Street building are supposed to start in October, but we're not clear if that meant last year or the coming one. Apparently, 21 of the 30 apartments in the Triangulum were renovated before the sale to Dermot.
· Treetop Sells W'burg Building to Dermot [Brooklyn Daily Eagle]
· Williamsburg Makes Way for New...Rentals? [Curbed]
Yes, we're somewhat overly interested in the Gene Kauman-designed Decora in the hot N. 10 Street corridor between Williamsburg's Union and Wythe Avenues, where nearly a dozen buildings are going up. We thought the Decora was just getting a finish of green tiles on the weird semi-oval structure at the top. Alas, we were wrong. It's also gotten some oil-slick colored tiles very similar to those gracing the Adelphi in Fort Greene. The sun wasn't out at the time, though, so it's unclear if the new tiles shimmer.
This is the condo, whose early working name is The Gowanus. It's not rising in Gowanus, but on First Street in Park Slope near Fourth Avenue. The image on the left is the rendering that first surfaced late last year. The building itself lost much of the scaffolding and netting last week that had surrounded it, making it a good, if early, Rendering/Reality candidate. (The rendering is no doubt an early iteration, yet interesting in a how things change kind of way.) The building comes from Steven Kratchman Architect.
· Park Slope #2: Big Mac Tower on First Street [Curbed]
Has it really been more than two years since the landmarking-unlandmarking drama about 184 Kent and almost two since residents were cleared from the building? Yes, it has. And, two years later, it looks like some sort of serious activity has been underway inside the building (there was a Stop Work Order for a week until earlier today). Lights are visible at night through windows that have been removed and daylight is actually visible through the windows on the top floor where it looks like part of the roof has been cut away. In the meantime, the rumor mill continues with the same buzz about last year's news that the building will be rental. The new spin is that some of the amenities, like a planned pool, have been cut and that even the addition of floors may by up in the air. (The application from SLCE Architects to add two new floors to the building is still pending at DOB, having been rejected last year.) It has long been rumored that the developer is working to get Historic Preservation Tax Credits and the latest word that the exterior modifications will be minimal are in line with that effort. Something's up, because a permit to toss up a shed building was approved today too.
· Kent Avenue #2: More Plywood and a Fence at 184 [Curbed]
· Exclusive: 184 Kent Makeover Revealed [Curbed]
Residents have just started moving into the Sofia Lofts at N. 9 & Roebling Streets, which were converted fairly quickly and sold out relatively fast. In any case, here's a view of the Sofia, pre-conversion, in late April, 2006 and a few days ago. (There an early gutting view here.) About two-thirds of the buildings that were standing in the several blocks around the building in the spring of '06 are no longer there. Most are empty lots, under construction or in demolition as we speak.
· Development Du Jour: Sophia Lofts [Curbed]
· Last Original Building Left on Roebling Street Gets a Prize [Curbed]
There had been a Stop Work Order for several months at the site of the Metropolitan Cinema & Apartments, the Burg's someday-to-be indie film palace with condos on top. Then, after it was lifted, there was little evidence of progress. Enough has happened in the last couple of weeks, like the appearance of new steel, to warrant another look. Plus, a bunch of cool new renderings have been posted by the architect, Caliper Studio, which appear in the photo gallery. The website for the cinema has been passworded, but things are starting to look good for the 2009 film season.
· Burg's Hipster Cinema Ready Online, But Not In Reality [Curbed]
· Here's Williamsburg's Metropolitan Cinema & Apts. [Curbed]
The Sun takes a look this morning at the Hello Living complex of eight buildings and 106 condos in Prospect Heights. There are two notable things to come from the story. First, the developer says that he sees the buildings as forces of gentrification in a neighborhood (very close to the Atlantic Yards footprint currently being cleared) with vacant lots and abandoned houses. He says: "I had to create my own neighborhood" and that he, in fact, added two more buildings after starting the project. The other thing, though, is some fairly impressive PriceChopping on remaining units at the first two buildings to hit the market, the Madison and the Hudson. Units have gotten some fairly serious axe with a 1,230 foot, 3BR going from $900K to $849K.
· Developer Pushes New Vision for Prospect Heights [Sun]
· Hello Living [helloliving.com]
The recent crop of condos in Greenpoint is starting to bloom and one of the more interesting ones is 143 Huron Street, which manages to cut quite a profile. New York Shitty writes of the intended effect: "If I had to take a guess I’d say Imperial Storm Trooper meets Jawa Sandcrawler with a dash of Mondrian thrown in for good measure." And, yes, that's a century-old public bath building to the left.
A slot of a lot in Little Italy just north of Old St. Patrick's Cathedral is about to be built upon. It'll be something new and fun, or so says the word on the street. The owner of this 20' wide property is Mr. Karl Kopp of Kopp's Custard fame. Mr Kopp not only knows his custard but knows his architecture as well. This can be seen over at Kopp's ever-playful and oh-so-modern glass and steel Bar 89 on Mercer Street in Soho, designed back in 1993 by architect Gilles DePardon of Ogawa/DePardon. This time Ricardo Scofidio of Diller Scofidio + Renfro will be the one who Kopp will play with. As of yet, the DS+R website isn't showing any renderings. The Department of Buildings shows that this one will be 7 stories with 3 units. But the more trusted word on the street says it will actually rise just 6-1/2 stories. No word if there will be a Kopp's Custard at street level.
· Kopp's Frozen Custard [wikipedia]
· On the Market: Grillin' on Greenwich [Curbed]
· Selected Projects [Diller Scofidio + Renfro website]
It has been way too long since we looked at 110 Green Street, the big condo in Greenpoint that boasts Magic Johnson as an investor. Well, it's been topped off and is looming large, though it is far, far from complete more than a year into its construction. In any case, there is no sign yet of a name or marketing strategy. The official addresses of the building from Meltzer/Mandl are 110 Green and 137 Huron. They will have 130 apartments, plus rooftop terrace and pool.
The very idea of 80 South Street, the futuristic stack of cubic condos designed by architectural wizard Santiago Calatrava that is going nowhere fast but still refuses to die, keeps hope alive in the minds of archi-freaks everywhere. Despite that hope one watchful soul over at Wired New York has dug up what could be considered evidence of the first nail in Calatrava's coffin. WNY poster BrooklynLove, while doing some rooting around in cyberspace, happened upon a few gems from Cook+Fox Architects that just might be 80 South Street revised.
Remember the 23-story glass tower planned for Prospect-Lefferts Garden near Prospect Park? Well, someone's added a huge flock of birds to the rendering to illustrate migrating birds smashing into it. Prospect Park is, apparently, a popular hangout for birds on the Atlantic Flyway and a naturalist at its Audobon Center says "you'll just find the ground littered with birds." Ouch. [Brownstoner; previously]
Representatives from the Clarett Group and other development partners, including architect Robert Rogers of Rogers Marvel faced a large crowd in Carroll Gardens last night to show the plans for their new building at 340 Court Street. (Photos of the renderings, which are everywhere this morning, are in the slideshow, and we've got pleas out for the real thing.) The main building would rise to 70 feet, have retail at street level and be clad in a gray stone. There would be town houses on the side streets. How did it go over in increasingly cranky Carroll Gardens, where residents have been inundated with major development proposals lately? Not that well.
One of the most bitter demolition vs. preservation battles in the entire city (well, in Queens) has come to a end with an agreement to move St. Saviour Church from from its current location. Just a few weeks ago, it looked like the church was toast, but preservationists have reached an agreement with the developer to spare the church from demolition. The church might be moved a few blocks or dismantled and moved to another site until a permanent home is found. The final destination for St. Saviour's is supposed to be All Faiths Cemetery in Middle Village. St. Saviour was designed by Richard Upjohn, who was the architect of Trinity Church in lower Manhattan. It was his model of a "small wooden church."
· St. Saviour Church Saved [NYDN]
· Site Eyed for St. Saviour's [Queens Crap]
Back when the 160 Imlay project in Red Hook was first planned, the Brooklyn real estate market was on fire. Well, a legal hurdle dating back four years has been cleared and the development has emerged to a...market that is somewhat less buoyant than it used to be. No matter. A state appeals court dismissed a lawsuit seeking to block the condo conversion of the six-story, 1911 New York Dock Company building. The $90 million development would put retail on the first two floors and 144 condos on the top four floors. The crux of the long-running Battle of Imlay Street is that the area is zoned for manufacturing use, but the developer got the go ahead in 2003 for residential development over the objections of the local Community Board. A group filed suit in 2004, saying the development would hurt industrial use of the waterfront. So, it's a go, right? Wrong. Brownstoner has a press release from the developer, but opponents call the decision "a bump in the road" and say they will appeal. The good news? By the time the litigation is settled, the real estate market may be looking up again.
· 160 Imlay Finally Gets the Go-Ahead [Brownstoner]
· Case Dismissed Against Red Hook Residential Development [BDE]
· 160 Imlay Update: So Much for That [Curbed]
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What might have been the most watched and inspected crane "jumping" operation in New York City construction history happened this weekend on Flatbush Avenue at the site of the "New Angle on Modern Living" development, aka the Toren or the 38-story building at 150 Myrtle Avenue. The operation kicked off on Saturday, with people regarding it with "anticipation, confidence and anxiety," and was still going strong yesterday, with crane parts dangling high in the air.
· Eyes on the Sky at the First Crane Jump Since a Collapse [NYT]
· New Flatbush Avenue Condo Gets Bannered [Curbed]
One of the more interesting renderings we've seen for a new building in Williamsburg comes not from the shop of Karl Fischer or Gene Kaufman or Robert Scarano or from any of the developers working in the neigbhorhood, but from the Brooklyn Animal Resource Coalition. This is a rendering of a plan for a building that would go up where its current facility is located. It would be located a few hundred feet from 80 Metropolitan, on the townhouse side of that development, and from Mr. Scarano's "tumor" building. The building will house a "new state-of-the-art shelter and spay/neuter clinic."
A team from developer Toll Brothers brought their big Gowanus project before a community audience a few blocks from the Carroll Gardens site last night for a session remarkably devoid of fireworks, given previously expressed hostility in the neighborhood. The firm is trying to gain special zoning approval from the city apart from the overall Gowanus rezoning. Toll VP for Development David Von Spreckelsen explained that the firm is pushing for city approval because there is only a year-and-a-half left in the Bloomberg administration, and "we're not sure if that rezoning will happen" before the end of his term.
Asked about the softening real estate market, Mr. Von Spreckelsen said that the firm is "committed to the project" and that "we'd love to go forward" with it. The development would have 447 units of housing, about 140 of which would be affordable rental units developed by L&M Equity. GreenbergFarrow is the project architect. The development would sit on raised ground because of flooding issues around the Gowanus Canal, and it would be LEED certified, feature its own storm sewer system with holding tanks, and have a public esplanade/park on the water. Toll hopes the land-use review process for the development will start before summer.
· Toll Brothers Big Gowanus Project Revealed [Curbed]
· Reps from Toll Brothers Detail Big Gowanus Development [Brownstoner]
· Gowanus Organizing to Block Toll Brothers Project [Curbed]
Ah, Atlantic Avenue. Today, the Post's Max Gross weighs in with an ode to Atlantic Ave. gentrification that hits all the highlights: the eventual coming of Trader Joe's, the new Urban Outfitters, The Smith luxe condos and a whole bunch of shops and restaurants that have replaced some traditional Middle Eastern businesses and more recent funky antique and used furniture shops. The story does note the presence of the one non-gentrification anomaly on Atlantic, the looming Brooklyn House of Detention, but quotes a resident who gushes "The prison presence is barely noticeable at all!" One 40-year resident is quoted as saying, "It was a slum when I first moved here." And there is the obligatory reference to how having bought back in the 1960s would have been an excellent idea. Specifically, "back in 1968, a brownstone off Atlantic Avenue could be procured for about $40,000" and in one case that's noted, for $14,000. A little closer to the modern era, the Post notes price increases for Boerum Hill brownstones from about $1.5 million in 2000 to $2.5 million today.
· Atlantic Current: Brooklyn Breaks Out in a Big Way [NYP]
· Atlantic Avenue: the Video [NYP]
Anyone that's ever ventured to the far end of Hunters Point in Long Island City near at the mouth of Newtown Creek knows that it's a wasteland. It's the area that's was originally marketed as the site of the Olympic Village for the failed 2012 Olympics bid and has since been re-rebranded as Queens West South. It could someday have thousands of units of housing. In the meantime, it's still a scary wasteland. Photographer Nate Kensinger wandered in and has posted shots offering views of Manhattan across the river and Queens West to the north. He calls it, "an idyllic, private barbeque spot, with homemade swings and benches looking out across the water at Manhattan's midtown rush." Us, we'll take the bigger, better Water Taxi Beach and its new sand.
· Long Island City: Hunters Point South [Nathan Kensinger Photography]
· More Hating on Hunters Point South [Curbed]
The downzoning of Grand Street and some surround blocks in Williamsburg has moved with lightning speed, mostly in response to two planned Karl Fischer towers. This past weekend, however, some local property owners starting sending out email blasts bout their opposition to the rezoning--primarily that limiting buildings to 4-6 stories will hurt them. The mini-revolt makes this morning's Post, which puts the cost of the rezoning at $120 mil
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One of the most bitter demolition vs. preservation battles in the entire city (well, in Queens) has come to a end with an agreement to move St. Saviour Church from from its current location. Just a few weeks ago, it 
