Rapid NYC’s Real Estate Blog

West Village ex-pats are finding Fort Greene Brooklyn NY real estate to be a better option, reports the New York Times. A recent article chronicled the experience of Hali Lee and Peter von Ziegesar, who recently relocated their family from the West Village’s Bank Street to a Brooklyn house on South Portland Avenue.

Even though the kids still attend the Village Community School, play soccer at Pier 40 and Ms. Lee still works at the Asian Women Giving Circle, they find Brooklyn NY real estate to be much more satisfying.

“I’m really grateful we don’t have four Marc Jacobs on this block,” Ms. Lee said. “I mean, we could use a little more shopping around here, but I’m glad to leave behind the high-end mall that the West Village had become.”

She adds that Brooklyn is much more down-to-earth. “I feel like this is more my people. There are mixed-race couples and black people here who aren’t nannies,” she describes. “We’ve met a bunch of families on the block. When the weather’s nice, the kids can literally just go outside and play. I mean, what a revelation! They can go outside and scooter or play ball with the other kids on the sidewalk.”

This kind of comfort isn’t a common commodity for families in New York City. But the neighborhoods and Brooklyn apartments for rent around Fort Greene have improved ten-fold over the past decade. While the old ground floor tenant claims she used to plaster Bible verses on the walls “to keep the bad juju from the crackheads upstairs out,” no remnants of unfriendliness or criminal activity were left behind. Lee and von Ziegesar bought their piece of Brooklyn NY real estate for $1.8 million and have had no complaints.

Bruce Ratner’s name is known around Brooklyn NY real estate agents as much as real estate mogul Donald Trump. The President and CEO of Forest City Ratner has undertaken several highly anticipated developments – including the Metro Tech office complex in downtown Brooklyn and the Frank Gehry designed Atlantic Yards project that will house the NY Nets and affordable housing.

His latest purchase was the Upper East Side five-story brownstone townhouse of a quirky Viennese orthodontist — Dr. Egon Neustadt – who owned an enormous collection of Tiffany lamps that he hoped would be housed in a Connecticut museum one day. His museum never came to fruition and the house at 128 East 62nd Street was finally sold off to Ratner for $6.9 million.

Some people find this terribly amusing, considering Ratner’s Atlantic Yards proposal may involve the demolition of an enclave of historic brownstones, which are a treasured staple of Brooklyn NY real estate. Mr. Ratner didn’t indicate whether he intended his new purchase to be a personal residence or his next development opportunity.

The co-op Brooklyn NY apartments for rent presented a problem for the Neustadt Collection owners for decades. “The process has taken 23 years,” said president Milton Hassol. “As other people wanted to sell we bought them out. … And then when we got 67 percent interest, we could sell”—according to co-op rules.

In court this month, Bruce Ratner was given the go-ahead to use eminent domain if necessary to buy more space for the 22-acre Atlantic Yards proposal. He celebrated publicly, saying, “Today’s decision is more than another victory for Atlantic Yards,” he said then. “It is a victory for public good.”

It may be hard for residents to imagine the toxic Gowanus Canal as anything but an eyesore and Brooklyn NY real estate depreciator. Once a prominent shipping hub, the canal has now become a waste dump for garbage, chemicals and other toxins.

However, the department of Housing Preservation and Development revealed their plans for Public Place, an idyllic urban oasis with green space and desirable (yet affordable) housing.

They say it will take at least two years to decontaminate the site of a former manufactured gas plant, but the department is optimistic about the plan and unveiled a $360 million multi-project proposal to clean up the Flushing Tunnel, upgrade the main pumping station, skim overflowing debris, dredging stinky sediment, reduce floating trash by 78% and make the water inhabitable for fish and humans once again.

Imagine the area surrounding the canal transformed into an urban oasis with kayaking and two to four acres of tree-lined green space with trails for walking dogs, biking and rollerblading. The housing unit proposals suggest there will be over 700 new Brooklyn apartments for rent, including 100 residences for seniors and 60% of the units set aside for those making less than the median income.

In a series titled “Historically Speaking,” historian John B. Manbeck takes a look at Brooklyn’s role in WWII America. Whether you’re walking the tree-lined historic brownstone district streets or perusing the neighborhoods where enormous shutdown factories are being renovated into mixed-use condos, you can’t help but sense the rich history of Brooklyn NY real estate – and sort of mourn its passing.
“Brooklyn was America’s largest staging area in World War II,” notes publisher Frank Schroth. He writes how all of Brooklyn was actively involved in the war effort. Brooklyn NY real estate housed the New York Port of Embarkation, which employed 60,000 people in Sunset Park, who worked to send 63 million tons of supplies to the 3 million troops in Europe! The center stretched over 50 millions from the Brooklyn Army and Bush terminals. The Brooklyn Navy Yard (once prestigiously called the “New York Naval Station”) was a huge part of the operations, as was the Sheepshead Bay Maritime Training Station.

Other Brooklyn NY real estate that played a part was the US Naval Hospital near the Navy Yard and Coney Island’s Half Moon Hotel served as a physical and psychological therapy center. The building at 50 Jay Street shipped informational pamphlets overseas and Dyker Heights housed the larger Veterans Hospital. The Navy’s Armed Guard Center was located at 52 Street in Bay Ridge, while the Coast Guard set up shop at the end of Columbia Street in Red Hook. Supply depots and artillery stations were set up in Gerrittsen Beach and Sunset Park. Belt Parkway (once called the “Circumferential Highway”) connected the various supply routes from one part of Brooklyn to the next.

So when you see that next hulk of a building undergoing renovation, imagine what it may have been, what significance it had and you’ll better understand the changes that apartments for rent in Brooklyn and other warehouses have seen.

Not everyone in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is enthused about the radical changes taking place or the Brooklyn NY real estate agents calling their home “the next hotspot for Manhattanites.”

Truth be told, the people who have been here weathering the storm and riding the wave of change over the past few decades are starting to see the unfortunate effects of neighborhood gentrification.

“If you’re going to change a place and make it better, it should be for the people who already live there,” says one hair salon owner. “The landlords renovate your apartment and raise the rent, and they call it ‘rehabilitation.’ They say it’s for the economy, it’s for development. It’s for yourself, that’s who it’s for.”

The Brooklyn NY real estate prices have certainly increased – for both homeowners and renters. Last year, condo prices rose 14% to $630,000 and the average residential sale price increased 8% to $661,000, according to The Corcoran Group’s end-of-the-year report. One anonymous hair salon owner notes that she’s paid $90 more each time she renewed her lease, but the last time she paid $120 more. “It costs $1,200 to $1,300 a month for a one-bedroom apartment, a one-bedroom. A single mother can’t afford that,” she added.

Some residents fear other changes from gentrification – like the colorful Jamaican Jerk restaurant being replaced by eye-sore “trendy” neon signs and yuppie bars. There are more cameras and police officers on the streets, but that may not necessarily be a bad thing.

“Before 9/11 you could count the number of white people on one hand, now everyone wants to get out of the city and come to Brooklyn,” commented another resident. “The white people here have made it a little bit safer… there are more cops patrolling. I’m not happy with prices going up, but I feel safer.”

While much emphasis in the Brooklyn NY real estate community is given to the architecture, accessibility to mass transit, the surrounding developments and the nearby amenities, another quintessential question for homebuyers or renters is: Will I fit in here?

It’s not an outward sort of racism or hermitage, but rather the natural human instinct to seek out other like-minded individuals or similar groups of people to nest. There are some people looking in Park Slope who mandate they want to see Brooklyn apartments for rent that come without children on the premises. There are some residents of Bushwick who want to live where Chris Rock grew up.

So, would you fit in at Prospect-Lefferts Gardens? The neighborhoods here are heterogeneous, with people hailing from Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Asia, as well as Manhattanite newcomers and longtime white and black working class residents.

”There are nice neighbors, professionals, kids, house tours,” said Pearl R. Miles, the district manager for the community board.

Shawn Mason, a white college student, notes the charm of this Brooklyn NY real estate saying, “Lefferts Gardens is a fabulous combination of all things Brooklyn. Or at least, things I dream about Brooklyn.”

In the early 2000s, Manhattanites have been slowly lurking around areas like Park Slope and Prospect Heights in search of hidden gems in Brooklyn NY real estate. Around the Eastern edge, many people found it. Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is a recently developed neighborhood that has Brooklyn real estate agents and newspaper journalists clamoring.

The Maple Street historic district is said to be the heart of Prospect-Lefferts Gardens. The neighborhood is packed with diverse exteriors – from turn-of-the-century Victorians to gas lamp lit limestones, bricks and brownstones. Those in search of Brooklyn real estate can find houses on sycamore-lined streets with porches, garages and backyards for under $1 million.

Karen Johnson moved to the area from Park Slope. She commented, ”I drove down the street, stunned by how beautiful it was and said, ‘I want to live here.’ ” Later, she was delighted to find that she could call her neighbors up to borrow an egg and that.

The Corcoran Group’s Brooklyn NY real estate agent Joy Weiner said she sold six properties in that neighborhood recently, all to Manhattan ex-pats. To give you an idea, consider that interior designer John Loecke bought a four-story Tudor for $675,000 and another resident Amy Cunningham purchased a two-bedroom, two-den limestone house for $546,000.

People searching for apartments for rent in Brooklyn may have heard that there are great deals around but aren’t sure exactly where to look for the hard bargains. The best “bang for your buck” neighborhoods, according to Deborah Rieders of The Corcoran Group, mentioned Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy and East Williamsburg/Bushwick.

In Bedford-Stuyvesant, new condos and co-ops were designed stylishly and economically for an artist clientele. Quaint Retail businesses, cafes and wine shops give the area a cozy atmosphere, although there are still some areas where fights and violence regularly erupt, so Rieders recommends surveying the scene on a weekend night to see what’s shaking.

In East Williamsburg/Bushwick, you can save 10% just by looking on the other side of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. The 15-minute commute to Manhattan is a big plus for many residents, as are the ample shopping centers just around the corner.

Prospect-Lefferts Gardens is still the best deal in Brooklyn NY real estate, Rieders adds. It’s the least expensive of the three areas and the pre-War apartments are spacious, with character and charm. Accessibility to Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Museum and the B/Q Train attracts families looking for a stable environment.

The “stroller wars” were mainly confined to Park Slope, where baby SUVs regularly clog narrow entryways and mornings at the café are punctuated by crying toddlers. Now, with high-rises like BellTell selling apartments with multiple bedrooms, new families are moving into Downtown Brooklyn, sharing hallways with singles and “childless by choice” couples who aren’t amused by rambunctious laughter.

Generally new Brooklyn NY real estate developments are welcomed, especially because so many buildings are mandated as “affordable housing” and the approved plans are always attractive looking. For families looking for Brooklyn apartments for rent, BellTell Lofts looked like a good fit, with its spacious quarters, multiple bedrooms and various amenities.

However, not all residents are family-friendly and it seems there’s a dispute happening at BellTell Lofts that some call “a culture war between the haves and the have-nots.” The situation has some parents searching for apartments for rent in Brooklyn feeling a little uneasy.

At Curbed.com, an article inflamed the angriest residents who say that unruly children in the common areas are pushing their buttons. A single condo owner complained, “A few loud mouth moms and dads at the expense of the other owners want to take space away from the game room (pool table) and tv room, gym room and stretching area to make a kids play room.” He continued, “The kids and their nannies and parents will hi-jack the rest of the space with all their noise and screaming.”

The debate erupted into a question of whether kids belong in the city at all, though downtown Brooklyn has cleaned up a lot over the years. Some residents even called children “spawn” or “larvae”

Angry parents argued: “You need to share this world. Children are a part of it, and they are the future… One day that kid down the hall is going to be spoon-feeding you oatmeal mush while you lie in a hospital bed with dementia.”

The question is: can a condo developer legally change the original offering plan for common area amenities, especially if that particular feature was a selling factor?

Believe it or not, 100 people passed on watching the NY Giants win the Superbowl this year to participate in the Brooklyn Real Estate Roundtable. At the meeting, virtually everything affecting Brooklyn NY apartments for rent, condo developments, financing, Federal Reserve questions and zoning were brought to the table.

“I think today highlighted all the things going on in Brooklyn: the Navy Yard, new condos in Prospect Heights and exciting office renovations on Court Street,” said Steering Committee member David Kramer.

Gregg Winter of Winter and Co came to the meeting to get some first quarter figures on apartments for rent in Brooklyn, which were surprisingly promising. Some new Brooklyn real estate companies wanted to meet to discuss fair pricing in a given area.

The developers and CEOs talked mean and green: Andrew Kimball of the Navy Yard Development Corp assured citizens and developers, “We have a mayor who’s seen the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a jewel…. It’s been a sleeping giant for many years. We are branding this as a sustainable industrial park. All new developments will be green.”

The Navy Yard enjoyed center stage as the panel boasted about its 1.3 million square feet of industrial space and what will come of the 1.9 million square feet of undecided developable land that will undoubtedly include film and retail properties.

One thing was evident, based on the meeting: Brooklyn NY real estate agents had a lot to celebrate about. “We don’t know where the next ‘cool’ area is going to be,” said city planner Joseph Salvo “A pattern of young people still continues to come to the west side of Brooklyn.”