Dumbo

April 3, 2017

Dumbo Clock Tower penthouse finally sells for $15M, is borough’s priciest condo ever sold

And just like that, the record for the most expensive condo ever sold in Brooklyn has been broken. A triplex penthouse at 1 Main Street, atop the Clock Tower building in Dumbo, sold for $15 million, beating out a unit at Brooklyn Bridge Park’s Pierhouse that closed for nearly $10.6 million just last month. As the New York Post reported, the historic unit had a hard time finding a buyer; it sat on the market for nearly six years, switched brokerages and chopping its price tag several times.
See the iconic Clock Tower here

Real Estate Trends

March 6, 2017

Bjarke Ingels moves firm to huge new headquarters in ‘Scandamerican’ DUMBO

By Michelle Cohen

Architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) has just added heft to the big-name design, media and technology shift that has been setting up shop in Brooklyn. BIG, founded by noted Danish architect–and DUMBO resident–Bjarke Ingels, just signed a lease for 50,000 square feet at Two Trees' 45 Main Street building in the Brooklyn waterfront neighborhood, with plans to relocate their Manhattan office at 61 Broadway to the new space, which is twice the size of the company's current NYC headquarters. As 6sqft previously reported, Ingels purchased a $4 million penthouse home at 205 Water Street with views of 2 World Trade Center back in 2015.
Find out more

Architecture And Design

March 2, 2017

Live in a hip DUMBO warehouse conversion for $895/month, lottery opening at 181 Front Street

By Dana Schulz

Back in 2012, Megalith Capital Management and Urban Realty Partners bought two neighboring DUMBO sites from the Jehovah’s Witnesses for more than $30 million. They then tapped Aufgang Architects to design both warehouse conversions: a landmarked former Brillo factory at 200 Water Street was transformed into 15 boutique condos; 181 Front Street into a 105-unit rental. Twenty percent of apartments in the latter development are reserved as affordable, and as of tomorrow, New Yorkers earning 60 percent of the area median income can apply for these 21 units, which range from $895/month one-bedrooms to $1,247/month three-bedrooms.
Get all the info here

Affordable Housing

February 20, 2017

Anish Kapoor will bring a spiraling funnel of black water to Brooklyn Bridge Park

By Diane Pham

Brooklyn Bridge Park is the last place we'd expect to find a menacing art installation summoning feelings of nothingness. But come May, Anish Kapoor will bring his acclaimed installation "Descension" to one of the park's busiest stretches, Pier 1. As described by The NY Public Art Fund (the project's curator), Descension is a 26-foot diameter whirlpool that funnels pitch-black, naturally dyed water below ground, inviting visitors to carefully peer into its swirling abyss.
more details here

Events & Things To Do

February 13, 2017

ODA’s crystalline 10 Jay Street gets new renderings of retail and office space

By Dana Schulz

It's been eight months since ODA Architecture received its final approvals from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to convert the former Arbuckle Brothers sugar refinery building in Dumbo into a modern retail and office site. We've previously seen renderings of 10 Jay Street's prismatic East River-facing elevation--which was inspired by sugar crystals, the nearby Manhattan Bridge, and the neighborhood's historic steel and brick facades--and now that the rehab is in full swing, CityRealty noticed that the leasing team has debuted a new website with never-before-seen renderings of the brick east wall, adjoining waterfront plaza, retail space, and offices.
See all the renderings ahead

Jared-less Kushner Companies readies for construction at DUMBO’s Jehovah’s Witness parking lot

Conceptual massing of 85 Jay Street based on approved zoning, via CityRealty

February 3, 2017

Jared-less Kushner Companies readies for construction at DUMBO’s Jehovah’s Witness parking lot

By Dana Schulz

Despite the fact that Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner stepped down as CEO of Kushner Companies in order to transition from developer to full-time presidential advisor, his family's firm is moving ahead with their big plans at a three-acre parking lot in DUMBO. Just over a month ago, the joint partnership among Kushner, LIVWRK, and CIM Group paid $345 million to the Jehovah’s Witnesses for the site at 85 Jay Street, which brought Kushner's total investment in the area to more than $1 billion. CityRealty recently visited the site and found that they've ceased parking operations and moved construction equipment onsite.
All the details ahead

New Developments

June 14, 2016

Landmarks Approves ODA’s Wall Replacement for Former DUMBO Sugar Factory Building

By Ondel Hylton

Last summer, the Landmark Preservation Commission approved ODA Architecture's sugar crystal-inspired vision for a DUMBO commercial loft building at 10 Jay Street. Today the team went back before the LPC and received approvals to replace the building's deteriorated east wall that has been covered in stucco since the 1970s and is in dire need of structural repair. Developer Glacier Global Partners previously fancied condos for the 19th century sugar factory building, but the robust Brooklyn office market led the developers to a change of heart, envisioning 200,000 square feet of class-A office space instead.
Get all the details right here

April 22, 2016

First Look at StudiosC’s Boutique Condominium Underway at 187 Bridge Street

By Ondel Hylton and Julian Friedman

Within Downtown Brooklyn's detached island of urbanity between the Manhattan Bridge on-ramp and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, local architecture firm StudiosC has designed a modestly scaled, ground-up condominium at the corner of Bridge and Nassau Streets. Re-approved plans filed by the architect of record Karl Fischer detail an eight-story building with 12,000 square feet of gross floor area.
More details ahead

December 17, 2015

$1.6 Million Dumbo Apartment Comes With Awesome Views of the Brooklyn Bridge

By Emily Nonko

Views! Views! Views! Seriously, that's what you're getting with this two-bedroom apartment at 70 Washington Street, a former Dumbo warehouse that has been converted into 225 condo apartments. It was converted by Two Trees Management, prominent developers in the neighborhood, who built out luxury loft apartments and included a 24-hour concierge, doorman, fitness room, and roof deck with the building. This apartment has windows in both the living room and bedroom that offer an incredible look out onto the entire stretch of the Brooklyn Bridge and Lower Manhattan skyline. There's a total of 1,310 square feet and a lofty, open floor plan. A view like that in a neighborhood as popular as Dumbo doesn't come cheap -- although you can still find the occasional apartment in the area for under $1 million without the impressive views, of course. This one is on the market for $1.6 million, after last selling in 2007 for $1,055,926.
Take the tour

Distinctive Homes

September 1, 2015

Loft Renovation in DUMBO’s Eagle Warehouse Building Is Playful and Strategic

By Rebecca Paul

This playfully decorated loft is located in DUMBO's landmarked Eagle Warehouse Building. Although the space has always been generous in square footage, prior to the renovation the original residence only had two small windows and very little natural light. To open up and brighten the home, Etelamaki Architecture removed the kitchen walls and introduced various design treatments to increase the presence of natural light and to define distinct functional spaces.
Check out the rest of the loft

June 18, 2015

Bjarke Ingels Picks Up $4M Dumbo Penthouse with Views of 2 World Trade Center

By Dana Schulz

When we have something to celebrate we usually do it with a glass of wine and some cake, but starchitect Bjarke Ingels is toasting his recently revealed design for 2 World Trade Center with a $3.89 million Dumbo penthouse. The Daily News reports that Ingels will be moving into the three-bedroom duplex at 205 Water Street, which offers a whopping 2,344 square feet of outdoor space, spread across four terraces, that provides the perfect view of the architect's impending Financial District tower. The sellers of the industrial-chic pad are interior designer and lifestyle guru Athena Calderone and her music producer husband, DJ Victor Calderone, who bought the home for $2.3 million in 2012 and originally listed it for $4.3 million back in January.
Take a look around the impressive home

April 2, 2015

Bask in Manhattan Views from the Roof Deck of This $2.4M DUMBO Loft

By Aisha Carter

There's a $2.4 million pad at 50 Bridge Street in DUMBO just waiting to show off its spectacular architecture and indescribable views. This 2,200 square-foot triplex loft has it all, including a private roof deck with views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, and the East River, all in one hot neighborhood.
More pics inside

Distinctive Homes

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle

Rendering via ODA

March 30, 2015

Fly-Through Video of ODA’s 10 Jay Street Shows Crystalline Facade from Every Angle

By Dana Schulz

We've been seeing a lot of innovative work from ODA Architecture lately–from their Bushwick rental project that looks uncannily similar to a project by Bjarke Ingels in Denmark to their provocative ziggurat-like proposal for Gowanus. And last week, their design for the northern façade of 10 Jay Street in Dumbo won approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The site was formerly a sugar refinery, which inspired ODA's crystal-like design, and the warehouse will be turned into condos with ground-floor retail. We've now uncovered a fly-through video of the building, which shows the façade from every angle. The video description says: "When there is no wall to preserve and no façade to restore, contemporary architecture can tell a story about a sequence of historical events. The architect is a visual biographer writing a tale of one building from 1897 to 2015 arguably doing more for preservation than imitating reality."
Watch the video here

February 8, 2015

MADE IN BROOKLYN: A Rep for Authenticity and Excellence That’s Well-Earned–and Far from New

By Michelle Cohen

The story behind cheese-aging facility Crown Finish Caves in Crown Heights tells of an enormous amount of risk and dedication to making something on a small scale; to doing one thing well. It also once again stirs the hive of buzz around today’s Brooklyn. Article after article raises the idea that Brooklyn’s moment as the new hot spot for excellence in food, culture and authentic, hand-crafted goods, is in some quarters regarded as trite and trendy hype with little substance to it. For some, the underground cheese caves are just one more example: Cheese caves. How Brooklyn. Thirty feet below street level, in the lagering tunnels of a former brewery beneath the Monti Building in Crown Heights, Benton Brown and Susan Boyle spent several years renovating and creating “Brooklyn’s premier cheese-aging facility” complete with state-of-the-art humidity control and cooling systems. The couple created the 70-foot space with advice from the world’s top cheese experts; Crown Finish Caves opened in 2014. On an article in Cheese Notes, a commenter raves: “If I were a mouse, I would move to Crown Heights.”
More excellence and authenticity this way

History

Making the Cut: Is NYC Still the World’s Fashion Capital?

Via j-No via photopin cc

January 13, 2015

Making the Cut: Is NYC Still the World’s Fashion Capital?

By Michelle Cohen

Will 21st century New York City be able to retain its fashion capital status? How does an aspiring fashionista build a brilliant career? The answers come from a winning combination of education, innovation and inspiration, plus financial and media support. Though styles come and go with dizzying speed and designers fall in and out of favor, New York City has held the title of global fashion capital since the mid 20th century, when it rose to prominence with the unprecedented idea of developing sportswear as fashion. Today’s NYC is home to some of the world's top fashion schools whose famous graduates add to the city’s fashion culture and networks. Foreign designers choose to live and work here because of this status and creative energy, adding even more to the fabric. We may share this pedestal with quirky London–and trés chic Paris, the brainy Belgians, the stylish Scandinavians and the ascendant Aussies make things more interesting–but NYC is known as the place where style ideas and trends are born and exchanged.
But is NYC still the world's fashion capital?

Architecture And Design

January 5, 2015

Interior Designer Athena Calderone Wants $4.3M for Industrial Chic DUMBO Pad

By Aisha Carter

If you’re looking for bragging rights and great views, this DUMBO pad at 205 Water Street asking $4.3 million may be just what the doctor ordered. The three-bedroom duplex was featured in Harpers Bazaar in 2013, and is currently home to interior designer and lifestyle guru Athena Calderone and her music producer husband, DJ Victor Calderone along with their nine-year-old son Jivan. So, why are the Calderones leaving this impeccably-designed apartment with over 2,344 square feet of outdoor space granting splendid river, bridge, and city views? Turns out it’s nothing but a short attention span. “We’re kind of serial movers,” Calderone expressed of her nomadic family who purchased the home for $2.3 million in 2012. “We tend to move every three years.” We’re guessing they’re a prompt family, too, as they’re right on time for a change of scenery. Fortunately for us, this family’s propensity for change means we get to take a moment to admire their pretty spectacular loft-like abode.
Take a look inside, here

Distinctive Homes

November 13, 2014

Twilight Star Robert Pattinson Eyeing a $3.5M Vinegar Hill Townhouse

By Annie Doge

Brooklyn's roster of A-list celebs could soon be growing. According to the NYP, Robert Pattinson was recently spotted touring this DUMBO-adjacent Brooklyn pad at 69 Gold Street in Vinegar Hill. The historic townhouse is quite the stunner, recently gut renovated by its current owner. The four-story home comes with four bedrooms, a 2-3 car garage, a private terrace, and lots of character.
Take a look inside here

An image of the 2013 NYFOL event in Nolita

November 5, 2014

New York Festival of Light Is Illuminating DUMBO Starting Tomorrow Night

By Dana Schulz

There's never a shortage of artsy events taking place in Brooklyn, but the New York Festival of Light (NYFOL) is a first-timer on the block. The curated collection of lighting installations will take over DUMBO from the night of November 6th to the 8th, and is being put on in partnership with the DUMBO Improvement District. Free and open to the public, the event will take place in and around the archway under the Manhattan Bridge, spilling out onto the surrounding plaza. The array of multi-sensory installations created by more than a dozen artists includes projection mapping, laser lighting, video art, illuminated sculptures, and wearable light technologies.
More details on NYFOL here

Events & Things To Do

October 23, 2014

Brooklyn Nets All-Star Joe Johnson Shopping for a New Home in the Clocktower Building

By Diane Pham

Brooklyn Nets' Joe Johnson is hunting for a home and he's got his eye on a beauty at the Clocktower Building in DUMBO. According to the NYP, the 33-year-old shooting guard was spotted scoping out a two-bedroom renting for $9,500 a month at the iconic waterfront building. The corner loft home features concrete beamed 11-foot high ceilings, hardwood flooring and big, bright windows facing the Manhattan Bridge.
Let's have a look inside

September 26, 2014

New Exterior Rendering Released for 60 Water Street Rental Project in DUMBO

By Dana Schulz

Two Trees Management Company has revealed an additional, close-up exterior rendering and a teaser website for their new rental development 60 Water Street in DUMBO, which is nearing completion. Designed by LEESER Architecture and Ismael Leyva Architects, the building will begin leasing in the coming weeks, though pricing and interior images have not yet been released. The façade stands out in the former-industrial neighborhood thanks to glass curtain walls with angled windows.
Get a closer look at the glass pattern and entrance

August 6, 2014

14 New Designs Proposed for Brooklyn Bridge Park Project – BIG, Asymptote and FXFOWLE on the Roster

By Diane Pham

The city has just received 14 new design proposals for the two remaining housing developments on the southern edge of Brooklyn Bridge Park, a site that has been the focus of a contentious affordable housing debate; namely whether such units should be added to the coveted waterfront site. According to the Wall Street Journal, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., which runs the park, will discuss the new proposals in a meeting today.
See all 14 proposals here

July 1, 2014

If at First You Don’t Succeed… Anne Hathaway Sells DUMBO Clocktower Loft the Second Time Around

By Dana Schulz

After re-listing her DUMBO digs for the second time in early June, Anne Hathaway has found a buyer for her Clocktower loft, last priced at $4.25 million. Hathaway snagged the 2BR/3.5BA unit at 1 Main Street with then-fiancé Adam Shulman in February 2013 for $4.1 million, but reportedly never moved in, instead using the 2,592-square-foot apartment as an extremely oversized closet. The unit first hit the market in September 2013, but was removed shortly thereafter in December. The buyer hasn't yet been identified, but he or she will certainly not be disappointed with the giant master suite, library and media room, corner layout, and spectacular views of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Manhattan skyline.
Get All of the A-list details this way

June 25, 2014

Before DUMBO Had a Dumb Name: Eamon Loingsigh’s New Novel References the Neighborhood’s Seamy Past

By Andrew Cotto

There’s been a lot of novels set in New York City (guilty myself, two times). When done right, such work can serve as a portal to the past, when New York was a distinctly different place, one often defined by its era and often in direct contrast to the current conditions. In Eamon Loingsigh’s powerful new novel, Light of the Diddicoy, reference is made in the very first line to the area “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass.” Of course, any New Yorker worth his/her salted caramel custard from Shake Shack knows DUMBO, the Brooklyn nabe known for its pricey lofts and tony boutiques, its art galleries and swank eateries and a grassy park that sprawls along the water’s edge below the span of East River bridges. Lovely. The characters in Loingsigh’s novel aren’t so privileged, for they lived in DUMBO 100 years ago, long before any clunky acronyms, when the waterfront was a war zone, and the novel’s narrator, Liam Garrity, a displaced and desperate Irish immigrant, all of 14 years, fell in with a brutal gang as a matter of survival.
More about 'Light of the Diddicoy' here

June 17, 2014

PENSA’s DIWire Machine Lets You Bend Wires Into Sculptural Decor for the Home

By Patty Lee

In a day and age when printers give us the ability to create 3D models, we're surprised that it's taken so long for a machine like the DIWire to hit the market. Developed by the creative tinkerers of PENSA, this sleek gadget's seemingly simple job — to bend wires with a click of a button — is an absolute game-changer for DIY enthusiasts.
See how the DIWire works

June 11, 2014

Is Vinegar Hill the Next DUMBO? A Storage Warehouse Owner is Banking on It

By Annie Doge

In New York, if there is anything we talk about more than weather, it’s how “____ is the new ____”. Now, the owner of a storage building at 80 Hudson Avenue in Brooklyn is banking on Vinegar Hill becoming the new DUMBO. Globe Storage and Moving Co. just hired Dan Marks at TerraCRG to get the word out that […]

New Developments

June 10, 2014

Anne Hathaway Puts DUMBO Clocktower Loft Back on the Market for $4.25 Million

By Aisha Carter

It looks like Anne Hathaway is ready to try selling her DUMBO loft again. We’re not sure why the star would want to part with her gorgeous 2BR/3.5BA unit at 1 Main Street, the site of DUMBO’s Clocktower building. She just purchased the building in February of 2013 and after apparently not even moving in, she was ready to unload the loft by September. According to records, she took the loft off the market in December. But if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again. 6 months after removing the listing from the market, Ms. Hathaway has put 1 Main Street #9B back on the market, this time with Town Residential listing agents Steven Gold and Chris Whelan.
More details about the stunning pad here

May 23, 2014

Penthouse Loft at 185 Plymouth Street in DUMBO Sells for $3 Million

By Aisha Carter

Just in time for Alloy's penned Spring 2014 move-in date, the north penthouse (#PHN) at 185 Plymouth Street closed yesterday afternoon for $3.08 million, according to city records. All units in the former Brillo factory are officially now sold out. Units in the coveted DUMBO property hit the market March of last year, and after managing to sell eight units in less than a week without even listing the property, Alloy decided to raise the prices of the two remaining units, #PHN and #PHS, to $3.4 million and $3.95 million respectively. But that clearly didn’t slow buyers down from wanting to lay claim to some of DUMBO’s hottest new property.
Take a closer look at these lofts that are all the rage in Dumbo

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