Brooklyn

According to records, half of a certain early-aughts Danish dance-pop duo is selling this Scandi-funk-a-licious modern masterpiece of a 19th-century townhouse at 267 Berry Street, right in the middle of prime Williamsburg near the shores of the East River. The four-story, single-family brick townhouse spans 3,300 not-at-all-square feet and comes with some cool details like an open sunroom leading to a lovely roof deck, colorful minimalist kitchen, music room and media room, and master suite that spans an entire top floor. Even better, lots of original details have been preserved and invited to the party, which will set you back $3.75 million.
Move your feet this way for more

Distinctive Homes

May 3, 2017

Bowerbird architects create a custom nest in a Boerum Hill loft with details in steel and reclaimed wood

"Everything evolves," begins the mission statement by architecture and design firm Bowerbird, explaining how their namesake (the bowerbird) evolved to design and decorate its home with an eye for detail. The firm explores the idea that good design and creativity similarly "does not spring forth in a single moment of inspired genius;" they work to produce an uncommon solution for each undertaking. Evolved design is definitely in effect in this Boerum Hill loft, resulting in a home with a fresh look that leaves crowded, overdone design and cold, unfinished lofts in the dust. Rooms are polished, elegant and comfortable without being fussy. And natural and reclaimed details aren’t contrived, but rather fit in well with the former factory’s big-shouldered loft bones.
See more of this timeless loft design

May 3, 2017

$3M home in the urban suburb of Prospect Park South is a freestanding beauty

Want to live in a gorgeous suburban enclave that's attracted the likes of Michelle Williams? Then look no further than Prospect Park South, a neighborhood designed, as developer Dean Alford put it, to "illustrate how much natural beauty can be incorporated within the rectangular limits of the city." The landscaping and the homes have remained intact since this area was constructed more than 100 years ago, including this home built in 1907. Designed by the architect Arlington Isham, it's a Simplified Free Colonial style house with an enclosed porch and plenty of period details. For this escape into the finer pastures of Brooklyn, it will cost a cool $3 million.
This way for interior pictures

May 2, 2017

Acclaimed novelist Jonathan Safran Foer lists lovely Boerum Hill townhouse for $10.4M

By Annie Doge

Award-winning novelist Jonathan Safran Foer, author of "Everything Is Illuminated" and "Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close," has listed his brownstone at 374 Pacific Street in Boerum Hill for $10.4 million, according to Variety. When his first book in ten years, "Here I am," was published last year, the Times referred to it as "often brilliant, always original but sometimes problematic," and though we can't find anything at all problematic about this 1899 Greek Revival residence, the former two accolades certainly apply. It was brilliantly renovated to include a three-story atrium cut through its core and a full rear wall of kitchen windows that overlook the private garden, and it's full of original touches like a charming mix of mid-century-modern and rustic furniture and plenty of built-in bookshelves (of course). Perhaps all of this, plus the fact that there's a separate garden floor apartment, is why Foer thinks he can double his profits after paying $5.4 million for it just a few years ago.
Take the full tour

April 30, 2017

$1.095M duplex in a Park Slope brownstone boasts intricate stained glass and inlaid wood floors

This Park Slope duplex is located just one block from Prospect Park and Grand Army Plaza, and chock full of prewar details inside. Taking up two floors of a historic brownstone at 85 8th Avenue, the rooms are lined with detailed stained glass, the original moldings, hardwood floors with an incredible walnut inlay, and painted brick walls. In the wintertime there's a working fireplace, and for the summer there's a private deck. For such a dreamy Park Slope offering, something that's sure to make old house lovers swoon, it'll cost $1.095 million.
Now see inside

Distinctive Homes

April 28, 2017

Five million dead in Queens: The history of New York City’s ‘cemetery belt’

You may have noticed when driving from Queens to Brooklyn that at some point you find yourself surrounded by a sea of headstones in every direction. The city's "cemetery belt"–reportedly visible from space–stretches for two and a half miles along the Queens/Brooklyn border and is so populous that there are more than twice as many dead people in Queens than living ones. What's up with this cemetery city?
Find out why the dead outnumber the living in Queens

History

Images (L to R): 461 Dean Street, AIRE, 26 West Street and Henry Hall

April 28, 2017

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC’s rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

Images (L to R): 461 Dean Street, AIRE, 26 West Street and Henry Hall 30-Story Hudson Yards Rental Opens with Unobstructed Views, Apartments from $3,200/Month + 1 Month Free [link] Views Galore at Top-Notch Tribeca Rental, Now Leasing with 1 Month Free [link] World’s Tallest Modular Building Now Leasing with 2 Months Free [link] Leasing […]

Real Estate Trends

April 28, 2017

Shop and nosh your way through 20 of NYC’s best flea and food markets

With spring weather in full effect, the city's flea and food markets roll out the red carpet and the irresistible edibles, and it's pretty likely there's one happening near you. The shop-and-snack mecca Brooklyn Flea has changed locations yet again, a night market returns in Queens and antiquing, arts and local maker standbys in all corners of Manhattan offer more of what you didn't know you couldn't live without. The goods may be odd, but they're out there, and the list below rounds up 20 of the city's top food and flea picks. Just don't blame us for the tchotchke overload—or the calories.
Find a market this weekend

Events & Things To Do

April 27, 2017

Park Slope townhouse Barack Obama once called home asks $4.3M

By Diane Pham

Before meeting Michelle, but after escaping his cramped rental on West 109th Street, President Barack Obama called this Park Slope brownstone home. Obama occupied the top floor of the three-story house with his then-girlfriend during the '80s, moving in shortly after he graduated from Columbia University. While the home was at the time split up into various rental apartments, in 1994, its new owners turned it into a single-family home. Now, as The Real Deal reports, the five-bedroom beauty has just listed for $4.295 million, up for sale for the first time in 23 years.
see inside here

Second building in Domino Sugar megaproject to break ground next month; new renderings

260 Kent; rendering courtesy of COOKFOX

April 27, 2017

Second building in Domino Sugar megaproject to break ground next month; new renderings

Two Trees Management will break ground next month on 260 Kent Avenue at the corner of Grand Street and Kent Avenue, the second building to rise at the Domino Sugar Williamsburg megaproject site. Designed by COOKFOX Architects, the 462,000 square-foot, 42-story mixed-use tower on the site of the former sugar manufacturing facility will create "a prominent visual corridor that leads to the East River waterfront," according to a press release.
Find out more, more renderings this way

April 26, 2017

Bakery-turned-condo in Williamsburg holds an incredible apartment lined with exposed brick and beams

At the Sophia Lofts, a bakery warehouse in Williamsburg converted to 11 apartments in 2007, you could pick up this one-bedroom condo for $995,000. (It last sold in 2009 for $555,000.) For a hair less than $1 million the pad offers one bedroom, lots of exposed brick, wood beam ceilings, and those big warehouse windows. Although the apartment still has a bit of warehouse grittiness left to it, spaces like the bathroom and kitchen were modernized, while plenty of shelving was added to hold the owner's quirky collection of stuff.
Right this way for more of the interior

Distinctive Homes

April 25, 2017

Sale of Brooklyn Navy Yard air rights could fund the BQX streetcar

By Devin Gannon

Although Mayor de Blasio’s proposed BQX project, which would connect the Brooklyn and Queens waterfronts via streetcar, received praise from many, finding money to fund it may be tougher than expected. Earlier this month, a leaked memo obtained by the Daily News laid out a tough assessment of the construction logistics and financial problems facing the project. And while the mayor admitted last week that his plan for the BQX to be self-funded through tax revenue from higher real estate values may not pan out, an article in Crain’s laid out an idea for the city to sell air rights in the Brooklyn Navy Yard neighborhood to raise money for the project.
Find out more

April 24, 2017

Red Hook townhouse with skyline views and rental income asks $2.5 million

This three-family brick townhouse comes from Brooklyn's waterfront neighborhood of Red Hook. The area is known for its striking views of the Lower Manhattan skyline, and the listing promises those same views from the top floor of this home, located at 371 Van Brunt Street. Add in tin ceilings and fireplaces throughout the lower levels, and the historic property, now on the market for $2.5M, is sure to charm.
Time to check it out

Distinctive Homes

The history of NYC’s Quonset Huts, Robert Moses-era veterans housing

A row of Quonset huts in Canarsie, via Brooklyn Public Library

April 21, 2017

The history of NYC’s Quonset Huts, Robert Moses-era veterans housing

When veterans returned to NYC from WWII, they were met with a Depression-era housing shortage that resulted from a nearly 15-year lack of new development. To immediately address the issue, "master builder" Robert Moses (who by this time was reigning over the city's public housing projects) proposed erecting Quonset huts on vacant land in Brooklyn and Queens. These curved, corrugated steel "shacks" were used in the Pacific as barracks and offices, as they were lightweight and quick and easy to assemble. As the Brownstone Detectives tell us, after much debate, the city agreed to use more than 500 Federal surplus huts as temporary public housing on land along the Belt Parkway in the South Brooklyn neighborhoods of Canarsie and Jamaica Bay, as well as in Jackson Heights, Middle Village, and Corona in Queens.
Get the whole history

History

Images (L to R): 153 Remsen Street, Hubb, Trump Bay Street and Orient Park

April 21, 2017

FREE RENT: This week’s roundup of NYC’s rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

The Lincoln Apartments at Prospect Park Debut with 2 Months Free; Units Start from $2,186/Month [link] Trump Bay Street, Luxury Rentals in Jersey City, Now Leasing with 2 Months Free [link] Lower East Side Rental ‘Rivington House’ Offering 1 Month Free on Renovated Apartments [link] $500 Security Deposits at 180 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights […]

Real Estate Trends

April 21, 2017

For $1.8M this pint-sized Park Slope townhouse sets the standard for renovated rustic chic

At a mere 15 feet wide and two stories high, this compact townhouse at 629 President Street is priced to compete with–and beat–many a smaller condo at $1.825 million. Hiding in plain sight on a street of similarly cute and compact brick townhomes at the spot where Park Slope meets Gowanus (making it also home to just about every amazing amenity in Brooklyn) this otherwise nondescript 1900s home becomes a surprise of a sweet, spacious and bright farmhouse once you step inside. It's a pretty neat trick.
Have a look

Distinctive Homes

April 20, 2017

First look at Domino Sugar Factory’s 11-acre park and waterfront esplanade

With building construction well under way at the Domino Sugar Factory site, Two Trees Management has now released details about the 11-acre park that will anchor the three-million-square-foot Williamsburg mega-development. To be known as Domino Park and designed by James Corner Field Operations, the quarter-mile open space will boast a new waterfront esplanade, six acres of parkland, a plethora of preserved artifacts, and easier waterfront access. In addition to sharing several new renderings, Two Trees also announced that the park will open in the summer of 2018.
All the details and renderings ahead

April 20, 2017

Affordable housing lotteries fail low-income residents and favor middle-income earners, says new report

By Devin Gannon

In every state and major city in the country, extremely low-income renters face a shortage of affordable housing. Although low-income applicants in New York City display a higher need for affordable housing, policies created by Mayor de Blasio and his administration continue to set aside more units for middle-income applicants. In a detailed report, City Limits analyzed affordable housing in Brooklyn and compared the need for affordable housing to the actual number of allotted low-income and middle-income units. For just one building, the tower at 535 Carlton, nearly 95,000 households entered the lottery for its “100 percent affordable” units. However, only 2,203 applicants were eligible for the 148 middle-income units, and over 67,000 households applied for the 90 low-income units. The data shows low-income households in search of affordable housing face much tougher odds than middle-income applicants.
Find out more

April 20, 2017

Enter the waitlist for $2,611/month middle-income apartments at creative Greenpoint rental Eleven33

The waitlist is open for $2,611/month two-bedroom apartments at Greenpoint's super-trendy rental Eleven33, which goes out of its way to check all the boxes in terms of "Brooklyn living" -- from a cyber café with an espresso bar to a landscaped rooftop terrace to a fitness center complete with CrossFit equipment. The affordable housing lottery is open to middle-income households of two, three, and four people earning between $106,080 and $158,550 annually.
Find out if you qualify here

Affordable Housing

April 20, 2017

Cheery Prospect Park condo is house-sized with a smart layout and sophisticated details

You don't hear much about the "townhouse alternative," as homeowners are more focused on the space and freedom of having a house, even if it's a small "condo alternative." But this high-floor, graciously arranged and elegantly detailed pre-war condominium at the park's edge in prime Park Slope asking $1.895 million has as much living space as a small house, without the stairs and expensive repairs. The three-bedroom home at 163 Prospect Park West also boasts a collection of subtle, sophisticated renovations–like concrete sinks in the master bath and dark, elegant walls in the den.
Tour this most satisfying apartment

April 19, 2017

Cobble Hill brownstone rental asks $8,500/month after a modern renovation

This may be a traditional Brooklyn brownstone on the outside, but the duplex rental occupying its parlor and garden floors looks as modern as it gets. The home, located at 284 Warren Street in Cobble Hill, underwent a gut renovation in 2007 and has been occupied by the same owner ever since. They're now renting out the bottom two floors for $8,500 a month, and any new renter is going to like one thing in particular, especially with summer coming up--a double-height wall of glass that frames the private, stone-paved backyard.
This way for a tour

Distinctive Homes

April 19, 2017

10 chances to live in hip East Williamsburg from $833/month

This rental building at 66 Ainslie Street may look like your quintessential warehouse conversion, but it was actually built from the ground up last year, designed by Aufgang Architects to blend in with East Williamsburg's trendy industrial vibe. Of its 50 apartments, 10 are reserved for those earning 60 percent of the area median income. These units include two $833/month studios and eight $895/month one-bedrooms and, as of tomorrow, are up for grabs through the city's affordable housing lottery.
Find out if you qualify

Affordable Housing

April 19, 2017

This bold corner loft will remind you of Williamsburg’s early artist outpost days

The 1,800-square-foot pre-war loft in the Northside Arts Industries Condominium is as classic as it gets, with impossibly high ceilings, exposed brick, wood beams and pipes and a flexible layout. The New York Times tells us that the building was developed back in 1983, when the neighborhood's north side was a burned-out jumble of factories, ethnic enclaves and a smattering of artists. The latter had come to escape Soho rents, taking over abandoned factories and warehouses and paying rents that averaged around $550 a month for a one-bedroom apartment. In 1986, a loft space in the building could be rented for $5 a square foot. Today, a sprawling home at 119 North 11th Street asks $8,500 a month ($57 a foot) and the trendy and amenity-packed neighborhood's artists have (mostly) escaped eastward once again.
Find out more about this totally 21st century loft

Distinctive Homes

April 17, 2017

$3.5M South Slope townhouse has incredible custom wall coverings and a home theater

By Devin Gannon

Located just one block from Park Slope's 5th Avenue hub, a beautiful, Miles Redd-designed townhouse is listed for $3,495,000. The South Slope home at 258 11th Street has been totally renovated and rebuilt, with custom wall coverings and custom-mixed Farrow & Ball paint, but it still boasts that Brooklyn brownstone charm. Plus, the 3,334-square-foot beauty has four bedrooms, a moody home theater, and a magical private garden.
See the Park Slope townhome

Distinctive Homes

April 16, 2017

Dreamy duplex in a 19th century Boerum Hill townhouse asks $6,100/month