Brooklyn

If you thought Brooklyn Heights only offered blocks of historic townhouses, think again: this carriage house at 6 Grace Court Alley, a private, one-block row that's made up exclusively of 19th-century residential carriage homes. And while the exterior certainly looks historic, the interior has been opened up, modernized, and filled with light thanks to floor-to-ceiling windows and skylights. After last selling in 2011 for $2.7 million, it's now trying for a cool $10 million.
Step inside

Herzog & de Meuron will turn Gowanus’ graffiti-covered ‘Batcave’ into an art production factory

Rendering of Powerhouse Workshop via Herzog & de Meuron

March 7, 2017

Herzog & de Meuron will turn Gowanus’ graffiti-covered ‘Batcave’ into an art production factory

Despite its Superfund status, the Gowanus Canal has ushered in a Whole Foods, an artisanal ice cream factory, and more than one high-end residential development, but one vestige of its gritty, industrial days has remained--the so-called Batcave. Build in 1904 as the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company's Central Power Station, the warehouse was taken out of service in the '50s, becoming in the 2000s a home for squatters, venue for impromptu dance parties, and unofficial street art display. But it looks like the former warehouse will now join the ranks of its Brooklyn-esque neighbors, as the Times reports that Pritzker Prize-winning Swiss architecture firm Herzog & de Meuron will transform the space into an art production factory and exhibition space to be called the Powerhouse Workshop, though it will preserve the iconic graffiti
Get the whole scoop

March 6, 2017

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

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 3, 2017

FREE RENT: It’s all about the views in this week’s roundup of NYC’s rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

Live in SHoP’s American Copper Buildings from $2,975/Mo; Read Carter’s New Review [link] Behold the Views (Present & Future) from Midtown’s 555TEN, Now Leasing with Two Months Free Rent [link] Leasing Begins at Jersey City Urby, Vertical Community + Stunning Views from $2,000/Month [link] Take In the Incredible Views at 1 QPS Tower; LIC’s Newly-Opened […]

March 3, 2017

$10.6M Pierhouse is Brooklyn’s most expensive condo sold to date

It may pale in comparison to Manhattan's $100 million record-setter at One57, but a unit at Brooklyn Bridge Park's Pierhouse just closed for $10,669,579, setting the record for most expensive condo ever sold in the borough. Curbed first spotted the sale, which took the top spot from the $8.8 million penthouse sale in Dumbo's 1 Jay Street in September 2015.
Find out who the buyers are

Real Estate Trends

March 2, 2017

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

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

March 2, 2017

$3M Park Slope townhouse is the ideal mix of historic detail and modern ease

On a quintessential Park Slope street lined with brick homes a block from Prospect Park, behind a cheerful pair of cobalt blue doors, this well-maintained, intelligently updated two-family brownstone has a move-in ready mix of historic detail and modern ease. Built at the turn of the 19th century, the 20-foot-wide home at 510 7th Street is currently configured to offer a garden-level one-bedroom apartment with a duplex above for an income opportunity in a high-rent neighborhood; it easily converts to a single family for more space, and it's a legal three-family so three units are also an option. The three-story home is asking $2.999 million.
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Distinctive Homes

February 28, 2017

Spacious $860K loft is in a Bed-Stuy building known for its quirky apartments

This loft apartment comes from the well-known Brooklyn condo the Chocolate Factory Lofts at 689 Myrtle Avenue. (The building was once, not surprisingly, a chocolate factory.) The Bed-Stuy pad, asking $860,000, is much like the other units that have hit the market: spacious, 13-foot ceilings and oversized casement windows. The building's also known for its creative owners who deck out their apartments (just check out this apartment on the market last summer with a "floating" closet and custom staircase) and this latest apartment is no different.
Check it out

Distinctive Homes

February 27, 2017

Greenpoint creative hub gets a funky clay factory from design collective Assemble

London-based collective Assemble works across art, architecture, and design "to address the typical disconnection between the public and the process by which places are made." They've employed this philosophy at their first U.S. project--a temporary clay-extruding factory in the courtyard of Greenpoint's A/D/O creative hub, known as "A Factory As It Might Be." As Dezeen explains, the firm first built only a steel roof on top of the brick walls, but after acquiring an industrial clay extruder and electric kiln and finding that of all the vessels and homewares being created the tiles were the most successful, they decided to use the ceramic tiles to create a colorful, geometric facade.
Find out more about the project here

Architecture And Design

February 24, 2017

FREE RENT: A roundup of NYC’s latest rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

FiDi’s 180 Water Street Announces March Opening; Now Leasing No Fee Rentals + One Month Free [link] Renovated Apartments at Stonehenge Tower on Upper West Side Leasing with Two Months Free + $1,000 Security Deposits [link] Renovated Apartments in Prospect Heights Offer One Month of Free Rent with 14-Month Leases [link] Amenity-Packed QLIC Offering One […]

Real Estate Trends

February 24, 2017

Glamorous modern condo inside a historic Bed-Stuy townhouse asks $855K

Talk about an apartment with good bones. This modern condo was carved from the historic four-story townhouse at 347 Gates Avenue, in Bedford-Stuyvesant. The condo conversion brought sleek finishes to each floor-through apartment, and this one on the third floor is now asking $855,000. It is located on a block of Bed-Stuy lined with picturesque townhouses, just a half block from the main drag of Bedford Avenue and close to the A/C trains on the Nostrand stop.
See more of the apartment

February 23, 2017

Prospect Lefferts Gardens townhouse with lots of woodwork and sunroom lists for $2.4M

This three-story brick townhouse is nestled on a charming street of Prospect Lefferts Gardens, the Brooklyn neighborhood east of Prospect Park. 88 Midwood Street also has some nice surprises inside, like carved woodwork, a big wood burning fireplace and a bonus sunroom. If you're on the hunt for a lovely Brooklyn townhouse with some historic details still in tact—and have $2.399 million to spare—look no further.
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Distinctive Homes

February 22, 2017

Oldest home in Brooklyn Heights is on the market for $6.65M

Built in 1824, 24 Middagh Street is a charming, wood-frame, Federal house in Brooklyn Heights that has the distinction of being the oldest home in the neighborhood. And it's just gotten a price chop to $6,650,000 (it first listed this past September for the first time in nearly 60 years, asking $7 million). The listing says most of the original interior details--like wood floors, fireplaces, and moldings--are intact, and the five-bedroom residence even comes with a landscaped backyard and separate, two-bedroom carriage house.
More on the home this way

February 22, 2017

Rare footage from Coney Island’s giant cycling Velodrome of yesteryear

By Rebecca Paul

Cycling culture in New York City has been a growing trend for over 20 years. However, its popularity and the bike lanes of modern day New York have yet to reach the impressive status of Coney Island's 1920s bicycle racing Velodrome. The Velodrome was a wooden racetrack that seated approximately 10,000 people, each of whom came to cheer or jeer the area's best cyclists.
more details here

History

February 22, 2017

$2.5M artist’s townhouse in Clinton Hill has a painter’s studio, full bar, and color everywhere

This three-story, two-family Clinton Hill townhouse at 578 Myrtle Avenue, zoned to allow a commercial establishment on the ground floor, has plenty of living space and lots of income potential. Asking $2.5 million, the current setup as a painter's single-family home and workspace further underscores the freedom and fun of townhouse living. The light-filled top floor is currently used as a studio for the artist-in-residence (his favorite subjects are "ballet dancers, bullfighters, and women of the night, lounging in opulent bedrooms," as seen above) whose enjoyment of rouge, magenta, blue and beyond can be seen throughout the house.
No, we have no idea what's on the back of that chair

February 21, 2017

Historic Clinton Hill carriage house gets light from a ‘sky volume’ and a courtyard carved into its core

A thoroughly transformative re-design by New York studio O'Neill McVoy Architects turns a historic red brick townhouse on a slender 24- by 76-foot lot in need of light and air into an ultra-bright and inspiring modern residence for a young family. The Clinton Hill Courtyard House, in a landmarked section of the neighborhood, was built in 1877 as a carriage house for the mansion next door. The historic integrity of the home's exterior was left intact, but inside, three strategic openings–including skylights, a central courtyard, and a perforated interior stair wall--were created to let in light and air everywhere for daily living.
So much sunlight, in so many creative ways

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 17, 2017

FREE RENT: A roundup of NYC’s latest rental concessions

By Ondel Hylton

HOUSE39 Launches Leasing; New Curving Glass Tower Offers Two Months Free of Early Occupancy [link] Teaser Site Launches for Newly-Dubbed Hudson Yards Rental, ‘Henry Hall’ [link] Listings Debut at Hub with One Month Free; Apartments in Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower from $2,450/Month [link] FiDi’s 180 Water Street Announces March Opening; Now Leasing No Fee Rentals + […]

Real Estate Trends

February 16, 2017

$2.7M penthouse loft boasts 25-foot ceilings and two terraces in Williamsburg

This is penthouse loft living at its finest at the Williamsburg condo 138 Broadway, also known as the Smith Gray. Constructed in 1884 as the cast-iron Smith and Gray Department Store Building, this building was converted to condos back in 2002. This unit last sold in 2006 for $1.2 million and now it's hit the market for twice that much. The three-bedroom, three-bathroom penthouse boasts ceiling heights anywhere from 9 up to 25 feet, with lots of the building's original exposed brick on display.
Take a look

Distinctive Homes

February 16, 2017

LOT-EK erects a stunning single-family mega-home from 21 shipping containers in Williamsburg

It would hardly raise an eyebrow to note that the Brooklyn couple behind the wildly popular Williamsburg barbecue joint Fette Sau hired an architect to build them a 25-by-100-foot home on a corner lot in the neighborhood. But in this case, the architects are Ada Tolla and Giuseppe Lignano of the firm LOT-EK, which means the house in question is likely to cause at least a few double-takes. Rising from that corner lot, this remarkable single-family residence was made from 21 steel shipping containers, tamed and transformed into a sleek and surprisingly livable home.
See more of this unconventional home of corrugated steel and glass

Architecture And Design

February 15, 2017

This brick townhouse with romantic backyard and guest house asks $1.495M in Gowanus

Valentine's Day may have just passed but the backyard of this Gowanus townhouse looks romantic for any day of the year. Decked out with greenery, tea lights and a mini guest house, it's a nice perk to the historic brick three-bedroom, two-bathroom triplex townhouse at 112 14th Street. The $1.495 million pad is plenty charming inside, too, with exposed brick walls, four fireplaces and high ceilings throughout.
Take a peek inside

Distinctive Homes

February 15, 2017

WXY reveals renderings of the city’s just-announced $136M fashion and film complex in Sunset Park

Last week, 6sqft took an in-depth look at how Sunset Park has become the new frontier for the city's garment industry, thanks to "several industrial conversions [that] offer cheaper rents, better equipped real estate, and a creative, collaborative community." Part of the city's push to revitalize the fashion trade in the burgeoning Brooklyn nabe is a collaboration with its "Made in New York" marketing campaign, which has previously been geared towards promoting film and television productions and technology companies. They'll also be investing $136 million to create the "Made in NYC Campus," a renovation of two waterfront Bush Terminal structures that will provide affordable space for film, fashion, and virtual reality tech companies, as well as a new pedestrian-friendly plazas and streets. The city's Economic Development Corporation has tapped WXY architecture + urban design to design the complex, and the firm has revealed a batch of renderings that showcase the project.
All the renderings and more details ahead

February 14, 2017

432 Park owner attempts to sell $20M apartment with iPhone photos

By Diane Pham

If you've been as curious as we have to know what the inside of 432 Park looks like IRL, look no further than unit #52C, now for sale by owner. LLNYC spotted the listing today which boldly ditches professionally staged photos for somewhat sloppy phone snapshots of the interiors. As the mag points out, 432's developers have been keen on putting the luxury tower's best foot forward, revealing only sleek renderings or retouched images of impeccably outfitted model units to press and onlookers.
more inside here

Distinctive Homes

February 13, 2017

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

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

February 13, 2017

$5.5M Park Slope townhouse built in 1906 is drenched in historic details

Mahogany millwork, plaster ceiling moldings, stained-glass windows: these are just a few of the stunning details to be found inside this historic Park Slope townhouse at 566 First Street. A restoration sought to restore as much of the limestone home--which was built in 1906--as possible, while at the same time integrating modern amenities from a dumbwaiter to audio and lighting systems. And now the 4,900-square-foot stunner is on the market for $5.475 million.
Take the grand tour

February 13, 2017

143 chances to live in Downtown Brooklyn from $897/month, lottery open at 33 Bond Street