A previous rendering; via EDC

Downtown Brooklyn is finally getting a park that was promised to the neighborhood more than 15 years ago. The city’s Economic Development Corporation announced on Friday it will take over construction of the green space at Willoughby Square. In January, the city abandoned the plan to add a new park on top of a high-tech parking facility because of the developer’s inability to secure financing. But, as first reported by Crain’s, the EDC said the agency’s capital division will take on the work itself, without a private developer or the underground automated parking lot originally proposed. The city estimates the park will open sometime in 2022.

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Photo by Max Touhey

Williamsburg officially has a new tallest tower. One South First, formerly 260 Kent Avenue, topped out this week at the Domino Sugar Factory redevelopment along the waterfront. Designed by COOKFOX Architects, the 435-foot-tall tower features two interlocking buildings with white precast concrete facades inspired by the molecular pattern and forms of sugar crystals, a reference to the former factory site.

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Rendering courtesy of Marvel Architects

At 112 Edwards Street in Fort Greene, a completely new type of affordable housing is set to launch a lottery for 108 low-income units. The Ingersoll Senior Residences was built as part of the city’s controversial plan to lease NYCHA land to private developers in order to build and maintain more affordable housing. Thanks to a partnership between BFC Partners and SAGE, Advocacy & Services for LGBT Elders, the building is the nation’s largest LGBT-friendly elder housing project and the first in New York City. When the lottery opens on May 29th, individuals or couples who have at least one member age 62 or older can apply for studios and one-bedrooms for which they’ll pay 30 percent of their income, which can range from $0 to $42,700.

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Just around the corner from Prospect Park at 60 Montgomery Place, this historic two-family  head-turner of a townhouse is in good company, but four stories of preserved and perfectly renovated interiors and a few surprises set it apart from its elegant Park Slope neighbors. In addition to a finished basement, plaster walls, central air and a private garden, this distinctive home, asking $5.995 million, is crowned by a green roof with park views.

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When the current owners of this condo at 119 North 11th Street in Williamsburg bought the two-bedroom pad five years ago, it was in need of some major TLC. Its historic bones–brick walls, beamed ceilings, and exposed piping–got lost in drab white walls and yellowed parquet floors. But after an extensive gut renovation, the apartment displays both its loft features and hip, modern additions. Now, the owners have enlisted the same broker team to sell their home for $2,985,000.

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Listing images by Allyson Lubow; courtesy of Corcoran

Since it last sold in 2013 for $1,120,000, this top-floor co-op at 437 2nd Street in Park Slope has undergone a complete renovation and now it’s back on the market seeking $1,895,000. With new floors throughout and elegant finishes in the kitchen and bathrooms, the best part of this three-bedroom home may be the stunning roof terrace landscaped by Future Green Studio. With plenty to love both indoors and out, its proximity to Prospect Park—just two blocks away—is, as the listing puts it, “just the cherry on top.”

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A storied past led this Park Slope residence to its current incarnation as a townhouse with more of a loft feel. Originally a carriage house built in 1895, it was used as a car garage during the early 20th century, then it was a repair shop for boat engines, and later a sculptor’s studio. When the current owners—both architects—got their hands on the property, they transformed it into a two-story residence with an interior courtyard, a roof terrace, and a one-car garage. The three-bedroom home at 331 4th Street is currently listed for $3,985,000.

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Image courtesy of Landmarks Preservation Commission

Bay Ridge residents and elected officials voiced their support for the neighborhood’s first historic district during a Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing Tuesday. The commission voted in March to calendar the proposed Brooklyn district, known as the Bay Ridge Parkway Doctors’ Row Historic District. Comprised of 54 architecturally consistent row houses along Bay Ridge Parkway between 4th and 5th Avenues, the district includes a row of limestone-fronted houses–referred to as Doctors’ Row based on both its historic and current residential demographics. This block reflects the neighborhood’s growth from a suburban resort community to an urban neighborhood ahead of the opening of the 4th Avenue Subway line in the early 20th century.

Making the case for historic Bay Ridge, this way

Located at Grace Court Alley in the heart of Brooklyn Heights, this charming red brick carriage house has just hit the market for $3,950,000. Originally built in 1895, the residence was recently restored by the current owner—an interior designer and teacher—who added a series of elegant touches, including brand new floors throughout, a balcony on the second floor, and an in-ground fountain in the back garden. The house is right at the end of the quiet block—which doesn’t allow street parking—so you’ll be removed from the typical noise and traffic of the city.

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Photo from the 2014 Brooklyn Bridge display, via Flickr cc

For the first time since 2014, Macy’s will move its Fourth of July fireworks to the Brooklyn Bridge, and this year’s display will “add three times more pyrotechnic firepower,” according to a press release, with more spectacular effects being set off across the entire bridge, as well as from four barges off the shore of the South Street Seaport District’s Pier 17. The 43rd annual event, the largest July 4th celebration in the nation, will see the launch of “tens of thousands of shells and effects.”

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