Dumbo NYC

An article by Sarah at The Real Deal about Dumbo’s One Main (aka The Clocktower Condo) provides us with some detail about the 14th floor penthouse featured in late March on DumboNYC. According to the article, the “$7 million-plus sale of a 14th-floor penthouse at Dumbo’s Clock Tower Condominium, a former corrugated cardboard factory built in 1915, has broken Brooklyn’s most expensive condo record.”

Karen Heyman, senior vice president of Sotheby’s International Realty’s Downtown Office, told The Real Deal that two West Coast men working in the financial industry bought the Clock Tower penthouse. The apartment had listed for $7.8 million, but Heyman could only confirm that the price topped $7 million.

The 3,200 square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half-bathroom apartment had been on the market since August 2006, when it listed with Sotheby’s for $10.5 million. Heyman said the former owners, Bliss Spa founders Thierry Boue and Marcia Kilgore, weren’t “really particularly motivated at that time to sell” and rented the penthouse out for a year while the price was cut repeatedly.

Heyman said the buyers plan to use the penthouse — last renovated at least seven years ago — as a pied-a-terre, and would begin their own renovations before moving in.

David Walentas lives in the 15th floor penthouse and is renovating the 16th floor penthouse, which is the condo unit behind the glass-faced clock. It “will definitely be the most expensive unit in Brooklyn” when sold. It is expected to sell for up to $30 million.

Previously: {High Priced Condos at One Main Under Contract, 26Mar2008}

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Holy cow. Certain areas of Wall Street are in a tailspin and the economy is in a perceived recession, but that’s not affecting these two high-end 1 Main Street condo listings, now in contract. The first one is currently the most expensive condo on the market in Brooklyn at $7,800,000. This penthouse unit (listing) was first put on the market in August 2006 at $10,500,000 and subsequently reduced to $9,000,000 on Aug 30, 2006, then to $8,600,000 on Sept 14, 2006, then to the current price on Aug 15, 2007. The listing entered contract last week, but the final price has yet to be public. This condo can be used as a 2 or 3 bedroom, 2.5 baths, and has 3200 sq.ft. ($2437/sq.ft.). RE taxes are $757/month and common charges are $2061/month.

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The second condo (listing) in contract at 1 Main Street is currently the 20th most expensive condo in Brooklyn at $2,875,000, and was first listed in Sept 2007. This condo has 2 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, a home office, and 2198 sq.ft. ($1308/sq.ft.). RE taxes are $307/month and common charges are $1254/month. Any 1 Mainers know if anyone famous is moving into either of these? There’s still 4 other listings, including this one for $4,300,000 at 1 Main for those who want to get in on the action before the stock market really tanks.

(16 Main Street, the future home of The Galapagos Art Space. Photo courtesy of blackoutny)

An article in today’s NY Times talks about artists and organizations receiving subsidized rent from the Walentas’ Two Trees Management. Of course there’s the notion that the subsidized rents are temporary and that given the pace of gentrification, the future of Dumbo’s artists remain uncertain. A few tibits from the article:

• When 70 Washington was converted to condos, Two Trees offered every artist in the building below-market rates at 20 Jay or 55 Washington and 80% accepted.
• Mr. Walentas would like to move St. Ann’s Warehouse to the 19th-century Tobacco Warehouse in Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park and convert the Empire Stores Warehouse, on Water Street between Dock and Main Streets, into studio and gallery space. Both are owned by the state.
• The Galapagos Art Space almost moved to Berlin before Walentas offered a 15 year lease at 16 Main for $6.82 per sq ft.
• The rents vary depending on the organization and “depends on the space and who they are and what they contribute”: In the 55 Washington building, for example, the James Glass Studio pays $6.77 per square foot per year; Chris Perry Woodworking, $11.39; and the Robinson & Grisaru architectural firm, $19. At 45 Main Street, Lynn Veitzer, an artist, pays $14.61; Jennifer Riley, also an artist, $12.79; and the Dumbo Arts Center, zero.
• “In 2003 the Walentases told Smack Mellon that it had to vacate its gallery and studio space at 56 Water Street to make room for a 1922 carousel restored by David Walentas’s wife, Jane, an artist. But the developers moved Smack Mellon into a former boiler house at 92 Plymouth Street, gratis, and helped pay for the renovation.”

There’s no question that artists add value to any area/neighborhood, but as gentrification (and rezoning) takes place, and market rate rents go up, artists are forced out of a neighborhood they originally helped to create.

{The Lords of Dumbo Make Room for the Arts, at Least for the Moment, 06Mar2008, NY Times}

How cool is this? Dumbo has its very own pig on You Tube:

From a discussion thread here: dumbonyc.com/2007/12/20/dumbo-veterinarian. The video was first seen on Gowanus Lounge.

Just listed is this 1 Main Street condo in Dumbo at a whopping $4,300,000. It’s currently the 4th most expensive condo listing in Brooklyn (after the penthouse units at 1 Main at $7.8 million, the 1 Grand Army Plaza listing at $6 million, and the 1 Hanson Place listing for $4.775 million). The condo has 2592 sq ft ($1659/sqft) with a great view of the waterfront from its 16 windows. There are 3 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms. Awesome location and views, but will they get the full asking?

Floorplan after the jump.
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Looks like someone just built a nice glass enclosed solarium on top of the 1 Main Street building.

Am I right? Is that for the penthouse?

Today we look at two high-end luxury condos currently on the market. The first one is at 1 Main Street, which has been on the market for 8 days, and the second at 57 Front Street, which has been on the market for 13 days.

1) 1 Main Street 2L

• $1,599,000
• tax: $163/month; cc: $835/month
• 1 bedroom + home office and 2 full baths
• 1655 sq.ft. ($966/sq.ft)

This condo unit at 1 Main Street has a 2nd level loft, which serves as a 2nd bedroom with a 2nd full bath. “Located in Dumbo’s premiere Clocktower Condominium. This landmark luxury loft building is just steps from the Brooklyn Bridge waterfront park.” I wonder if the model of the Brooklyn Bridge above the kitchen is included in the sale. It is listed by Sotheby’s.

2) 57 Front Street

• $1,795,000
• tax: $1/month; cc: $803/month
• 1 bedroom and 1 full bath
• 1100 sq.ft. ($1617/sq.ft)

This condo unit at 57 Front Street is priced at a premium, but includes an 800 sq.ft. private outdoor patio and (looks like) custom-everything. It has a modern Phillipe Starck interior and clean looking space, but will it sell for this premium price? For some, the private outdoor space will be a key selling point. It is listed by Prudential Douglas Elliman.

A few random photos of the future Galapagos space side door:

Previously:
{Galapagos Progress on Main Street, 27Nov07}
{Galapagos To Move From Williamsburg to Dumbo, 30May07}

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Six months ago, Galapagos announced that it is relocating from Williamsburg to the 102-year-old, 10,000-square-foot former horse stable on 16 Main Street in Dumbo Brooklyn. The new site is progressing nicely, and the interior has been cleared out and ready for build out (above photo.) Anticipated opening date is in Spring or early Summer 2008.

Below is the photo of their current interior in Williamsburg taken from their website:

Previously: {Galapagos Moves From Williamsburg to Dumbo, 30May2007}

 (Photo courtesy of PowerHouse Arena)

The powerHouse Arena, home to independent art book publisher powerHouse Books, announces the launch of the Windows on Main: The powerHouse boilerRoom a new gallery of 250 square feet frontage on Main Street in Dumbo. From PowerHouse:

“Visible from street level, the boilerRoom will be open to the public 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, allowing exhibiting artists maximum visibility in this hot young arts community. Exhibitions will run for one month, and will combine a mélange of fine art, commercial work, retail products, advertising, and other forms of dynamic visual ephemera for which powerHouse is best known.”

The first exhibition is from Eric Payson, presenting You Can’t Spell America Without Eric, a pictorial travelogue across the landscape of the United States. More about Eric’s book here: powerhousebooks.com/books!/youcantspell.html