Dumbo NYC

I posted the Vinegar Hill townhouse item yesterday, and since I was there, I also stopped by The Vista. It’s been over two months since we checked in on The Vista at 206 Front Street in Vinegar Hill. According to Streeteasy, 21 of 31 units (67%) have been sold. Corcoran has the remaining 10 units on the market. The townhomes across from the Vista are nice, and although on Front Street, the Vista condos are in a quiet neighborhood.

  Across the street from The Vista
{The Vista on Vinegar Hill, Corcoran website}
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  * My photo stitching abilities are subpar, so you can look at the properties separately below.

These two adjacent properties in Vinegar Hill are being sold as a package for $2.5million. They are at 100 and 102 Gold Street, right across from 99 Gold Street Condominiums. The listing from Fillmore.com states:

“Houses to be knocked down for development. Sold as package- 100 and 102 Gold Street. (2) 25′x100′ lots. R6A Zoning. Starting price is $3.2 mil. Owner will entertain all reasonable offers.”

The exterior doesn’t seem to be in great shape, and it’s close to the Farragut Housing Complex. It’s zoned for R6A Zoning, which means they typically produce six-story apartment buildings designed to be compatible with existing buildings found in older neighborhoods. Anyone have more info on this listing? Do you think the potential value is worth $2.5million?

  100 Gold Street, Vinegar Hill

  102 Gold Street, Vinegar Hill

{fillmore.com, webID: 606064}

  Rooftop, Sweeney Building with views of J Condo, Beacon Tower, and 70 Washington

Two months ago, I looked at four realtors with exclusive listings in the Dumbo Brooklyn area. In my un-scientific number-gathering, here’s what I found for the four real estate firms:

For Sept 2006, adding up the 57 condos on the market:
- the average asking price is $1,116,541, while
- median price is an even $1,000,000 and
- average price per square feet is $801.95.

Two months later, for the sake of consistency, I’ve added up the condos on the market for the four real estate firms.

As of 11/6/06, there are 61 condos on the market:
- the average asking price is $1,158,829 (+3.79% since the 2 months), while
- median price is $1,075,680 (+7.57%) and
- average price per square feet is $851.14 (+6.13%).

The above numbers don’t include Sotheby’s Realty since I didn’t include them in my previous market update. I include the numbers from Sotheby’s Realty below. Here’s what’s on the market in Dumbo, Brooklyn as of November 6, 2006:

• Douglas Elliman has 8 listings. The average asking price is $1,437,571 while the average price per square feet is $789.73.
• Corcoran has 47 listings (many of them J Condo or Beacon Tower). The average asking price is $1,029,945 while the average price per square feet is $813.44.
• Halstead has 4 listings. The average asking price is $1,288,750 while the average price per square feet is $960.62.
• Brown Harris Stevens has 2 listings. The average asking price is $1,537,500 while the average price per square feet is $900.29.
• Sotheby’s Realty has 7 listings. The average asking price is $1,528,983 excluding the $8.6 million listing of the Clocktower penthouse (which would skew the average).

This is obviously not reflective of the sale price or market value, but meant as a comparison of what’s on the market two months ago vs today. Any brokers out there see increases in sale prices?

{Will Dumbo Real Estate Continue to Rise in 2006?, DumboNYC.com, 9/11/06}
{Dumbo Market is Still Blazing (For Now), Curbed.com, 9/12/06}

Not quite in Dumbo (but billed as “Near the heart of Dumbo” on the website), the Bridgeview Tower development is scheduled for occupancy in the Spring of 2007 (it’s approaching fast!). The building is at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge and will have 58 units on 18 floors. The walk from the F train at the York Street station to Bridgeview took about 8 minutes via Gold Street (perhaps quicker if you walk fast past the Farragut apartment complex).

The design seems to be of Floridian descent with the lined facade design, curbed balcony slabs, and oval naval style windows. I could be wrong, but based on the prefab wall thickness (see 2nd photo below), the windows might not have enough thickness for the soundproofing that this area needs from the cars entering Manhattan Bridge.

  view from the front of the building

Brdigeview Tower
189 Bridge Street (between Concord and Nassau Streets)
Brooklyn, NY

{www.bridgeviewtower.com}
{ BridgeView Tower Condos in DUMBO, set speed}
{A Bridge So Near, Newyorkmetro}
{Bridge View Tower Kicks Off Flatbush Avenue Extension Renewal, Brooklyn Eagle, 6/30/05 (subscription required)}

Today’s Living In article in the real estate section of NY Times features Dumbo. You can read the article yourself, but here are a few descriptions of Dumbo from the article:

• “one of the most expensive and sought-after loft districts in New York“
• on Dumbo life: “there is life on nearly every corner, with strollers and bicycles bumping along the Belgian-block streets, and aromas of eggs Florentine and shiitake mushroom ravioli spilling onto the sidewalks”
• on New Developments: “Each tower [J Condo and Beacon Tower] is almost complete, and sales have already begun, with most unit prices beginning a hair under $1 million and edging upward.”
• Commercial: “Though consumer-friendly commercial activity was difficult to find a few years ago, small businesses have emerged all over the neighborhood.”
• Real Estate: “prices per square foot depend on the views. “I’ve sold way above $1,200 a square foot,” Ms. Heyman said, adding, “It’s about the view.””
• Rentals: “Rentals in Dumbo are hard to find. One-bedrooms can rent for as much as $5,000 per month; there is very little available under $2,000.”
• Eats: “Restaurants, like Superfine on Front Street and Bubby’s at the base of the Clocktower building, keep appearing, as do stores like P. S. Bookshop on Front Street”
• Schools: “Dumbo itself has no schools; many parents send their children to the private and public schools of nearby Brooklyn Heights. At Public School 8 on Hicks Street in 2004-2005, 54.8 percent of students met standards in state and city English language arts tests, versus 60.9 percent citywide; 68.5 percent did so in mathematics, versus 65.1 percent citywide.”
• History: “The names of Dumbo’s streets (Main, Front, Water) reflect its beginnings as a commercial downtown for Brooklyn, starting in the 1600’s.”
• Likes: “A walk through Dumbo is like none other in New York City; without looking at the baby clothing and natural food stores, the near-perfect preservation of its houses of manufacturing and unrivaled waterfront views are highly compelling.”

And residential properties mentioned in the article:

• 1 Main Street (Clocktower)
• 30 Main Street (Sweeney Building)
• 70 Washington Street
• 85 Adams Street (Beacon Tower)
• 100 Jay Street (J Condo)
• 84 Front Street (The Nexus)

Finally the article mentions at the end that a few small markets may not be enough for staples; “a full-scale grocery store is needed. A supermarket, anyone?” As the informative Peter Hyman reported earlier, a Whole Foods supermarket isn’t coming to Dumbo.

{Living In | Dumbo, Brooklyn: From Afterthought to Sought-After, NY Times, October 22, 2006}

  Courtesy of NY Times

The 421 program was created in 1971 to encourage new investment by abating the taxes on the added value of new construction while maintaining existing taxes. This was in contrast to the city’s J-51 program, which actually reduced existing taxes on rehabilitated residential property. The Bloomberg administration recommended yesterday that the 421 program for developers be overhauled as a way of creating more lower-cost housing. The new plan would expand the two zones in which builders must create affordable housing to get the tax breaks:

“Under the new proposal, those areas would be expanded to include Lower Manhattan, parts of Harlem, the Dumbo section of Brooklyn, Brooklyn Heights and other parts of the Brooklyn and Queens waterfront. The tax break would be tightened in other ways, too. There would be a strict limit on the size of tax breaks to market-rate units, and the maximum benefit — a 25-year tax break — would go only to projects citywide that include low-priced units.”

New development in Dumbo that are under the 421a program include J Condo at 100 Jay Street and Beacon Tower at 85 Adams Street. Barring action, the state law enabling the program will expire on Dec. 31, 2007.

{Bloomberg Recommendations On Tax Break Program Derided, The New York Sun}
{A developing storm over tax-break plan, Daily News}
{New York City Acts to Add Low-Cost Homes, NY Times}

We’ve seen a lot of buzz on the development at 99 Gold Street in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn. Designed by Scarano Architects in Dumbo and marketed by The Developers Group, this building was converted into 88 studio, one, and two bedroom lofts, and has a small non-regulation basketball court in the basement.

Okay, this isn’t really an update, but I was over there yesterday to check out the progress, and it looks like from the outside, most of the work has been completed. I went to the opening “launch party” this summer (has it already been 4 months ago?) and saw the apartments, the rooftop, and the basketball court. The finishes were nice, and the building seemed solid, but until more stores/services come to the area, residents will have to go to Brooklyn Heights for their pharmacy.

 99 Gold Street before conversion. Photo from The Developers Group

Aside from some reported price cuts by Robert Guskind at Curbed, we haven’t heard too much in the past month about 99 Gold. With the updated prices, the condos range between $522/sq.ft. for a studio with 2 bathrooms (1571 sq.ft.) to $969/sq.ft. for a penthouse two bedroom, 2 bathroom (not including the 1077 sq.ft. of outdoor space). Below are some photos taken this weekend.

From Scarano Architects:

“99 Gold is a renewal pioneer within the area’s industrial landscape. An upscale loft conversion is the latest trend in stylish city living, which redefines the 19th-century concrete and block building, originally designed to house and supply New York’s souvenir market. Following that industry’s decline and decades of misuse and neglect, vast quality-of-life improvements are assured by this adaptive reuse.”

 Click photo for close-up. 99 Gold in Vinegar Hill, October 8, 2006

 Click photo for close-up. 99 Gold in Vinegar Hill, October 8, 2006

Some sample pricing:

• 1 bed 1 bath, 757sq.ft. $575,000 ($759/sq.ft.), $328 maintenance, $48 tax
• 0 bed 1 bath, 988sq.ft. $645,000 ($653/sq.ft.), $412 maintenance, $61 tax
• 2 bed 1 bath, 1035sq.ft. $699,000 ($675/sq.ft.), $432 maintenance, $64 tax
• 2 bed 2 bath, 1215sq.ft. (1106sq.ft. outdoor space) $1,150,000 ($946/sq.ft.), $636 maintenance, $94 tax

Does anyone have info on move in date or how sales are going so far?

{99goldstreet.com}
{scaranoarchitects.com}

We previously reported the sale of the penthouse condo at 70 Washington, but the New York Post has an article about the sale today with additional info:

• A prominent Westchester lawyer has purchased the condo
• The 70 Washington penthouse was initially eyed by rap star Busta Rhymes, but he did purchase two J Condo units.
• J Condo: 87% sold
• Beacon Tower (79 units): 80% sold
• 70 Wash (210 of 259 units sold): 81% sold

{CLOCK $TRIKES, NY Post}
{70 Washington Street Record Sale, DumboNYC.com}

   Image courtesy of Curbed.com

According to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, the 70 Washington Street building is 80% sold out. Last month, the largest sale at 70 Washington was the purchase of two penthouses (my guess is the combination of an E and F line, based on the total square footage) by someone who plans to combine the two units for a total square footage of 2,720. I can’t confirm that the purchaser is Busta Rhymes or any other celebrity, but one of the units is the clock face duplex apartment that was featured on Curbed back in April, 2006. The total value of the duplex penthouse with two terraces and corner views of Brooklyn Bridge, Lower Manhattan, and the Statue of Liberty is $3.42 million (that’s $1261/sq.ft.).

Compare this to the article from the NY Times in June, 2006 on the former executives at Goldman Sachs and J. P. Morgan Chase paid $5.8 million ($1211/sq.ft.) for two adjoining apartments at 1 Main Street in Dumbo, Brooklyn. The two units, with a combined 4,790 square feet, have views of the East River and Manhattan. In 1998 when 1 Main Street went on sale, the two apartments sold to separate buyers for a total of $1.55 million (only $324/sq.ft. for both units).

Not a bad return, but it isn’t likely that we’ll see the same ROI 8 years from now in 2014, which would make the 70 Washington Street combined penthouse at $12.8 million or over $4700/sq.ft.

In just two weeks, we’ve seen progress on the Vista in Vinegar Hill. The modern stainless steel window frames have been installed and the rear balconies are in place (not shown in pics). It would’ve been nice to see townhouses in place of this development just like the ones across the street from Vista, or the 14 Townhouses on State Street in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn which preserved the townhouse block, but the developers had a vision of “living that sets past, present and future into a seamless atmosphere offering the best of all worlds”. From Corcoran:

“A charming five block area characterized by brownstones and Belgian block streets, this exclusive enclave offers a way of living that sets past, present and future into a seamless atmosphere offering the best of all worlds. This is where you can take a walk in the park, watch a show, sample some the world’s best chocolate, or stroll through art galleries that are setting the trends of tomorrow.”

Pricing start at $550,474 for 1 bedroom, 1 bath, 898 sq.ft. ($613/sq.ft.) to $1,075,680 for 2 bedroom, 2 bath, 1245 sq.ft. ($864/sq.ft.)

 Click photo for close-up. Vista on Vinegar Hill, September 3, 2006

 Click photo for close-up. Vista on Vinegar Hill, September 17, 2006

 taken on September 17, 2006

206 Front Street
Brooklyn, NY 11201

{The Vista on Vinegar Hill, Corcoran website}