As we posted about previously, the penthouse addition to the 25 Washington Street residential rental conversion can be seen above. The same view as taken a year ago is shown below.

Previously:
{25 Washington Rooftop Addition In View, 20Aug2010, Brownstoner}
{25 Washington St LPC Hearing Sept 7, 24Aug2010}
{25 Washington Rentals to Open in March 2011, 23Jul2010}
{25 Washington St Progress, 14Jul2010}

We’ve had many readers concerned about the asbestos mitigation ‘huts’ that have gone up on Washington/Main and Washington/Water Streets a few days ago. We were told that this is was planned, and asked the Dumbo Improvement District for an update.

From the Dumbo Improvement District:

Asbestos abatement, planned as part of Water Street Project (Project Number SEK002355), has started and is scheduled to be completed in approximately 2-3 weeks. Fiber Control Inc. has been hired for the asbestos abatement and will be working in the tunnels on the following streets:

Water St. B/T Washington St. and Main St. (Street & Intersection)
Front St. B/T Washington St.and Adams St. (Street & Intersection)

The work will take place daily, Monday – Friday, from 7:00AM to 3:30PM.

If you have any questions, please contact the Community Construction Liaison, Paul Kidder at 718-643-2850.

Previously:
{Construction Around Dumbo Through 2011+}

Since we posted about the 25 Washington St progress in July, construction on the top addition has begun, according to
Brownstoner. Steel beam frames are in place for the penthouse floors.

Also, the 25 Washington Street is on the agenda at the next Landmarks Preservation Commission hearing on September 7, 2010. An application has been submitted “to establish a master plan governing the future installation of windows.”

Previously:
{25 Washington Rentals to Open in March 2011, 23Jul2010}
{25 Washington St Progress, 14Jul2010}

According to the latest July/August 2010 DDC newsletter (PDF format), a 12″ distribution water main installation was completed as of June 2010 on Washington Street. However, yesterday, construction crews began blocking off one lane of Washington Street between York and Front Streets to begin digging through the Belgian blocks. We contacted the Community Construction Liaison who provided this update:

“The contractor is installing the new sewer on Washington St. between York St and Front St. This work will take about three weeks to complete, then the roadway will be a two way again. Other work remaining will be to restore the roadway and re-install the cobble stones later down the road.”

Looks like a mid-September completion date on the block if all goes well. We received several emails from residents who are concerned with the length of time that Washington Street (and Water Street) will be under construction. It’s important to note that businesses will stay open, so be sure to support them when possible.

Previously:
{Construction Around Dumbo Through 2011+, 10May2010}
{Notice: Cars Parked on Dock Street, 12Apr2010}
{Water Street Reconstruction Update (Mar/Apr 2010), 10Mar2010}
{Water/Washington St Reconstruction Project Update, 03Dec2009}
{Belgian Block Reconstruction to Begin, 04May2009}

Munch Truck is a relatively new truck stationed on Washington Street in Dumbo. They serve breakfast and lunch foods. For breakfast, egg/bagel sandwiches and omlettes (breakfast menu photo). Lunch items include falafel sandwiches, gyros, chicken burgers, veggie burgers, and fries/onion rings (lunch menu photo). We tried the falafel sandwich with hummus sauce today and was pretty tasty. Let us know what you think.

Accoding to The Real Deal, the 25 Washington Street rental conversion we posted about last week will be ready for occupancy in March 2011. There will be 106 “luxury rental apartments” will have exposed, wood-beamed ceilings and “higher-end finishes than we’ve typically done,” Asher Abehsera, residential vice president at Two Trees says.

Prices at 25 Washington Street will range from around $2,000 for studios to $4,800 for two-bedrooms. Two Trees expects to start leasing the units in March 2011 and deliver them the following month, Abehsera said. As previously mentioned, the 8 story building has a two story addition being constructed (at 16,256 ft) and the roof will have cabana spaces, similar to the ones at 70 Washington Street.

Previously:
{25 Washington St Progress, 14Jul2010}

Since we’ve received more than a dozen emails about this, thought we’d update it here as well. (We’ve posted this on our Twitter feed yesterday). Scaffolding is being put up along Front Street against the 55 Washington Street building. There were reported falling debris (concrete?) so this is a swift response to that. If anyone has more details, comment or email us.

The 25 Washington Street building is being converted from an office building to a residential rental building (noted first in November 2009). There is an application on file “for a two-story extension to the building (with “accessory cabana spaces” on the roof) in 2007.

The building is owned by Two Trees Management and formerly occupied by approximately 100 small businesses. As seen by the photos, the top floor roof has been removed and is being readied for the extension floors. Exposed wood beams and large windows are seen in the first photo above.

Further information on the building according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission Dumbo Designation Report:

Date of construction: 1901 (NB 1114-01)
Architect: William Higginson
Original owner: Robert Gair
Type: Factory
Style: American Round Arch
Stories: 6 and basement
Structure/material: Brick; slow-burning mill construction

Features: Ten bays on Washington Street, eleven bays on Plymouth Street, and ten bays facing east at lot line; segmental-arch openings; brick piers between windows from second through fifth stories; basement set behind areaway with pipe rail; bluestone window sills; sills on second and sixth stories continue across facade as beltcourses; brick corbelling and dentil course above firstand fifth-story windows; corbelling at roofline; high parapet on Plymouth Street; bulkhead on south side of Washington Street facade.

History: In 1887, this site was home to a steam pump factory. By the 1890s, this lot and the adjoining lot to the east were owned by the Dodge & Olcott Chemical Company. Dodge & Olcott was established in 1862 as an outgrowth of a chemical business that had been established in New York in 1798 by Robert Bach (George Olcott was a descendant of Bach). Between 1880 and 1904 the firm opened a distillation plant for producing essences of aromatic herbs and roots 118 on this block. The 1904 Sanborn atlas notes that Dodge & Olcott manufactured “essential oils” in its factory. Conveyance records seem to indicate that Dodge & Olcott sold the properties on the south side of Plymouth Street between Washington Street and Adams Street to Robert Gair in two transactions in 1904 and 1911. However, an 1895 application for a one-story brick storage building at 21 Washington Street indicated that Gair was the owner of the property (NB 1156-95; it is possible that Gair was a lessee). The present building was erected by Gair in 1904 and became the administrative headquarters of the Charles William Stores, housing the firm’s general offices, employment and educational divisions, dispensary, and recreation and reading rooms. The company leased this space from Gair.

{BIS record for 25 Washington St}
{Dumbo’s Next Blockbuster Condo Conversion: 25 Washington?, 25Aug2009, Curbed}

ART ATTACK, a ‘guerilla display of art’ is featuring Orianne Cosentino’s Moving Violation on July 1, 2010 (6-10pm). For one night only, a truck transformed into a gallery space will be parked in Dumbo near Rabbit Hole Studios (33 Washington Street). Info on Moving Violation:

MOVING VIOLATION, a selection of paintings from the series QUOTA, shows the progression from abstract canvases to strikingly concrete corners of the city. Light and movement are key elements of the works as are the actual sheets of the familiar bright orange violation paper. As the siege of the city has also transformed, the coffers still regularly reinforced with the dollars of the hard-working folks, the relevance of this series continues.

As an art student during the mid-90’s in NYC, Orianne spotted her first discarded parking ticket strewn on the ground near 23rd street on the eastside. Finding it a compelling piece of urban design, she decided to keep an eye cast downward as she maneuvered the city to see how many more she could find. The collection grew rapidly, and still does, though they are never taken off cars nor acquired illegally in any way. It is incredible how many of these garish and obvious shards of paper there are littering the streets and, ironically, the collection was sparked just as Mayor Giuliani began his obsession with cleaning up the city. Some tickets are reclaimed in frustrated pieces, others waterlogged, many still in a pristine condition. Certain gems were written upon, with insults and messages to those bearing the bad news. In their found state, they are incorporated onto the canvases as both overt and subtle elements.

Rubicon, an upcoming TV series on AMC is filming in Dumbo tomorrow, June 30, between 7am-5pm (On Front Street).

AMC’s description of the show:

“AMC taps into our collective paranoia with its compelling new conspiracy series, Rubicon. Will Travers is an intelligence analyst who cracks codes for a living. When Will’s world is shattered by an untimely death he begins asking questions, diving into a web of mystery and danger. Not every conspiracy is a theory.”

The series will star James Badge Dale, Jessica Collins, Lili Taylor, Miranda Richardson, Dallas Roberts, Christopher Evan Welch, Paul Butler and Peter Gerety. The series will debut on AMC on August 1, 2010 at 8/7c.

Thanks to chrispetescia and tripill for the notice. Photo above by chrispetescia.

According to Brooklyn Eagle, four digital design firms have signed leases at Two Trees Management owned buildings at 20 Jay Street, 45 Main Street, and 55 Washington Street.

• Cloverleaf Digital, a company that develops interactive television services and applications, has signed a three year lease at 20 Jay for 1,590 square feet.
• Small Planet Digital Inc., a company that designs custom iPhone games and applications, has signed a lease for 1,343 square feet over four years and two months at 45 Main. (We featured one of their portfolio companies, Freeverse earlier this year).
• Strength in Numbers Digital, a digital production company, has taken 1,173 square feet in a signed lease for three years and six months, also at 45 Main.
• Damashek Consulting, a website developer, signed a one-year lease for 1,100 square foot at 55 Washington.

Good to see that the New York Digital District family is continuing to grow in Dumbo. Welcome to Dumbo!

Filming on Washington Street yesterday: shooting a cheesy Chinese video in front of 70 Washington Street. Didn’t see filming permits, but no one was worried.

Three bedroom apartments are not very common in Dumbo. Many of the loft conversions are open layouts with large living/kitchen areas with one or two bedrooms and new buildings in Dumbo were designed for a couple or small families in mind (or was it to maximize the number of apartments?). Once a family has two or more children, it’s time to move out. In our view, this creates a transient neighborhood (vs families who live in a brownstone house for generations) and one that brings in young professionals (the high cost of rentals in Dumbo doesn’t attract college or graduate students who are on limited budgets.) With that said, let’s take a look at the three bedroom apartments currently on the market. Not including the $25,000,000 penthouse at 1 Main Street (Prudential Elliman listing and previously on DumboNYC here and here), there are currently 5 listings for sale in Dumbo for three bedrooms. The 42 Main Street (aka Bridgefront) just came on the market this past weekend:

• 42 Main Street #3A, $1,089,750, 3 bed/2 bath, 1,330 sq.ft ($819/sq.ft)
• 70 Washington Street #5D*, $1,495,555, 3 bed/3 bath, 1,700 sq.ft ($879/sq.ft)
• 30 Main Street #8G, $2,675,000, 3 bed/2.5 bath, 2,474 sq.ft ($1,081/sq.ft)
• 1 Main Street #14, $8,500,000, 3 bed/2.5 bath, 3,208 sq.ft ($2,649/sq.ft)
• 1 Main Street #6GH, $3,300,000, 3 bed/3.5 bath, 3,300 sq.ft ($1,000/sq.ft)

*Technically the 70 Washington listing is a 2 bedroom with a home office but is listed as a 3 bedroom on the broker’s site. Another 2+1 bed 70 Washington unit sold in 4 weeks last month for $3,850,000.

If you’re looking to rent a three bedroom, you currently don’t have much choice. There’s only one unit on the market, the $20,000 per month 3 bed, 2/5 bath, 3,208 sq.ft (Sotheby’s listing), last listed for sale at $7,800,000.

Previously:
{3 Bedroom Rentals in Dumbo (Nov 2009)}

There will be a commercial filming on Friday, May 7, 2010 between 6am – 11pm by ‘Tempesta’ on Washington Street between Prospect and York Streets in Dumbo Brooklyn.

Wow that was fast. This 70 Washington Street penthouse (PH-L) that was on the market on February 4 closed its sale on April 12 for $3,850,000 ($1,808 per square foot). The listing entered into contract on March 5, only a month after being in the market. The asking price was $4,200,000, so the sold price was -8.3%.

Elsewhere:
{Brownstoner: Last Week’s Biggest Sales, 20Apr2010}
{Streeteasy.com listing}
{On the Market: Gorgeous 70 Washington PH, 05Feb2010}