DailyHeights

Lucas writes to Daily Heights about the coveted Rap-Id-Wrap building on Bergen St.: “Walked by last night (Dec. 9) and it was gone. I never got to say goodbye. Folks on the forum noticed, too….

Before (photo © 2005 Frank Lynch):

After (from Lucas):

Guest writes: “I saw them tearing it down at about 11 am yesterday morning. I spoke with one of the demolition crew and he said they could tear the whole thing down in just a few hours. It was pretty fantastic to watch this giant machine with a claw tearing into the building as snow was falling.”

The status of the permit was called into question, but Ben writes: “hard to say if there is a permit or not. None shows up on the DOB website, but in a complaint from 12/9 a permit No. is referenced…”

Read more: Prospect Heights Message Boards

danaeo asked: “I am trying to ascertain how many other developments are in the works in Prospect Heights (which might add additional units). I thought I’d turn to the dailyheights experts on neighborhood development…”

Answer: A lot. On the Prospect Heights Message Boards, jml posted this quick list, “based on my experiences as I drive around looking for parking”:

The Washington, 35 Washington ave – 11 units
35 Underhill Ave., 39 units (same building?)
Dean between Washington and Underhill
Something is going on on St. Marks between Underhill and Washington
Park Place between Carlton and Vanderbilt
Richard Meier building on Plaza
Sterling between Classon and Washington
Washington between St. Marks and Bergen
Washington between Bergen and Dean
The new 3-story buildings along Underhill and running down Dean

More on new developments: Prospect Heights Message Boards
Current condo development in Brooklyn: The Real Deal [PDF]
Real Estate Message Boards: Wired New York Forums

Hey, guess who was just here in the neighborhood?

Brownstoner writes: “We were driving through Prospect Heights on Sunday when we noticed this development of townhouses on Underhill and Dean. They look to be of the same vintage as the ones Ratner built on Fulton in Fort Greene.”

“Does anyone know how and when these came to be built? How about the quality of the interiors? Have any sold in recent memory?”

LINKS:
Wondering About Newish Townhouses on Underhill: Brownstoner.com
Outlook for Prospect Heights Circa 2002: Set Speed

More? Prospect Heights Message Boards

dina writes in: “Today at the site of the Union Temple parking lot, workers were driving metal rods into the sidewalk. On asking what they were doing, I was told they are guarding off the site in preparation to build a foundation for a 16-story apartment building. Is this the famed Richard Meier building? Does anyone know anything about this?”

metulj: “Yup. There goes my bedroom view of the library and probably the park as well.”

Previously on Daily Heights: “Developers originally and laughably sold this condo project to us as ‘not luxury.’ However, Deb’s conversation yesterday with a “boasting” spokesperson for Richard Meier revealed that ‘It will be the most luxurious building in Brooklyn.’ Local agents speculate a 2-bedroom unit will go for about $1 million.”

LINK: Let the Construction Begin? [Prospect Heights Message Boards]

Our friend joshb checks in: “got my little treatise about prospect heights and psychosis published in this week’s ny press…”:

Excerpts:

“My rent checks are addressed to a Caribbean gentleman with a toothy smile and a habit of praising God while bagging our recyclables. My landlord’s friendly, though prone to breaking repair promises: Nearly three years after moving in, our ceiling still flakes like cheap baklava. The crumbling paint is always a conversation starter…”

“Am I Prospect Heights? Perhaps. I frequently drink myself incorrigible. I refuse to wear deodorant. I’m prone to shouting at arthritic Hispanic women who block the sidewalk. It is not a glamorous neighborhood, but it is home, the security blanket against the big, bad city. So it is here where I draw the line, my own Alamo…”

Link: Going Postal [NY Press]

Discuss Desperate Homebuyers: Prospect Heights Message Boards

An Englishman in New York writes: “A New York institution passed into history last week. The banking hall in the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Building on Atlantic Avenue, in Brooklyn, closed its doors for the last time on Friday. Not that you would have noticed.”

“… it’s worth explaining that the banking hall in question is an art deco masterpiece, decorated in marble, adorned with a giant mosaic, lit via 40ft windows and crowned by a 63ft vaulted ceiling … The next time you see this room, it could be a Barnes and Noble or a swanky restaurant.”

Read more… Link: [An Englishman in New York]

See the previous discussion in the Daily Heights Message Boards.

Estate sale. Four stories, two families. All boarded up… You’ve walked by it many times, and quig among others has commented on it in the (somebody, quick! find the link!). Is that the right street address?

Brownstoner says: “all we know is that there’s original oak detailing and it ‘needs work’. (Given the relatively low price tag of $999,000, we’re guessing it needs a lot of work.) As a bonus, it’s on one of those sweet 131-foot lots particular to Prospect Heights.”

UPDATE: Crowhiller writes: “Hmmm… looks like 375 Park, right across the street from me. If it is, it needs more than just a little work. It was Daphne Weeks house, a wonderful Calypso bandleader lady from Trinidad. She’d call over then kiss all the “young men” walking down the street. She passed away early Nov. last year (it was a very sad month), then a couple of weeks later, around 2 AM, the house burned spectacularly–gutted from bottom to top. A bit mysterious. My granny, her friend, died three days after the blaze. They were both 99 or so. Why (or how) would a realtor list the wrong address?”

Links
HOTD: Prospect Heights Estate Sale [Brownstoner ]
Listing: Donawald Realty
Discuss it:

Today on DailySlope.com: “The Daily News reports that ‘as the clock ticks down on plans for a massive rezoning of south Park Slope, developers are scrambling to squeeze in controversial projects… ‘ – Advocates say developers routinely ignore stop-work orders, or pay the fines and keep building.“

“Yeah, yeah, hurry up and give me the fine already… I’ve got a work crew on illegal overtime!”
Image from South Park Slope Blog.

This 2-story building, which some neighbors refer to as the Kee House after the previous (or still current?) residents, was the target of a bidding war, with an opening bid of $1.3 million, as reported a few months ago on Brownstoner, and a deed for $1.4 million was recorded on July 25, according to Property Shark records. Incidentally, a $900,000 mortgage was recorded that same day, with a Mark Schildkraut of Fort Salonga, NY listed as “giving lien or ownership.”

Now, it turns out there’s a new record on the books: a building application for a three-floor extension (and 2-story rear enlargement) to the existing building, dated Aug. 24. Owner is listed as Mark Schildkraut.

Those additions would cost an estimated $105,000 ($105,000?! public records say the craziest things) and would add 4,054 square feet, and make the building a total of 5 stories, towering over the existing 2- and 3-story brownstones on that block, which is anchored on one side by the 3-story residential building that houses the Kurdish Museum (currently just about the tallest building on the block). After the additions, this pink-pillared single-family residence would be open to 5 families.

Hmm, 5 stories and 5 families… I wonder how that will go over with current residents on this block?

Discuss: Prospect Heights Message Boards

Still seems much more affordable than Park Slope, or…?

Source: via Brownstoner.

PROSPECT HEIGHTS $425,000
135 Eastern Parkway
(Turner Towers)
2-bedroom, 2-bath, 1,000-sq.-ft. co-op in a postwar building; 24-hr. doormen; dining area; gym in building; maintenance $820, 40% tax deductible; listed at $425,000, 1 week on market (broker: Susan N. Breen)

Discuss: [Prospect Heights Message Boards]