Is 1702 Avenue Z cursed? It could be, because what once was among Sheepshead Bay’s glitziest properties now has signs of a downhill turn.
First of all, it’s almost a year behind the completion date of the building and work is still being done on the interior of East 17th Street and Avenue Z. Things started to look up in August, as the commercial broker, Massey Knakel Realty Services, told us they were closing a deal with a group of local doctors to use the entire office/retail space as a medical center. Then, in November, the posh residential units hit the market under the elite Corcoran name, with asking prices of more than $800,000.
Now, just a measly three months later, all the big boys have pulled out. The deal with the doctors fell through, and Massey Knakel is no longer representing the building. Similarly, The Corcoran Group has pulled the listing from its website.
Click to see broker's sign
The entire development – commercial and residential – is now represented by the mysterious Dreamlife Realty, for which we can find little information. Their website is dated 2008 and is notably blank and sets off anti-virus alerts. Similarly, a Google search for the agent – Olga Orak – reveals little more than she represents a few McMansions out in New Jersey.
So what’s the deal? What has made two of New York City’s biggest brokers turn tail and run for the hills? And will Little Miss Dreamlife Realty have the pull to market such a high-priced, mixed-use development?
I guess what I’m asking is: are these ever going to sell, or does something smell fishy in Sheepshead Bay?
The fence to this mess fell down, giving access to children from nearby P.S. 52
We railed last month against the owners of 2820 Avenue Z, a stalled construction site in such deplorable condition that it threatened the safety of local schoolchildren. On February 9, the city declared the site in “Emergency Condition.” This means the property owner must repair the construction fence immediately or the city will do it for them. This is done to ensure public safety.
The ruling came after a February 1 inspection spurred on by complaints about the site’s fallen fencing, which gave access to children from P.S. 52 on the same block. In addition to the broken fencing, the inspection found that the existing wood and steel frame was below grade.
Though there is no exact time frame for the repairs to be done before the city steps in, it’s assumed the property owner has a few days to make repairs. If the city repairs the fencing they put the cost on the property tax bill and charge a premium.
We passed by on February 12 and the fencing was still down. If this is along anyone’s daily route, please send us updates if anything changes.
Thanks to Community Board 15 for the information.
Rising co-op prices could alter Sheepshead's character for years to come (Photo courtesy of Lisanne Anderson)
What to do, what to do, what to do? When panic consumes much of the real estate market, many of my clients were still able to find good values for co-ops in Sheepshead Bay. Last week I completed two closings, one for $150,000 for a one bedroom in Gravesend and another for $225,000. You can’t find prices like that in nieghborhoods as good as Sheepshead Bay anymore. However, cue the tax man, because Governor David Paterson now wants to put a mortgage recording tax on co-op purchases.
Let me explain: When one buys a home, let’s say in Midwood, the purchaser will pay anywhere from 2.05 percent to 2.175 percent mortgage tax on the amount of mortgage they take out for the property. That occurs at the closing. However, since co-ops were not considered real property for tax purposes (they were thought of as personal property, more specifically shares in a corporation), co-op purchasers would literally pay a fraction of the closing costs that purchasers of homes and condos would. We’re talking thousands upon thousands of dollars in savings, which is, among other thing, what made co-ops a good value. Now, to close a budget gap (until our next one shortly thereafter) Governor Paterson wants to do away with this exemption. You can imagine that co-op owners and propsective owners aren’t thrilled by this.
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Photo by Doughnut
In the fight to make a better waterfront, most argue that if residential homes are torn down, they ought to be replaced with something to compliment the marina. Be it bait and tackle shops or lively nightlife, that’s what’s called for, and that’s why the Sheepshead Bay Special Zoning District exists.
Unfortunately, there is no provision to ensure that people don’t tear down an Emmons Avenue bungalow and build an ugly piece of shit. Case in point? 3101 Emmons Avenue, which sold on January 14 for an astounding $1.75 million.
The newly constructed commercial unit replaces a bungalow house with 5,050 square feet of fugly, featuring a mezzanine with no view. Judging from the design, and some insider whispering, it will most likely go to some sort of bar/restaurant/lounge use. Which is cool. Except that it’s ugly.
We’re a little surprised by the high selling price of this thing (a whopping $350 per square foot), but, hey, even in a depression it’s always a seller’s market for cold, ambiguous steel doors on phallic, beige utility shafts.
This is NOT how you build a treehouse
Three years ago, workers began demolishing 2820 Avenue Z to make way for a new building. The problem is, it never had permission to do so. The resulting mess is a portrait of Department of Building’s inefficacy that is now putting schoolchildren across the street at P.S. 52 in danger.
After making your way past the fallen fencing and through garbage and jagged debris, you reach a 7-foot drop into a partially excavated foundation, which the DOB forced property owners to re-line with cinder blocks. In the middle of it all is a pile of loosely standing splinters that could generously be called the construction’s frame.
Beer bottles, junk food wrappers, spray paint cans, and the graffiti on the walls show that teenagers have been messing around in here. A crossing guard for the school across the street says she chases the school children out of there on a daily basis. She’s tried calling the number on the side – a general contractor – but gets no response.
Continue reading about the violations, and DOB’s inability to take action
Courtesy of Wikipedia Commons
Kings Plaza 6, the movie theaters at Brooklyn’s most fabulo… I can’t say it. I just can’t. Kings Plaza is a hell hole, and the theaters there were terrible. I just got word that the theaters closed two weeks ago, via the blog Brooklynometry. Good riddance, I say.
According to the blogger, Kings Plaza’s wise and venerable security guards say the space is being filled by Best Buy. So for the first time since all of its book stores shuttered years ago, I finally have a reason to go to Kings Plaza. Or I can go to Caesar’s Bay. Or Gateway Center. Or walk three blocks in any direction in Manhattan.
A resident of the area tells us there have been rumors that a movie theater is being placed above the Lowe’s Hardware being built next door. As far as we know, though, that building hasn’t gotten past a single wall in almost six months. Take the rumor for what it’s worth.
UPDATE: As one of our readers pointed out, there will not be a theater above the Lowe’s. Original plans by the developer included a deal for a 14-screen multiplex that would take up part of the first and all of the second floor. However, the plans fell through almost a decade ago, culminating in a bitter NY Supreme Court battle that was ruled on just yesterday. Tipster=1. Know-nothing Mill Basin resident=0.
The new construction at 30 Dooley Street, between Emmons Avenue and Shore Parkway, is coming along pretty swiftly. We wrote about the building back in October as the supporting steel for the first floors began to go up. Now the towering building, hulking over Emmons Avenue from the Sunrise Assisted Living parking lot, has some real shape to it. As you can see from the sign, they’re seeking tenants for office, medical, and restaurant businesses. Your thoughts?
Just a reminder, here’s the photo from October:
A family of stray cats are staking a claim to the garage and attached lot on the corner of Avenue Z and East 16th Street. A group with similar patterns have been seen stalking the grounds, poking through garbage for scraps, and sitting in the sun.
We caught these photos on Tuesday. They’re of two separate cats. They’re pretty handsome, but that doesn’t mean they’re exactly welcome in the neighborhood.
As for the lot – a former garage – it’s been closed for years. It’s a pretty large stretch of space, but we’ve heard whispers that the landlord wants an absurd amount of cash. On top of that, underground fuel tanks have leaked, we’re told, requiring the next owner to clean up before building.
It’s a shame. A bookstore or other business would find that spot purrrfect.
Yeah… I said it.
There is another huge mortgage problem on the horizon, one that will even more directly burden the taxpayer than the current crisis: Federal Housing Administration (FHA) loans.
Let’s compare what happened during the mortgage crisis and what’s happening now.
Before, if you didn’t have money to make a down payment on your new Sheepshead Bay condo, no problem! Banks were giving out dollars like crazy and so the purchasers would take out 100 percent financing. Sometimes they would even walk away from their purchase with money in their hands after they purchased a unit for a few million.
We know how the story ends. It’s not a stretch to say the majority of people who purchased homes in the West Village, Park Slope, Sheepshead Bay, or anywhere in New York City with 100 percent financing have either foreclosed, are behind in their mortgage payments, or are having issues.
Now, if you don’t have money to make a down payment on your new Sheepshead Bay condo, no problem! Buyers are still being offered almost 100 percent loans. But this time it’s backed by the government through the FHA. So taxpayers are insuring housing loans, not private companies. Worse still, those loans are making up the fastest growing part of many lenders’ businesses.
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The ad below appeared on Craigslist Thanksgiving afternoon. It got us wondering which restaurant this could be.
RESTAURANT FOR SALE
Restaurant for Sale in the heart of Sheepshead Bay.
Seats 70. Full Kitchen.
Backyard with a lot of possibilities.
Low Rent and Long Lease.
We’re thinking it may be the New Clements Diner storefront, which closed back in August. At the time it was suggested the neighbors at Forces of Nature might expand, but nothing seems to have happened.
The ad has a number that we’ll call for details next week. But until then, I thought we’d play a game. Let’s guess the restaurant and the asking rent price!
