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?
We always tried being optimistic about Cappuccino on the Bay. We hyped its reopening. We reviewed its new digs. We stopped by as often as we could stand to drink espresso. But in the end, Cappuccino on the Bay’s five-month existence at Avenue Z and East 17th Street passed like a numbing epilogue at the tail of a story many decades in the telling.
Cappuccino on the Bay shut down abruptly over the weekend. On Monday, the windows were covered in paper and a new tenant was already doing minor work inside. We can’t say whether or not the owner is looking for a third storefront in a little over a year – maybe some place with better foot traffic – but it’s unlikely. Our visits over the past few months saw the owner increasingly forlorn (or so it seemed), and our guess is he finally threw in the towel. A financial investment firm is moving into the location.
Cappuccino on the Bay moved to Avenue Z in July, after being forced out of it’s Emmons Avenue location when the property was sold a few months before. It sat on Emmons for generations, serving many bay residents their first espresso drinks. Fare thee well, Cap on the Bay. You’ll be missed.
Related articles:
Cappuccino On The Bay: A Slice of American Apple Pie and Italian Tiramisu, Too!
Coming Soon: Cappuccino On Avenue Z
Cappuccino Not on the Bay
Best Western Buys the Block
Best Western Real Estate Klusterfuck
We’ve been curious for some time now when the condos over at East 17th Street and Avenue Z would hit the market. It’s been months since we announced that the retail portion of the building was sold to a group of local doctors for a medical office. And we’ve been following construction on the building, noting in September that the building seemed almost complete. Still, we wondered when The Corcoran Group, which represents the residential units of 1702 Avenue Z, would announce open houses. Well, wait no longer: the high-end real estate giant posted prices and floor plans to its website yesterday.
The units are asking between $800,000 and $900,000 for between 17,000 and 19,000 1,700 and 1,900 square feet. They each feature three bedrooms and balconies, and most have three or three and a half bathrooms. Corcoran is marketing the high-end nature of this building on what was once a rundown garage: African Walnut hardwood floors, roof access, granite countertops, porcelain tiling, and Bosch appliances. What it’s notably lacking, though, is parking. Though the 10 units are attracting new families to the area, it does little to alleviate the extra burden they’ll put in an already parking-strained area.
If you’re interested in doling out almost a million dollars for a parking nightmare, Corcoran is having open houses tomorrow between 5 and 6 p.m.
The Bill Brown Square traffic triangle, located at the corner where East 17th Street turns into Sheepshead Bay Road, is clearly indicated as a one way street with signs indicating “No Parking Anytime”.
Still, it is not uncommon to see cars parked there and inhibiting traffic. This green sedan was seen last Friday at the intersection with no driver at the steering wheel, windows locked, and no blinking lights on. One block away on Jerome Avenue and East 18th Street, there was a ticket agent issuing violations to frustrated drivers arriving a minute too late from doing their errands at the bank and post office.
When alerted to the dangerous situation created by the car illegally parked at the narrow turn, the ticket agent said, “Yeah, I’ll be going over there, soon.” Meanwhile, back at the spot in front of Merin Corsettiere (1629 Jerome Avenue), a bus driver was blowing the horn to get the driver to move the car to make some room — to no avail.
While it may be obvious to most that parking on this corner is just not safe, there are others who just don’t seem to get that message or read the signs. The city may need to rethink the type of sign so that there is no question that even standing or stopping at the corner could very well cause a smashup.
I always knew this job would be the death of me.
One fine day, some heavy load these slavedrivers so mercilessly put on me is going to be like the final straw that broke the camel’s back.
I guess it’s a good thing that Abraham Hollander Monuments is right next door. That made it convenient for me to arrange for my final epitaph to be carved on my grave marker. My best friend, Shelley Wheely — named after Percy B. Shelley — was appointed by Marty Markowitz as the Poet Laureate for all shopping carts in Brooklyn. Being the neurotic poet he is, one wintry day when we all would have rathered to stay inside, he rolled over from his home at the Super Stop and Shop across the street, handed it to me saying, “Dear Brother, I felt a premonition that you were on your last revolution.” Was that eery — because, other than being a little chill to the bone, I was feeling not too bad.
Here Lies
Orange Sunshine
A Monument To Hard Work
199?-200?
In bright orange and shiny steel
On all fours you did wheel
Every night and every day
Serving Sheepshead Bay
Adding to the spirit of the community
Now, a spirit in the sky of unity
Roll In Peace
Lovely Shopping Cart
When I finally collapse under this backbreaking work, obviously, I’ll need your help in letting the staff know. They speak English, Russian, Hebrew, Hungarian and Yiddish.
Abraham Hollander Monuments
2558 East 17 St
Brooklyn, NY 11235
(718) 934-2770
(718) 615-1007
Office hours:
Monday-Thursday: 9am-6pm
Friday: 9am-4pm
Sunday: 9am-5pm
Located between Avenue Y & Avenue Z
Email: mail@ahminfo.com
While the Brooklyn Eagle writes about Southern Brooklyn’s roots as a farming society, in their recent article, Historically Speaking: Raising the (Wyckoff Barn) Roof, Sheepshead Bay residents are busy recreating the Hanging Gardens of Babylon or growing their own vegetables — depending on your perspective.
This front-to-side yard garden, located at Avenue V and East 17th Street, is ready for harvest and from the looks of the number of squash(?) growing under the leaf canopy, we’re thinking that there must be enough for quite a few families. These squash are so large that they need support in the form of large containers stacked one on top of the other.
A visitor from Queens who noticed the garden said,
Wow. I don’t think we have anything like that over there in Queens. I thought there were regulations about corner houses and the type of landscaping that can be erected. I remember when we tried to grow sunflowers and the city made us cut ‘em down. But, I’m not sure if droopy vegetables fall under landscaping.
Readers, we’d like to hear from you. First, help us identify this vegetable and let us know if you heard anything about the city regulating corner house plant ornamentation. Finally, if anyone knows the owner of the vegetable garden and can hook us up with some of that hanging gourd…by all means write in.
Construction workers removed the scaffolding around the glass-and-steel construct on Avenue Z and East 17th Street this morning, signaling an end to almost two years of work.
Workers on the scene are now tearing up the sidewalks and preparing to pour new concrete. They say the sidewalk will be done within the next couple of days. With a few exceptions on the street level and on the roof, all exterior work appears to be complete, and the crew said the inside of the building was ready as well.
Still, there appears no sign from the building’s residential realtor – Corcoran Group – that they’ve started marketing the building. On the commercial side, the building’s representative, Massey Knakal Realty Services, said last month that they’re close to a deal with a group of local doctors for medical offices. The docs will take all the commercial units, which include a total of 15,700 square feet spread among the basement and first two floors.
Just a few years ago, the intersection at Avenue Z and East 17th Street was occupied by a gas station, a rather run-down garage, a parking lot, and a car wash/tobacconist. Just a block off of one of the area’s main stretches, it was a pretty dismal intersection. But now three low-rises have popped up, all with retail on the lower levels, and a much more interesting corner of Sheepshead Bay is taking shape.
Sure, the municpal parking lot is still there. And so are Platinum Car Wash and Brooklyn Cigars. But the last retail business tenant in the new constructions has announced itself: T&N Pharmacy is opening on the northwest corner. T&N joins Cappuccino on the Bay and Sylvan Learning Center in the low-rise. We revealed last month that the three floors of retail in the building on the opposite corner will be occupied by a group of local physicians. There are still a few openings in the low-rise down the block, on East 17th Street between Avenue Z and Jerome Avenue, but we’re confident they’ll fill up soon.
Whatever you think of development in Sheepshead Bay, and especially the appearance of these three low-rises, it’s still good to know that businesses are moving into the area and improving a previously blighted-appearing intersection.
The commercial units in the steel-and-glass building being constructed on Avenue Z and East 17th Street may soon be occupied by a group of local doctors for use as a medical center, said the building’s commercial realtor, Brian Hanson of Massey Knakal Realty Services.
A contract has not yet been signed, but Hanson said they’re very close to a deal. The unnamed doctors all have private practices in the area.
The commercial portion of the property includes the basement, ground floor, and second level, totaling more than 15,700 square feet. If all goes smoothly, Hanson expects to close the contract within three to six months.
Above the commercial portion stands 10 residential units on five floors. The residential section of the building is represented by The Corcoran Group, which has not yet started marketing the condos.
The Corcoran Group could not be reached for comment, but Hanson said he believed the condos are approximately 2,000 square feet each. Though he is not sure, Hanson said he believes Corcoran will start marketing the units after Labor Day. Because the Massey Knakal sign is the only one on the building, Hanson said he gets about five to seven calls a week regarding the properties, indicating high consumer interest.
Construction on the location started about a year and a half ago. No word yet on a completion date.
It appears as if the exterior work on the Walgreens going up on Coney Island Avenue and Avenue W is almost done. Construction started about six months ago, notes Lisanne Anderson, who shot the above photo, and looks as if it may open sometime mid-summer.
This will be Walgreens’ fifth location in the area. Last June, they bought out Morris’ Drug Store on East 17th Street, where they expanded the store last month by removing the wall separating it from the next storefront, which is part of the same building. There is also a branch on the corner of Kings Highway and Coney Island Avenue, in the building that formerly housed the Kingsway Theater, and another branch at Brighton Beach Avenue at the intersection of Coney Island Avenue. Their branch at West 5th Street and Neptune Avenue was probably their only Brooklyn store previously, having been there at least since the late seventies, if not earlier.
Thanks to Lisanne for the information.
