Brooklynite Looks Forward to First Brooklyn Project
DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A Brooklynite, born and raised, Manhattan developer Kenneth Horn is looking forward to his first Brooklyn project.
The site he and his firm, Alchemy Properties Inc., have chosen is a property at 199 State St., between Court Street and Boerum Place and adjacent to the new Brooklyn Law School dorm in Boerum Hill. On that site, Alchemy is building the Lookout Hill Condominiums.
This 11-story residential project is just east of Brooklyn Heights where Horn, Alchemy’s president, recalled visiting as a child and thinking “everyone there must be so rich.”
“And here I am with a building almost in Brooklyn Heights,” said Horn, who said he grew up in Crown Heights and graduated from Madison High School.
His goal was to have “a striking looking exterior, and interiors with very, very high-end finishes, typical of our Manhattan buildings.”
On the exterior, the designers at Fox & Fowle Architects in Manhattan used brick and glass with metal panels
“It is very similar to our residential building at Bond and Bowery,” he said, referring to the Bond Street Lofts, the first ground-up condominium development in NoHo.
The units will be loft-like with high ceilings (10.5 to 11 feet) and very large windows to allow a lot of natural light.
“Additionally, the unit plans are accentuated by large living rooms that project from the façade as large bay windows to provide light and vistas to the surrounding neighborhood,” wrote the architects in a project description. “These bays, expressed as large metal panel volumes within the building’s main multi-scaled brick façade, create a strong identity for this distinctive property.”
Interior amenities will include hardwood floors, Viking stainless appliances, public and private gardens and terraces, and energy efficient heating and cooling systems.
There will be a 24-hour doorman, a rec room for residents on the ground floor and additional common space on the roof. No retail or commercial space or underground parking is planned.
The approximately 70,000-square-foot building will contain 46 units varying in size from studios to three bedrooms, to include one onsite “super’s unit,” according to Horn.
The breakdown is as follows: three studios averaging 677 square feet; five one-bedroom, 1.5-bath units ranging from 913-1,048 square feet; 10 one-bedroom, 1.5 bath units plus den ranging from 932-1,058 square feet; 13 two-bedroom, two-bath units ranging from 1,000-1,290 square feet; eight two-bedroom, 2.5-bath units ranging from 1,273-1,293 square feet; two two-bedroom, two-bath units with private patios that will face a large, common backyard; and four three-bedroom, 2.5-bath units averaging 1,640 square feet.
Four of the 45 apartments are penthouses and these will also have private rooftop terraces.
As for prices, without acceptances of the offering plan (it has been sent to the attorney general), is too soon to be specific, but they will be reasonable, according to Horn.
“We like to price things a bit below market because we want to sell them fast,” he said. “In this building, everything will be priced under $1 million.”
He anticipates the range of prices will start at $470,000 for studios, and from $600,000-$660,000 for a one-bedroom, from $795,000-$950,000 for a two-bedroom; and from $970,000-$995,000 for a three-bedroom unit.
Horn is hoping for a November acceptance. Sales and marketing, which the company handles itself, could begin then.
With work on the foundation just begun, he anticipates completion and occupancy for mid-November 2006.
Horn named Stuart Rubenfield as a principal and partner with Alchemy Properties on this project. Rubenfield contributed the land, he said.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2005
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