By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — The former Pepper & Potter auto dealership on Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn will soon be replaced by a Hampton Inn hotel.

The 4,700-square-foot site, at the corner of Tillary Street, sold on March 13 to Magna Hospitality Group for $10.8 million, according to Paula Ingram, a principal with Ingram & Hebron Realty (I&H).

I&H’s Robert Hebron Sr. and Paul Murphy represented the seller, the Potter Family, in the transaction, which went for $229-per-buildable-square-foot.

Murphy told the Eagle Wednesday that Magna Hospitality Group, based in East Greenwich, R.I., plans to build a limited-service 10-story, 120- to 140-room hotel on the site — possibly a Hampton Inn. (There are at least five Hampton Inns in Manhattan but none so far in Brooklyn.)

Magna currently owns and operates the Comfort Inn Brooklyn at 279 Butler St., and the Holiday Inn Express at 625 Union St., both in Gowanus, but this would be the first Brooklyn location the firm is developing itself.

Attempts to reach Magna Hospitality were unsucessful on Wednesday.

The corner property is at one of the busiest intersections and is considered a gateway to Brooklyn.. “This intersection is one of the most familiar gateway locations in Brooklyn,� said Ingram. “The sale price reflects its unique visibility and the transformation now underway nearby where up-zoning has stimulated exciting new residential development on the east side of Flatbush Extension.�

Murphy, who likes to call the Tillary-Flatbush area “Flattery,� believes it is an ideal location for a hotel. Not only is it a gateway because of its visibility to those coming across the Manhattan Bridge, but this prime location is directly opposite the MetroTech complex that connects the downtown commercial district with the Manhattan Bridge and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway.

Recent zoning changes on the east side of Flatbush Avenue Extension, between Tillary and Myrtle Avenue, increased the permissible density of the site, boosting the buildable area from a 1.0 FAR (M1) to a 10 FAR (C6-4), permitting a 47,000 square foot building on the property.

The Pepper & Potter dealership was established by Lester Potter and a partner in 1946, just after World War II. The Potter family continued to operate it until 2003.

“The family’s original plan after closing it was to lease the building, but then they slowly began to move toward selling the property,� Murphy told the Eagle Wednesday.

The property has a storied past, according to Ingram. A 19th century city map shows the location was once the site of a grain distillery. That business had a Duffield Street address since that street bordered the block before the street grid was altered and Flatbush Avenue Extension was created to connect Flatbush Avenue with the newly opened Manhattan Bridge in 1905.

© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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