Close to 300 Apartments in the Works; Potential For 750 More People on Streets
By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle
WILLIAMSBURG — Union Avenue in Williamsburg is unrecognizable. Vacant lots are being filled and graffiti-covered warehouses are disappearing, particularly on those blocks between Grand Street and Metropolitan Avenue as well as the adjacent Keap Street.
Instead, there is construction site after construction site with new residential buildings going up — at least 10 developments that the Eagle is aware of.
Calling it “the evolution of Union Avenue,” one architect estimated there are at least 20 new buildings being constructed in the area with 500 new residential units.
David Maundrell, whose firm AptsandLofts.com, is very active in Williamsburg, and who is handling sales and marketing for at least four of the projects, believes that there are closer to 10 developments in the triangle described above.
“This development has been going on for two-to-three years,” he said. “Developers have been buying up properties, getting their designs approved.”
Except for a few formerly vacant sites, most of the new developments involved the demolition of one-story or other low-rise vacant buildings.
Starting from the south they are:
• 441 Grand St. (aka 414 Keap St.), a new 5-story 78-foot-tall building with eight units. The developer is identified in Department of Buildings (DOB) documents as 441 Grand Realty LLC with Mark Weisz and Bogdan Malinowski named as principals. The design is by Scarano Architects.
According to PropertyShark.com, this property was acquired in 2005 for $1.6 million.
• 365-367 Union Ave., a new four-story 67-foot-tall structure with 14 units. The developer is identified in DOB documents as Meir Anton of 363 Union LLC based in Elmhurst, N.Y., with design by Scarano Architects.
According to PropertyShark.com, this property was acquired in 2006 for $1.92 million.
• 378-384 Union Ave. (aka 1 Powers St.), a new mixed-use six-story 66-foot-tall structure with 38 units in 40,790 square feet. The developer is identified by the DOB as Howard Eisenberg of Essex Market Development based in Belle Harbor, N.Y., with design by Kutnicki Bernstein Architects.
According to PropertyShark.com, this property was also acquired in 2006; no price was given.
PropertyShark’s photo of the one-story demolished warehouse building reveals it was the former home of Big Blue Beer Distributors.
• 385 Union Ave. (aka 88-90 Ainslie St.), a new six-story 70-foot-tall building with 47 units in 53,023 square feet. The developer is identified in DOB documents as Onchel Friedman of Union Avenue Plaza LLC based in Brooklyn. The design is by Christopher Dierig of S3 Architecture, also a Brooklyn firm.
According to Propertyshark.com, this property was acquired in 2007 for $3.6 million.
• 405 Union Ave. (aka 65-77 Ainslie St.), a new 6-story 70-foot-tall building with 47 residential units in 65,000 square feet. The developer is identified in DOB documents as Union Development LLC with Yidel Klein named as principal. The design is by Karl Fischer Architects.
According to PropertyShark.com, the properties (estimated at six) were acquired in 2006 for $6.4 million.
• 421-433 Union Ave. and 462 Keap St., a new six-story 70-foot-tall building with 29 units in 33,848 square feet facing both streets. The developer is identified as Arturo Munoz of 462 Keap LLC based in Brooklyn. The design is by Thomas Gilman of Gilman Architects in Manhattan.
According to PropertyShark.com, these properties were acquired in 2006; no prices were given
• 140-142 Hope St. (aka 430 Keap St.), a new five-story 69-foot-tall structure with 29 units in 37,600 square feet. The developer is identified as Simon Dushinsky of Hope Development LLC as well as North Driggs Holdings. The design is by Karl Fischer Architects.
According to PropertyShark.com, these properties were acquired in 2006 for $3.4 million.
• 471-475 Keap St., a loft conversion of an existing four-story building with a fourth floor vertical enlargement and 15 residential units in 17,152 square feet.
The developer is identified by the DOB as TreeTop Development with design by Bricolage Designs of Brooklyn.
According to PropertyShark, the property was acquired in 2006 for $1.672 million.
• 502 Metropolitan Ave., a new 12-story mixed-use structure with 145 residential units. The developer is identified in DOB documents as 502-510 Met LLC, with Meyer Chetrit named as managing member. The design is by Meltzer/Mandl Architects.
There is no approved DOB permit for construction of a new building, however (possibly due to reviews by the Board of Standards and Appeals); there are only the approved permits for the demolition of several low-rise buildings on the site.
300 New Units, 750 More People
All in all, these 10 developments with their close to 300 new residential units will put an estimated 750 more individuals on the streets, on the subways and in local stores.
Subways are already overcrowded, and the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train is said to be the fifth busiest in the city.
“Some people travel in reverse,” said Williamsburg resident Caitlin McNamara, explaining that commuters heading west to Manhattan in the mornings will actually ride east to the Lorimer Street station, the line’s second stop in Williamsburg, in hopes of getting a seat before the crowds enter at Bedford Avenue.
That second stop is adjacent to all this new development.
“It’s going to be a nice residential pocket,” Maundrell said of the area. “It’s a great neighborhood, it’s within a block’s walk to the subway, two stops from Manhattan. It’s its own little city we’re building here.”
Additionally, the old Kellogg’s diner has been refurbished and room for retail stores is planned at several of the buildings, he said.
One big question remains about all these new residential units: will they be rentals or condominiums?
“That is not known at this time,” said Maundrell.
© Brooklyn Daily Eagle 2008
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