Italian restaurant Rucola recently opened at 190 Dean Street.From the May issue: Developer Abby Hamlin knew she was taking a risk when she bought a block of Boerum Hill properties in 2004 in a joint venture with Francis Greenburger’s Time Equities.

But Hamlin, a longtime Brooklyn resident and the founder of Hamlin Equities, felt confident in her plan to build 23 new construction townhouses there.

“Boerum Hill was thought to be somewhat edgy at that time,” she recalled. Still, “I didn’t need any convincing. It was within walking distance to everything, had 14 subway lines and was five minutes to Wall Street.” [more]

Steiner Studios Chairman Douglas Steiner and 204 Huntington Street

Steiner Studios paid $24.5 million in cash to land a 60-unit Carroll Gardens rental building, Crain’s reported. The building, at 204 Huntington Street, was sold by an investment team led by Area Property Partners, which acquired it along with an adjacent building at 505 Court Street, that has since been converted into a 124-unit condominium, for $50.5 million. [more]

Empire State Development President Kenneth Adams and Atlantic Yards

Rather than attempt to work out environmental concerns at the Atlantic Yards with the surrounding community, Empire State Development is hoping a third round of litigation proves to be the charm. Crain’s reported that the state agency filed a request to appeal a pair of rulings that it illegally approved changes to Forest City Ratner’s plans for the site without a sufficient environmental review. [more]

From left: Trish Martin, director of sales at Halstead Property, Scott Klein, vice president at Prudential Douglas Elliman, Brian Lehner, senior vice president at Brown Harris Stevens, and Sofia Song, vice president of research at StreetEasy

From the April issue: There’s no shortage of neighborhoods that real estate brokers have attempted to coin with catchy names, from widely used newer names like Nolita (North of Little Italy) to names that haven’t caught on with the public yet like SoBro (South Bronx). But one thing even brokers can agree on in Brooklyn is that few who really know the area actually use the term “BoCoCa” when referring to Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill and Carroll Gardens. Still, the term does serve as a handy shorthand when discussing market conditions in the trifecta of popular neighborhoods clustered together just south of Downtown Brooklyn. [more]

From left: an exterior shot of the new Cobble Hill Buffalo Exchange and its interior

Buffalo Exchange, the buy-sell-trade vintage clothing store with a nationwide presence, opened a new shop in Cobble Hill last Saturday, the company announced in a press release yesterday. The new store marks the company’s fourth in New York City, with other shops in Williamsburg, Chelsea and the East Village. [more]

Diane Ramirez, president of Halstead

Halstead Property has purchased two smaller firms in Cobble Hill and Park Slope, where it is expanding its Brooklyn business, according to a statement from the company today.

With the purchase of Cobble Heights Realty and Heights Berkeley Realty, Halstead now has five storefront offices in the borough, bringing the total number of Halstead’s tri-state offices to 23. [more]

Brennan Realty Services President Donald Brennan and a rendering of the townhouse he's building at 2 Strong Place

Several developers are planning more than a dozen new townhouses throughout Cobble Hill, the New York Post reported. Because of a lack of supply, the properties can command prices of more than $1,000 per square foot.

Developer Donald Brennan just earned Landmarks Preservation Commission approval to begin construction on three new ground-up townhouses on Strong Place off Kane Street that will range from $3.95 million to $5.95 million ($1,018 to $1,208 per square foot). They’re slated to be finished next year. [more]

From left: 327 Court Street and Eric Altschul of CPEX

Prudential Douglas Elliman has inked a lease for a new space down the street from it’s current space in the Cobble Hill area of Brooklyn, Crain’s reported.

The brokerage will move a half dozen blocks down the street to a 1,500-square-foot building that is currently a Chinese restaurant at 327 Court Street, at the corner of Sackett Street. The new office will be large enough to accomodate 50 brokers, Camille Logan, executive vice president and director of sales at Elliman, told Crain’s. Elliman will be in the space by April, Crain’s said. They will close the current office at 189 Court Street. [more]

Barclays Center

The plan to provide the 1,100 parking spaces New York State mandated for the Barclays Center would require hydraulic lifts for stacked parking, the New York Post reported, which likely means huge parking delays and traffic in the Prospect Heights neighborhood.

The square block designated to be the only on-site event parking area until a permanent lot is erected underneath Atlantic Yards is far too small to accommodate the number of parking spaces required by the state. [more]

From left: Geoffrey Bailey, director of TerraCRG, Triangle Sports, Timothy King, managing director of CPEX, and a rendering of the Barclays Center

National retailers and restaurateurs have been scrupulously scouting for real estate locations near and along Flatbush and Atlantic avenues in advance of the Barclays Center opening this year.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the most recent victim of the growing trend is Triangle Sports, the 96-year-old retailer at the intersection of Flatbush and Fifth avenues. With the weak economy and increased pressure from the national retailers and upscale boutiques that have descended upon the area, Triangle Sports owners felt it would be best to sell their property. [more]