From left: Madison’s Josh Zegen and 143-159 Classon Avenue

A New Jersey-based investor is slated to bring a 37-unit condominium development to the Clinton Hill area of Brooklyn after buying a nearly complete property out of bankruptcy, The Real Deal has learned.

Commercial real estate investment firm Madison Realty Capital is providing $13 million in financing for the New Jersey buyer’s purchase of a defaulted note on a property at 143-159 Classon Avenue, which was previously held by Community Preservation Corporation and had an outstanding balance of around $17 million, Madison co-founder Josh Zegen told The Real Deal today at the International Council of Shopping Centers’ annual RECon retail conference. [more]

Marc Lambrechts and an aerial shot of his Fort Greene lot

Developers, take note. A non-landmarked, block-through Fort Greene assemblage, which can be developed into 38,000 buildable square feet, has hit the market for $9 million, the New York Daily News reported.

Artist Marc Lambrechts is the owner of the site, which includes a main house, a carriage house, four garages and three backyards. [more]

A Pratt Institute building

The Pratt Institute in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn has expansion on the mind. The arts college is looking to quadruple its film and video enrollment and double its footprint by moving into a 17,000-square-foot space on campus, Crain’s reported. Renovation work to accommodate the expansion is valued at $3 million and will take place in a space that currently operates as a bookstore. Project completion is slated for the fall of 2014. The new digs will fit 200 Pratt students over the next four to six years, whereas the department currently has 50 students. [more]

From left: Bob Knakal and 139 Emerson Place

The 45,670-square-foot, 50-unit affordable housing property located at 139 Emerson Place in Clinton Hill has traded for $11 million in cash, Brownstoner reported. Massey Knakal brokered the deal. The building rises six stories high and has 12 parking spaces. Brownstoner said this marks Massey Knakal’s second affordable-housing sale in the neighborhood so far this year. The property is located in between Myrtle and Willoughby avenues. [more]

Barclays Center

Parking garages near the Barclays Center are jacking up prices and considering arena shuttle service in hopes of reaping the benefits of Brooklyn’s new arena.

Some garage owners are offering flat rates — $30 dollars at the corner of Atlantic and Grand Avenues more than a half-mile from the stadium— or considering shuttle service for the arena’s Nets games, concerts, and other events. [more]

Fort Greene studio rents (source: MNS)

The neighborhoods closest to the Barclays Center are seeing the greatest appreciation in average rents as the arena finally nears its long-anticipated opening date. Boerum Hill and Fort Greene saw their average rents increase 3.4 percent and 3.0 percent between August and July 2012, according to the August Brooklyn rental market report released today by MNS. The brokerage’s data also show rents are rising fastest for larger units.

The average rent for two-bedroom units reached $3,083 in August, up 9.2 percent on a year-over-year basis. By comparison, one-bedroom rents rose 7.1 percent to $2,415 and studio rents jumped 6.8 percent to $1,895 over that time frame. [more]

525 Clinton Avenue (credit: PropertyShark)

The would-be condominium project at 525 Clinton Avenue has found new life as a rental building, Brownstoner reported. The 33-unit building will have prices that range from $2,925 for a one-bedroom to $5,200 per month for a three-bedroom.

Originally, the building was set to have three condo units per floor — spanning from 780 square feet to 2,100 square feet, and ranging in price from $650,000 to $950,000. The project was begun by Karnusa Equities. [more]

A strip of Fulton Street in Fort Greene

A meeting hosted by the Fort Greene and Clinton Hill business improvement district showed that there is discord among residents and business owners over what an improvement would entail, the Local reported. Possible changes to Brooklyn’s Fulton Street, between Ashland Place and Classon Avenue — the addition of bike lines and pedestrian zones, for example — was the focus of the preliminary gathering. But the discussion eventually turned to the cost of rent and gentrification. [more]

The Landmarks Preservation Commission has rejected a proposal to landmark the Lefferts Place Historic District in Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, the Local reported. The area between Washington and Bedford avenues and Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue would have been the district’s boundaries. [more]

A rendering of the approved project at 313 Gold Street and the vacant lot (credit: Massey Knakal)

The vacant Fort Greene lot slated for a high-rise companion to the Oro condominium is for sale, Brownstoner reported.

The site, at 313 Gold Street, was planned to be built to 35 stories and 214 units and to be called Oro 2 by the same developers behind its predecessor, the 40-story Oro at 306 Gold Street.  [more]