EDC President Seth Pinsky and Federal Building  #2

New York City Economic Development Corporation and Representatives Nydia Velasquez and Congressman Jerrold Nadler have named Salmar Properties as the developer for Federal Building #2, a vacant 1.1 million-square-foot 1916 warehouse building in the Sunset Park area of Brooklyn, previously used by the Department of the Navy and last occupied in 2000. Plans call for the building, in an area bound by Second and Third avenues and 30th and 32nd streets, to become a state-of-the-art industrial center in what Mayor Michael Bloomberg has dubbed the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Business Zone.

Salmar is owned 49.5 percent by Marvin Schein’s investment firm Schein Family Partners, 49.5 percent by Selim Rusi’s S. Rusi Family LLC. and 1 percent by an entity of which Schein and Rusi are 50 percent stakeholders. Salmar will have a deed restriction for 30 years, limiting most of the building to light industrial use. TRD [more]

The 99-room Best Western Plus Prospect Park opened this weekend at 764 Fourth Avenue in Sunset Park, according to Brownstoner. The Best Western website says the 10-story hotel will feature a 3,500-square-foot luxury spa, 1,000 square feet of meeting space and on-site parking. Rooms start at $130 per night. The hotel is the latest in a Brooklyn hotel boom that’s transpired over the past few years. Land is cheaper and easier to obtain than it is in Manhattan, but last year, on average, rooms cost $100 less than they did in Manhattan and had far lower occupancy rates. [Brownstoner] [more]

Mayor Bloomberg

A new 486,000-square-foot commercial bioscience research center is being developed at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, according to the city. The project, which is being developed through a partnership between Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the State University of New York, has received $12 million in city funds and an additional $48 million in state capital. The development, which will allow commercial and non-profit biomedical research, will create an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs. Phase one of the project, the construction of the first 56,000 square feet of the development, is expected to be complete in 2011. TRD

[more]

Mayor Bloomberg

A new 486,000-square-foot commercial bioscience research center is being developed at the Brooklyn Army Terminal in Sunset Park, according to the city. The project, which is being developed through a partnership between Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s office, the New York City Economic Development Corporation and the State University of New York, has received $12 million in city funds and an additional $48 million in state capital. The development, which will allow commercial and non-profit biomedical research, will create an estimated 1,000 permanent jobs. Phase one of the project, the construction of the first 56,000 square feet of the development, is expected to be complete in 2011. TRD

[more]

The New York City Economic Development Corporation has taken the first step toward revitalizing a 1.1 million-square-foot warehouse in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood. The space has sat vacant since past developer, Time Equities, backed out of its agreement with the city to revamp the site earlier this year, The Real Deal reported, as the recession took its toll. The company had been planning to revitalize the warehouse, transforming it into a $205 million retail and commercial space. Now, the EDC has submitted a formal request for developers’ bids. Seth Pinsky, president of EDC, said that timing was crucial in the group’s decision to renew its search for a developer. “Rather than work with the federal government to find a user at a fire sale price, we decided to wait till the market improved and go out with a new [request],” Pinsky said. “We’ve heard from a number of parties who have expressed interest. We think that this is a unique opportunity, one that we hope developers will seize upon.”

The Bush Terminal in Sunset Park is set to receive a $10 million “Restore New York” grant from state officials. The funds will go toward the demolition and reconstruction of facilities on the property, while the city’s Economic Development Corporation will be responsible for preparing the site for new construction. The “Restore New York” grants are given by the Empire State Development Corporation, chaired by Dennis Mullen. So far, 79 state projects have been designated for grants.

Co-op and condo boards are looking to cut costs because of the
recession. Carol Carson, board president of a 16-unit walk-up building
in Sunset Park, said maintenance fees should be raised so money can be
added to a reserve fund which would be used for emergency repairs, but
other residents disagree because they cannot afford the increases.
Instead, Silvana Vlacich, president of a 132-unit co-op in Murray Hill,
said that flexibility and re-evaluation is key for saving money. “My
advice is to do your homework on every aspect of your building,”
Vlacich said. “If you’re not getting service from your professionals,
or if your staff is not performing, you’ve got to fix it. Re-evaluate
everything you’re doing.” Attorney Ronald Sher, a partner at Himmelfarb
& Sher, also stresses the necessity of vigilance. “Boards have to
make sure that shareholders and unit owners are current in their
monthly payments,” he said. “Plenty of boards wait months before they
refer arrears to counsel, but boards are going to suffer hardships if
they do that now.” [more]

Renters in the outer boroughs who were previously priced out of
Manhattan are moving back as prices fall. For just $100 more a month, a
publicist left his Greenpoint apartment for a Lower East Side unit
(although it is half the size of his old Brooklyn home), and an editor
left Sunset Park for Midtown, receiving a month of free rent. In the
first three months of the year, one-bedroom rents in Manhattan fell 6.7
percent compared to the previous year, while Brooklyn one-bedrooms saw
rents drop 3.2 percent, according to Citi Habitats and Ideal Properties
Group. Only 9 percent of renters moving to Brooklyn were from Manhattan
during the first three months of the year, while nearly a quarter of
renters migrated from Manhattan to Brooklyn during the same time last
year, according to Ideal.
[more]

Francis Greenburger said Time Equities is canceling its Sunset Park plans.

Time Equities has cast aside plans to purchase and rehabilitate two
major government-owned sites along the Brooklyn waterfront in Sunset
Park, the company CEO said, citing the poor economy. The Manhattan-based real estate investment and development firm pulled
out of talks with the city’s Economic Development Corporation to buy
and rehabilitate the two locations. “Given current market conditions, Time Equities was unable to create an
economically viable business plan with the Economic Development
Corporation for the acquisition and redevelopment of Bush Terminal
buildings B and C and Federal Building No. 2,” Francis Greenburger,
chairman and CEO of Time Equities, said in a statement.

[more]

Suburban shoppers with immigrant parents or grandparents are boosting the city’s economy by visiting ethnic retail centers at a growing rate, according to a report published by the Center for an Urban Future, a think tank. Downtown Flushing, Washington Heights, Richmond Hill, Brighton Beach, Midwood and Astoria are all popular ethnic centers. While the number of businesses citywide increased 9.6 percent from 1994 to 2004, the report highlighted several areas that grew faster: Flushing, up 54.6 percent; Sunset Park, up 47.3 percent; Sheepshead Bay-Brighton Beach, up 33.7 percent; and Washington Heights, up 17.8 percent. [more]