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Stribling closes at One Brooklyn Bridge Park

Elizabeth Stribling

Real estate doyenne Elizabeth Stribling has closed on her multi-million-dollar penthouse apartment at One Brooklyn Bridge Park, marking the start of what she said should be a "strong spring" in the building, despite the troubled residential market.

Her eponymous brokerage firm is exclusively handling sales and marketing at the 449-unit condominium building in Brooklyn Heights, which is a former Jehovah's Witness printing plant, and sits along the East River at the foot of the proposed 85-acre Brooklyn Bridge Park.

Stribling first announced her plans to buy two adjacent penthouse condos and a parking space for a record $6.6 million in March, and has waited patiently for construction to finish ever since.

"This is a special apartment, and [contractors] combined and built from scratch all the custom plans, so I knew it was going to take [a] long [time]," she said.

She closed on the apartment last Thursday and celebrated with champagne, cookies, and "hugs around the table," she said.

"It's just exciting to have a new project, and a new adventure in life," said Stribling, who turns 65 this year. Her 3,442-square-foot unit has 1,900 square feet of outdoor space, and the 14-story building has sweeping views of the East River, Manhattan skyline, and Brooklyn Bridge.

Stribling will be doing "decorative work" before moving in, and declined to say when that date would be, or how much she ultimately paid for her new apartment. The closing has not yet been made public by the city. She currently lives in a rented townhouse on East 84th Street, but did not elaborate about her plans with that house.

Her closing comes at a time when interest in the building has picked up, despite a recent slowdown in sales. More than one-third of the building's units have been sold, according to recent reports, in the building since it first went on the market in April 2007, and the building's developer, Robert Levine, has said he has started giving concessions to close deals, including paying closing costs and helping buyers with financing options, Levine told this reporter for a story in the Brooklyn Paper.

The 14-story, one million-square-foot building at 360 Furman Street, has lofts, townhouses and penthouses, with prices ranging from $525,000 to more than $7 million. Amenities include a yoga studio, private storage, game room, golf simulator, media lounge, gardens and parking spaces available for purchase.

Meanwhile, Brooklyn Bridge Park has seen recently problems of its own, including announcements last week that costs have soared to $350 million, $200 million more than its original budget, and that plans to include housing and a hotel in the park, which would have covered the park's operating costs, have fallen through.

But Stribling said she anticipates more sales this spring.

"An uptick in activity is noticeable all over, and certainly at open houses. Prices have come down, and buyers smell opportunity in the air," she said. "Maybe people are tired of waiting."