Pratt institute buys Clinton Hill development site for $13 million

The Pratt Institute, the private art college based in Brooklyn, has purchased a 34,700-square-foot development site approved for a 17-story residential tower for $13 million, according to public records filed with the city today. The site, at 131 Emerson Place, is a block from the institute’s main campus in Clinton Hill.

The seller of the 100-foot by 252-foot lot was Cara Development, a local Brooklyn development firm that had teamed with Hudson Companies in 2008 to bring a 16-story, 95,000-square-foot residential building to the site, which it purchased in 2001. The project was put on hold in 2009 just after the recession hit and the plans were not revisited. The site, an irregularly shaped through-block lot at the corner of Myrtle Avenue, was put on the market in January.

Charles Cara, founder of Cara Development, declined to comment on the deal.

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Massey Knakal Realty Services first vice president Stephen Palmese represented the seller in the transaction alongside associates Winfield Cliufford and Michael Mazzara. The sale was a direct deal with no other brokers involved, Mazzara said.

The overall site provides a net 96,906 square feet of potential residential zoning floor area and the approved plans would utilize 88,311 square feet of residential floor area. According to plans, the building would have a 15-year 421-a tax exemption.

Sources speculated that Pratt might build student or staff housing on the site, though the college did not immediately respond to a request for comment.