Boerum Hill lot goes for $18M

A Boerum Hill corner lot at Atlantic Avenue and Nevins Street sold for $18 million, according to city property records filed this week. The buyer is an LLC registered to Avery Hall Investments, a real estate acquisitions and development firm focused on Brooklyn property investments.

The parcel at 85 Nevins Street is zoned for 48,300 buildable square feet, putting the price per square foot at roughly $370. Current zoning on the block is oriented to multistory buildings up to 70 feet and ground-level commercial space on Atlantic Avenue. The block was rezoned to allow for a slightly denser building as part of a larger rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn in 2004.

The L-shaped parcel runs 150-feet along Atlantic Avenue and 40 feet along Nevins Street and extends back to Pacific Street, where it covers roughly 60 feet between existing residential buildings. A parking lot and one-story laundromat currently occupy the parcel.

Avery Hall declined to comment but indicated it did not have plans for the site. The seller is Atlantic Nevins Development Corp.

The investment and development firm recently purchased another site just down the road at 112-118 Atlantic Avenue, the New York Observer previously reported. That 23,500-square-foot lot, currently home to a gas station, sold for $7.75 million.

Given the purchase price and the shape and size of the parcel, the site will probably be developed into townhouses and condos, said Sean Kelly, a managing director specializing in development and conversion at CPEX Real Estate, which was not involved with the deal. Kelly valued the parcel a few years ago and said the sale price is uncommon but not surprising because there is so little land available in Boerum Hill.

Though about 2,000 rental units are coming on line in the coming years at three nearby buildings, there is little condo inventory beyond Stahl’s 388 Bridge, which has seen several price increases.

“Just like traditional rental builders get priced out of the market in Manhattan because they’re competing with condo prices, now you’re seeing that in Brooklyn.”

The developers will have many options for potential retail space on Atlantic Avenue, said Ryan Condren, managing director at CPEX. With anchor tenants such as Barney’s, Urban Outfitters and Trader Joe’s now established on Atlantic, pockets of under-utilized space are developing from Brooklyn Bridge Park to Atlantic Terminal.

“This asset is uniquely situated, sandwiched between that Smith-Court Street corridor and Barclays Center,” said Condren. “You’re seeing better quality tenants starting to come into these blocks and feeding off each other and working well.”