Hipster developer throws down $16M cash for DoBro site

Decidedly hip developer Bushburg Properties has closed on two Downtown Brooklyn buildings for $16.3 million in cash, The Real Deal has learned.

The adjacent buildings, at 8-16 Nevins Street, are occupied by commercial tenants in short-term leases, according to Greg Roberts, a spokesperson for commercial brokerage CPEX. Sean Kelly, Matthew Dzbanek and Jay Sendogdular of CPEX represented both sides in the transaction.

The 9,000-square-foot lot sits between Fulton and Livingston streets.

While Brooklyn-based Bushburg has not finalized plans, the lots are likely to be used for a mixed-use development combining residential and retail, said Timothy King, managing partner at CPEX, who had knowledge of the deal.

The properties have more than 90,000 buildable square feet under current zoning, according to the Department of City Planning’s website. However, with an affordable housing component, a developer could build higher because the plots are in a zone where a floor area ratio bonus is given for inclusion of affordable housing or a public park.

The developer previously built a 24-unit development at 385 Troutman Street and is behind the anti-mall the Loom (which features a bike shop, tattoo parlor and photo studio), both of which are in Bushwick.

The Nevins Street properties also back onto Grove Place, an alley that the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership recently launched a campaign to enliven. Murals spray painted by local artists now adorn the walls that  face the alley, which cuts into the block sandwiched between Bond Street, Livingston Street and Flatbush Avenue. The partnership convinced local landlords to convert the alley into a small commercial strip, with “tiny storefronts with room for cutting-edge tenants upstairs,” according to a report from the Brooklyn Daily Eagle last month. The conversion is still underway.

Bushburg could not immediately be reached for comment.

“The retail along this side street will command a premium because of the foot traffic,” Kelly said in a statement to TRD, noting the site’s proximity to the Fulton Mall and the 2, 3, 4 and 5 subway lines.

The seller, Baby World Trading Corporation, did not have a phone number listed. The entity was deeded the lots by the city at no cost in 1984, according to city records.