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Shopping sloping upwards in South Park Slope

<i>Condo development draws new upscale retailers</i>

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Baby Bird lost its nest in the South Slope.

The children’s clothing store at 428 Seventh Avenue between 14th and 15th streets closed in May, an apparent casualty of the widening transformation of Park Slope’s grittier southern edge. Landlords looking to capitalize on a surge of newcomers moving into new nearby condos are raising commercial rents to draw higher-paying businesses.

Baby Bird’s owner, Jennifer Mankins, said her landlord had renovated the building’s commercial space and wanted to have a tenant occupy the whole floor, as Baby Bird only occupied half.

Mankins said the landlord eventually agreed to let her stay only in the front half, “but the rent was going to increase by about 50 percent, which was too big of a jump for my business.” A day-care center will now fill the storefront space, Mankins said.

Baby Bird’s neighbors on Seventh Avenue have also seen their share of turnover. In May, Computer Caf , an Internet cafeacute; on 435 Seventh Avenue at 15th Street, posted a sign in its window saying it had lost its lease after 11 years. And Tost, a cafeacute; at 427 Seventh Avenue between 14th and 15th streets, closed near the end of April.

But as some stores exit, new ones are making their way to the South Slope’s main commercial arteries: Seventh Avenue, Fifth Avenue and, to a lesser degree, Fourth Avenue. Newcomers to Seventh Avenue include Scalino, an Italian restaurant that took over a failed noodle shop at 347 Seventh Avenue and 11th Street this summer, and Chocolate Girl, a kosher chocolatier at 383 Seventh Avenue between 11th and 12th streets that opened in what was an empty storefront in July. The Brooklyn Paper reported that Union Market, a high-end specialty grocery on Union Street and Fifth Avenue, is opening a branch on Seventh Avenue between 12th and 13th streets.

Seventh is the most established of the main commercial avenues, with what more than one retailer called a “funky vibe” thanks to businesses like a tattoo shop, secondhand clothing stores and a handful of expensive clothing boutiques with this season’s dresses and peep-toe shoes in the windows.

Rising commercial rents

Mankins said landlords’ expectations may be too high. Her customers “have great taste” but are local residents and young families who are “still very price-conscious.”

“Traffic in the neighborhood is steady, but still quiet compared to Manhattan and other parts of Brooklyn that are bigger tourist destinations,” she said. “I don’t think that the traffic is increasing in proportion to what landlords are asking for rent. I think it is still to be determined what the neighborhood will support.”

Lawrence Sarn, director of sales for Massey Knakal, specializing in the South Slope and Windsor Terrace, said commercial rents along Fifth Avenue start at about $35 a square foot near Sunset Park to the south and run to $50 near 15th Street. Commercial rents along Seventh Avenue in this area are about $60 to 65 a square foot.

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Neil Dolgin, executive vice president of Kalmon Dolgin Affiliates, calculated commercial rents slightly higher. He’s seeing $55 to $60 a square foot on Fifth Avenue and $60 to $75 on Seventh, compared to $25 to $35 a few years ago. Stores are about 1,000 to 2,000 square feet, though corner stores are often larger.

“There is still a bit of hesitance on the Fifth Avenue corridor to go too far south, but surprisingly new businesses are popping up,” said Walston Bobb-Semple, Jr., principal broker at Urban View Realty in Park Slope. “We rented a space recently on Fifth Avenue at 15th Street that will house a new Bikram Yoga studio. The rent was in the $4,000-per-month range.”

Bobb-Semple said he is also seeing some increases in commercial rents among the agency’s listings, which are primarily along the Fifth Avenue corridor.

He’s seeing more upscale businesses opening, especially on Seventh Avenue, and said gentrification in the area is “just a matter of time — but I don’t think it will happen at the same pace as it did in North Slope. [That area has] access to the Atlantic Avenue subway, which attracted tons of renters and buyers.”

Fifth sees change, Fourth moves slower

On Fifth Avenue, new businesses are popping up among the numerous 99-cent stores, housewares shops, small markets and Spanish restaurants. Vin Rouge, a wine bar, recently opened at 629 Fifth Avenue between 17th and 18th streets. Sidecar, a restaurant and bar with exposed brick, a pressed-tin ceiling and handsome wood bar, opened in July at 560 Fifth Avenue between 14th and 15th streets.

In contrast, Fourth Avenue feels bleaker. Commercial tenants on the wide thoroughfare in the South Slope are largely limited to delis, check-cashing stores and shops that fix flats, sell tires or repair cars. There are some empty lots near Prospect Expressway. Several condominium projects are under way, including one at 500 Fourth Avenue and 13th Street, where a 12-story condo is going up. Larger projects like Novo and City View Towers lie to the north.

Business owners think the new condos will ultimately be good for the neighborhood.

Bart Decoursey and his brother, John, own Sidecar. Bart Decoursey, who used to live in the North Slope, said that with so many condos going up in the South Slope, he expected this section of Fifth Avenue would be the next to experience the wave of gentrification that has already transformed the northern segment of Fifth Avenue into a tony restaurant row.

“The neighborhood could become even more bustling then the North Slope because the condos will create a denser population,” Bart Decoursey said.

But this vision may take awhile. During an interview, John Decoursey rushed out the door to help a woman, the owner of a 99-cent store, who was tussling with a man who was carrying a bulging bag of DVDs and trying to board a city bus. The store owner said the man had robbed her.

Ordered off the bus by the driver, the man hailed a livery car and sped away. The Decoursey brothers sighed and went back to preparing for the evening’s customers.

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