Employee of Spice factory (on Franklin near Sullivan) states rumors of sale are not accurate

whynot_31

The buildings predate Ebbets Field Stadium, which predate Ebbets Field Apartments....

Most of the buildings are gone, but the one in use by the Spice company remains.

Crown Height's Consumers Park Brewery on Franklin Ave.

In 1908, when Charley Ebbets was looking around Brooklyn for a place to build his ballpark, he decided on an obscure part of town near Prospect Park that lay in between the neighborhoods of Flatbush and the St. Marks District. It was called Crow Hill, and was undeveloped, an ash dump, actually, with little going on except for a couple of rambling industrial complexes. One of these industrial groups was the Flatbush Hygeia Ice Company, at 984 Franklin Avenue, and the other was home to the Consumers Park Brewery; a complex of buildings that made the beverage that helped make Brooklyn: lager beer. For Charles Ebbets this was perfect, for what goes better than baseball and ice cold beer.

946 - 978 Franklin

whynot_31

thecameralady

I can still smell the spices when I walk by.

Also, the name of the nearby apartment complex is Ebbets Field Apartments, not Houses. :sunny:

whynot_31

I fixed the name of the complex.

I do find it wierd how much unused land there is around the Spice building.

Assuming it is zoned residential, I suspect we will get some more neighbors.

bobmarvin

There also used to be a BRT Consumer Park stop on what is now the Franklin Ave. Shuttle; that stop was later replaced by the Botanic Garden stop. The 1918 Malbone Street disaster was between the Consumer Park and Prospect Park stops.

thecameralady

I believe the Malbone Street wreck was right under Empire Boulevard. The street's name was changed from Malbone Street to Empire Boulevard because of the incident. (There is a stub of Malbone Street near the 71st Precinct.)

I see from the old map posted above that there was a street that ran through what is now part of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden. I wonder what used to be there.

whynot_31

Is it just me, or do others hear a "tick, tick, tick" noise as one walks by this complex and the surrounding vacant lots?

A "tick. tick, tick" that ends in the spices being moved to ENY and the site being converted into condos, and a lot of construction on the surrounding vacant lots.

whynot_31

Website for the spice company:

http://www.golombeckspice.com/php/index.php

Morris J Golombeck 

Give the development pressure on the site, I have decided to add it to the sites that I watch closely:

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/44634/links-to-the-big-16-developments-in-western-crown-heights/p1

Esperanza

So that old cement building just past the spice building used to be a train platform? I always wondered.

xlizellx

My favorite blog post:

http://ilovefranklinave.blogspot.com/2009/07/franklin-avenue-aromatherapy.html

mugofmead111

is it just me, or do others hear a "tick, tick, tick" noise as one walks by this complex and the surrounding vacant lots?A "tick. tick, tick" that ends in the spices being moved to ENY and the site being converted into condos, and a lot of construction on the surrounding vacant lots.

I heard this evening that this site has been sold. No word yet on who purchased this lot; I don't think that info is of public record yet.

Maybe another set of 20+ story apartment buildings can be constructed?

ETA: The spice factory is zoned R7-A according to this map?

whynot_31

Yes.

That is huge, but not surprising news.    One of the sites with paid staff (Curbed, Brownstoner, Real Deal, etc) will likely break the news of who bought it sometime soon.

Here's a little about R7A.

http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/zone/zh_r7a.shtml

So, we won't get anything taller than the building in the photos (see above link) unless affordable housing is included.   ...only as a result of including affordable units, were the Tivoli and Ebbets Field buildings able to be so tall.   

whynot_31

BTW, I suspect and hope that some of the large brick buildings survive. They are good looking enough that I suspect people will pay to live in them, and could pretty easily be made into residential.

mugofmead111

Franklin Avenue won't smell like spices anymore. 

whynot_31

I assume it is a profitable business, and will relocate elsewhere.

I am interested in whether the new owner bought the whole business, or just the buildings and the land.

If they just bought the B and L, I assume a lease was written to allow the business time to move.

If they bought the whole business, the operation could be closed, the employees left without jobs, and customers with one less spice supplier.

whynot_31

In order to prepare for an upcoming walking tour, I called the Golombeck spice company today and spoke with Lev, a representative:

718-284-3505, http://www.golombeckspice.com/php/contact.php

Lev stated that at present, the business has not been sold and that there are no plans for it to close and/or relocate.

He is willing to meet with me to give me the history of the building, but is not able/willing to meet with us on a weekend to tour the facility.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/45201/ms-whynot-and-whynot-design-the-2015-walking-tour-#Item_21

Those who like the smell of spices in the air should be happy to read this.

Esperanza

Thanks for this update. I love the ambiance the building brings to the area, plus the smells! Glad the neighborhood will be at least keeping some of it's roots.

mcpoet

Lev stated that at present, the business has not been sold and that there are no plans for it to close and/or relocate.

In other words, prices in this area haven't gone up enough yet to justify a sale.  Once the four building complex is built on the site of the old Laundromat a block away I have a feeling that they'll reconsider that position.  As much as I enjoy being able to smell those spices in the air when I walk by, I'm skeptical that it will still be used for its present purposes five years from now. 

whynot_31

Me too.

I have kept it on my list of Big 16 Developments for those reasons.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/44634/links-to-the-big-16-developments-in-western-crown-heights/p1

whynot_31

This site will be among those discussed on a walking tour held on Saturday, May 2, 2015.

http://www.brooklynian.com/discussion/45410/a-walking-tour-change-in-sw-crown-heights-will-be-held-saturday-may-2nd-at-2-pm/p1

whynot_31

Today, some kind of work was spotted at the former subway station for the Consumers Park Brewery. (this complex became the "Spice Factory") ...it doesn't appear to be demolition and no demolition permit is on file (yet?) http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/PropertyProfileOverviewServlet?houseno=130&street=MONTGOMERY+STREET&boro=3

whynot_31

whynot_31

whynot_31

whynot_31

They may just be stabilizing the building, it is in bad shape.

mugofmead111

Also, there is a small sliver of land directly adjacent to the shuttle tracks that supposedly is still available to be leased.

whynot_31

My present theory is that we are seeing a scope of work document being created. This document will become part of the RFPs that demolition and finance companies review before the adventure begins.

whynot_31

Today, I determined that the upper windows were bricked up and it looks like plywood was put on others. They also knocked off small pieces of the building that were already falling off.

whynot_31

Boom! The Real Deal has now published that a developer is now in contract to purchase at least part of the Spice Factory lots, enough for 200,000 BSF. I believe my photo is more accurate than the Real Deal's https://therealdeal.com/2017/09/18/lincoln-equities-makes-move-into-brooklyn-with-deal-for-crown-heights-dev-site/ "The two lots at 120-136 Montgomery Street are located to the west of Prospect Park between Crown Heights and Prospect-Lefferts Gardens, and they are currently occupied by a three-story 21,900-square-foot building and a five-story 66,900-square-foot building with frontage on Franklin Street."

whynot_31

So, I believe this sale to include the building and vacant lot in the above photo. And, it would not surprise me if the site went for over $80M.

whynot_31

This adjacent building on Franklin is also presently believed to be a part of the sale