First floor occupancy @ 475 Sterling?

Greetings.
I'm on Washington Ave regularly and live within a few blocks or where you are looking. I just looked and found there was a thread about this place when it first opened:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=39113&highlight=

but this thread died before our present "great recession".

Amazingly, the neighborhood continues to gentrify at a slow but steady pace (whether this is a good or bad thing is the subject of huge debates, ones I hope we'll avoid here).

That said, the 'hood has improved considerably over the last few years.

For example, there seems to be less blatant drug trade on Washington than before. A few years ago, Washington was as active as Franklin and Nostrand Ave are presently.

The first floor units are too fishbowl for my tastes, but this is what shades are for.

RE: Gunshots. I'll be honest: Within the last year, the Deli owner at Washington and St. John's was shot. ...and we had a double murder following a summer block party on St. John's. and Washington.

Walk around on a Sat night, around 10 PM see if its an area you are comfortable with. I'm of the opinion that the crime that takes place, mostly involves people involved in crime (aka people using and selling drugs) and people who are displaying cell phones, $ and the like, as if they are completely unaware of their surroundings. (yes, there are exceptions, but I still hold this opinion).

Keeping the above in mind, my wife and I have never had a problem, and regularly walk back from places along Wash Ave (Thai Udom, the Japanese place, Teddy's, bars etc) past 10 PM.

NSA supermarket (formerly C-Town) now sells edible food that is within its "best if used before" date....

...I am optimistic the area will continue to improve, and signs of progress have been occurring on Franklin as well.

I can't imagine any NEW building will take place for quite sometime. Vacant lots will remain vacant.

I'm psyched that relatively few developers have stopped work on their projects (note the stalled work at the Eastern Parkway and Franklin Ave site, a great location that someone -perhaps a bank- has decided isn't worth the present risks).

...so, I would plan on those lots that are vacant remaining vacant for years to come, until the next boom.

Other advice: Islands by Key Food has yummy food.

P.S. The biggest eyesore in my opinion is the car repair/tax filing place where Grand intersects Washington Ave.

You might also want to check out this thread:

You might also be interested in this thread http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=548945&sid=bf34fcb76ff20870761c4458f6c8adf7

I was one of the big naysayers of doom on that thread, and my naysaying has proven to be too weighted to the downside. I still stand by my view that there is still going to be some downward price pressure. Ultimately, it will probably be less than I originally thought.

Long story short I 'm going on two years in the area (six BK total) and I still love it. I guess there's always going to be downsides. Crime is part of life in an urban setting. There's 8 million stories in the city.

I live in the building. While I prefer the rear facing apartments (one of which I live in) the first floor front apartments would be fine if you get top down bottom up shades (the Shade Store has a seven day turnaround). If you have the shades open at the top and closed at the botttom, you'll get a lot of privacy. The parking spaces at the building are a bargain and it's worth buying one even if you don't have a car yet - some of the neighbors are now regretting their decision not to buy a space. I think that the reason the first floor hasn't sold yet is because people lack the imagination to see how the apartments will be with the appropriate shades. I also think that the sponsor could stage those particular apartments with shades. You need to make a realistic bid (i.e. in the ball park of the list price) before the sponsor will accept it (at least that's what the realtors tell me).

The large vacant lot is likely to stay vacant for a while. Foundations were dug for a large apartment building, but in the two years we've been around no further work was done. The foundations got filled in and the chain link erected a couple of months ago. I've heard rumors that the owner is AWOL, but that CPC Resources is interested in buying the lot.

rezist wrote: Thanks for the info about that lot. I was wondering why they filled the foundations in. I hope nothing goes there, or at least nothing tall enough to reduce the small amount of sun light I get in my yard further.

Rumor also has it that the reason construction stopped is that the previous developer wanted to do like 12 stories, even though the permit was for five. The area is zoned for buildings no higher than 475 or 476 Sterling Place. Keep an eye on permit applications and when the next permit is lodged you can file an objection if you feel your sunlight will be blocked, but I wouldn't hold out hope that your objection would result in any change to the plan.