When Will Franklin Gentrify South of EP!?

biffackley · October 2013

Tony's fighting the good fight by opening that Pulp and the Bean on Union and Franklin, but I don't see anyone else following suit, even as new businesses opens every other week north of EP. So while we have no good restaurants, bars or boutiques, what we DO have south of the Parkway are:

1) Panamanian men drinking and blasting music EVERY Saturday night on Franklin and Union;

2) A collection of homeless winos who congregate in the trash area next to 320 Eastern Parkway EVERY day;

3) A 24-hour bodega at 829 Franklin that manages to sell no actual products while attracting the worst collection of drug dealers and degenerates not currently serving in the House of Representatives;

4) Angry confrontations with the police, caught on a dozen camera phones by local residents who think it's illegal to make arrests;

5) Empty storefronts.

So if any of you have some capital and are looking to start a new business in the neighborhood, hook a brother up and go south of the Parkway!

whynot_31 · October 2013

It is happening already:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/maimans-pharmacy/page/2

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/acupuncture-for-franklin-avenue

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/a-beer-garden-for-franklin-south-of-ep/page/2

The bodega at the SW corner of EP and Franklin:

epiclylaterd · October 2013

I will enjoy seeing this thread in 5 years just as I enjoy looking up Crown Heights threads from 5 years ago

brit princess · October 2013

Why does it have to? Some people like it just the way it is. If it gentrifies anything like this side of Franklin all it will have is 20 places in which to buy liquor. We don't need any more of that.

whynot_31 · October 2013

It is not a question of "need".

It is simply a matter of what the market will support, and what types of products and services yield the greatest Return On Investment, while accounting for risk.

terekete · October 2013

There's an overabundance of bodegas and a whole block of empty storefronts over on this side of Franklin... 5 or 10 years ago, when i first moved here, the shops were full-- a botanica, a couple of party supply places, etc. Those businesses have largely moved to neighborhoods that can support them....

meanwhile, we definitely do have an acupuncture clinic/restaurant opening and the rumors of an italian place on Union.

Given the pace at which things change here in central Brooklyn-- I can't imagine we'll have to wait very long for the deluge of non-bodegas.

I'd also love to know the story behind the whole block of empty storefronts; I'd presume it's a landlord/management company holding out for a better deal, but-- has the building been sold? Did they get into the gentrification race a bit too early? Are the storefronts too small?

And when is Tony & Fam finishing B&BII?

biffackley · October 2013

Brit Princess,

I agree that we don't need more bars, but until gentrification comes I have to put up with a whole host of aggravations - including drug dealing - that tend to disappear when new, responsible business owners enter a neighborhood. Simply getting a new tenant at 829 Franklin to replace that bodega would make a huge difference, as that place is used by drug dealers to do their business throughout the night.

Although the new deli on the EP and Franklin corner was a big disappointment - that's just a glorified bodega in it's own right.

TeReKeTe - my understanding is that Tony is holding off for a bit on the B&BII until he's sure the customers are there.

whynot_31 · October 2013

While changes are certainly occurring, South of Franklin may take years to change to the degree that north of Franklin has.

Most of the time, the business mix changes after the residential mix.

To the west of the shuttle tracks, most of the buildings are co-op. However, between the Shuttle tracks and Rogers, are a large number of tenements. When the tenements that line streets like Union begin to have lots of bikes chained to their front fences, the businesses won't be far behind.

Until then, the massive business changes may first arrive further east, where Rogers avenue is largely surrounded by row houses that are being renovated.

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/south-of-ep-235-rogers-at-president-you-might-be-next

pragmaticguy · October 2013

This is a first world problem in my opinion. If Biff is so "gentrified" and aggravated by the situation around him then let him move north of EP. I would suspect he's living where he is because the rents are somewhat cheaper and that's because the neighborhood isn't gentrified. But...that's just my opinion. I could be totally wrong.

whynot_31 · October 2013

North Franklin changed due to a myraid of factors.

-The old Jewish Hospital was rapidly converted to apartments.

-Lots of market rate condos were constructed on vacant lots.

-etc.

The S. Franklin commercial spaces have not received such pressures yet, and are likely to continue to slowly change after the residents.

At some point, the vacant lots that surround the Spice company on Franklin (at approximately Sullivan) will be built upon. These new residents will support businesses that are not presently in existence.

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/that-warehouse-for-spices-on-franklin-near-sullivan-used-to-be-a-brewery

biffackley · October 2013

You're not too far off-base, PragmaticGuy - I have an affordable rent-stabilized apartment on the south side of the Parkway (but with windows looking out over Franklin) and I want to retain my affordable apartment while the neighborhood becomes less affordable, and therefore less crime-ridden. I want to have my cake and eat it too. Sue me.

I think your assessment is dead-on, whynot. There actually has been a decent influx of professionals south of EP, but there just isn't the same volume of available housing stock that you have on the north side.

whynot_31 · October 2013

Be very careful what you wish for.

Gentrification causes owners of building with rent stabilized tenents to sell. To achieve a good ROI, the new owners are often much more aggressive than the prior owners about increasing the rent rolls.

Also, as the neighborhood changes, your new neighbors will have a different set of norms. Some of which you may like, some you may not.

It won't be easy.

biffackley · October 2013

Fair enough, you may be right. But after seven years of the whinos and drug dealers I think I'm ready for a different set of norms.

whynot_31 · October 2013

whynot_31 said:

I have now heard a rumor that this strip of stores available for rent is being considered by one entity:

However, the deal hinges on the bodega on the corner of Union and Franklin being on board, and they are not yet.

roastbeefsandwich · October 2013

Hello everyone,

I've got to say this is my first post, although I've been subscribed for a few years, and yes I read your posts often. I have to say I think some of the ideas here can absolutely be considered classist at the very least, if not (and I apologize if you didn't intend anything to be), a little racist.

You should absolutely be sick of wino-s drug deals and shady characters. To be fair, the people who don't have the option to afford another move or neighborhood, people who may know or even love those committing these acts, are most likely much more sick of it (and more often the victim) than you. You can leave or wait for gentrification, but to suggest that you can't wait for gentrification means to say (I must assume this was unintentional on your part) that you can't wait for a large majority of very good and decent people to have to move when the rent goes up, just to also remove the very small minority of those making a dishonest living. It goes to suggest a lack of consideration for the true value of social change, where everyone can live in peace and not just those who can afford to. It is aggravating to live among crime and poverty (and you undeniably do), but it would be even more aggravating if I were to be a part of that community for fifty years, living within rather than among crime and poverty, working hard and struggling to bring peace, education, and a functioning economy to those you love, and then happily discover the internet...then this blog...and then hear what (and I'm sorry) appears to be petty and wealthy frustration to a very real problem that goes deeper than neighborhood lines. It would make me very frustrated to see that you might want to claim you're on my side but are really not, longing more for Italian cuisine around your doorstep and less for a kinder community ready to greet you and ask how your day was.

I hope you'll seek to understand why I was at first intensely angered, then saddened, to find a post I would consider so very selfish, inconsiderate, and almost intentionally or systematically distant from what it should mean to have culture and character.

whynot_31 · October 2013

you can't wait for a large majority of very good and decent people to have to move when the rent goes up, just to also remove the very small minority of those making a dishonest living

roastbeef-

We recently discussed how gentrifcation is a crude, but effective tool here:

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/a-grilled-cheese-restaurant-for-lincoln-and-franklin

Union and Franklin might turn out to be similar. This move was announced yesterday: http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/topic/owl-thistle-moving-south-of-ep

When Will Franklin Gentrify South of EP!?

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