One of Williamsburg’s largest vacant lots will become … wait for it … a luxury apartment building.
LCOR properties is planning a 234-unit development on a N. 10th Street site that has been barren since 2006 — and even though the neighborhood has become quickly synonymous with glassy high rises, the builder claims there’s great demand for more new housing.
“There’s such a lack of new inventory and the attraction is the size — you need a certain number of units for a super and doorman and there aren’t that many sites,” said LCOR Vice President David Sigman, who bought the lot last year because of its enormous footprint and its proximity to McCarren Park.
Sigman’s company wants to put up a six-story behemoth between Roebling Street and Union Avenue, a location that is transforming into an increasingly residential area amid a wave of new development, he said.
“We’ve seen a lot of pressure on this site from the north and from the east as Union Avenue is becoming a residential corridor,” said Sigman, who is also behind the 142-unit rental 34 Berry, three blocks away.
The developers snagged a $50-million loan for construction costs last week and hope to break ground this month, Crains New York first reported.
They hope to finish by next fall, offering studios and one-bedrooms equipped with hardwood floors, stainless steel and quartz kitchens, and washers and dryers. Rents for one-bedrooms will top out at $3,200 and the building will boast a 24-hour lounge, a roof deck, a gym, a penthouse lounge for private parties, and a parking garage with 117 spaces, the builders say.
It’s not the only luxury rental building to make big moves in North Brooklyn this month.
The developers at Domain Companies released their initial plans for a 210-unit apartment complex on Box Street in Greenpoint in March.
And Midtown Equities and Aurora Capital purchased a stalled N. Fourth Street development two weeks ago and hope to build a six-story mixed-use building featuring a Whole Foods grocery store.
News of these large planned developments comes as North Brooklyn’s biggest residential project — the conversion of the former Domino Sugar factory into a giant housing and retail complex — appears to be in trouble.
Sigman said he looked at purchasing the Domino project, but had reservations about its limited access to public transit.
“If we could figure it out we would buy it, it’s an interesting possibility,” said Sigman. “There are transportation issues getting to the waterfront and the deal is complex.”
Reach reporter Aaron Short at ashort@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2547.
