Real Estate

Get to the Point

The 10-unit boutique condo 145 McGuinness is hitting the market.

The 10-unit boutique condo 145 McGuinness is hitting the market.

BOX IN: The six-unit 48 Box St. went on the market in January with units priced at $700 per square foot; the building is now sold out. (Christian Johnston)

HIGH BAR: Torst on Manhattan Avenue. (
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McGUINNESS WORLD RECORD: This 30-unit, 30,000-square-foot condo on McGuinness Blvd. starts sales this summer; move-ins should start by the end of 2013. (Christian Johnston)

Back in January, Dave Maundrell, president of aptsandlofts.com, hosted an open house for the building he was unveiling — a modest, 7,100-square-foot affair at 48 Box St. in Greenpoint, consisting of six condos.

“All the two-bedrooms were from $650,000 to $700,000,” says Maundrell. A 1,463-square-foot three-bedroom was asking $1.03 million.

Of course, such condo prices are not so unusual in the adjoining upscale Williamsburg. But Greenpoint has always been plagued by the lack of subway options (the nabe’s infamous G line doesn’t go through Manhattan) and somewhat tired housing stock.

But you’d never know it if you were at Maundrell’s open house — 250 people crowded in to look at the six units on offer.

“We basically sold out the first night marketing,” says Maundrell, adding, “everything above ask.”

And this is not an isolated incident. Zbigniew Chalecki of Douglas Elliman recently put a four-family townhouse with two commercial spaces on Meserole Avenue on the market for $1.65 million.

“We had 10 offers — five of them all cash,” says Sarah Burke of Douglas Elliman. “It went for over ask. People kept coming back saying, ‘Wait, wait, I’ll pay more!’ ” (The house is in contract, and in addition to paying above the asking price, the buyer is paying in cash.)

“Compared to a few years ago, when we got into our first couple of marketing projects, the increased interest is close to double — particularly closer to the water,” says Justin Daly of MNS.

One of the people Daly put into an apartment a little more than a year ago is Ethan Schwartz, who rented a studio for $2,000 per month at 59 Kent St., a 36-unit building less than two blocks from the water. Two weeks ago, when Schwartz needed to upgrade to a two-bedroom, he found another unit in the building for $2,950 — prices which, while they might sound reasonable in other parts of the city, are an incredible jump in Greenpoint.

“When I first looked [for an apartment], Williamsburg was markedly more expensive than Greenpoint,” says Schwartz. “I don’t sense that that’s as much the case anymore.”

“I moved there with my family almost 10 years ago, exactly,” says Alan Hill, who bought a townhouse on Java Street. Back then, Greenpoint “seemed more family-friendly and more affordable,” than other Brooklyn neighborhoods.

“There’s been a complete revival of Franklin Street,” says Hill, referring to the artery running parallel to the waterfront. “When we [moved in], the street was truly desolate — there was a bar on one end, a cafe on the other, and nothing in between.”

While Manhattan Avenue, the main drag of Greenpoint, is still populated with Polish butchers and mom-and-pop stores, Franklin Street has gone hipster. There are boutique clothing shops (Alter), cafes (Cookie Road) and bars (Pencil Factory, not to be confused with the condo of the same name). Anella, a restaurant that opened in 2009, scored an entry in the 2013 Michelin guide. Pizza gurus come from all over town to sample Paulie Gee’s.

And even off Franklin, the temperature has been rising with newbies like Torst, Daniel Burns’ 26-seat beer bar on Manhattan Avenue. “I just think interesting things are happening here,” says Burns, himself a Greenpointer. “It’s close enough to Williamsburg and McCarren Park.”

Now that the neighborhood is getting more livable for a newer, younger crowd, where will they live?

Maundrell currently has a slate of new condos in the pipeline. The 10-unit 145 McGuinness Blvd. just had its offering plan approved, and is selling one- to two-bedrooms ranging from 635 to more than 1,200 square feet. (Pricing will be higher than 48 Box St. — about $800 per square foot.) Later this year, look for two sister buildings a block apart at 141 Dupont St. and 98 Clay St.; both buildings total 8,054 square feet and should consist of eight units each. And 287-299 McGuinness, a 30,000-square-foot project consisting of 30 units, about a five-minute walk to the Pulaski Bridge, should be finished by the end of the year. (Pricing is not confirmed, but can be expected in at least the $700 per square foot range.)

While there’s plenty to be excited about in each of these condos, the truly ambitious projects are the rentals coming to the waterfront.

Since 2005, the Park Tower Group has had an 11-tower, 5,000-unit project called Greenpoint Landing on the drawing board, which covers about half a mile of waterfront. The plan got put on the back burner after the economy fell apart, but it is gearing up again.

“We’re going to start on the initial building soon,” says Alfred Bradshaw, executive vice president of the Park Tower Group. “We’re looking to break ground at the end of this year.”

The first phase will consist of 350 market-rate rentals and an additional 90 affordable-housing units.

In January, Domain Companies started work on a massive mixed-use project at 1133 Manhattan Ave., a blend of 210 market-rate, middle-income and affordable units, as well as about 20,000 square feet of retail and commercial space. It should be finished in the fall of 2014.

“If it took Williamsburg 10 years to get to where it is, I think it will take Greenpoint half the amount of time to get there,” says David Behin, president of investment sales and advisory division for MNS.

One thing that won’t change anytime soon about Greenpoint? That G train.

“Sometimes it feels like it would be faster to commute from Connecticut,” says Jennifer Jones, Schwartz’s girlfriend who just moved in with him, after living on Java Street. Improved G service “is my wish list — period.”

But not all residents are necessarily gritting their teeth on the G train platform.

“A large percentage of the demographic works from home,” says Andrew Barrocas, CEO of MNS. “I don’t see it being as big a deterrent as people see it.”

“The G train has kept it feeling like a small town,” says Hill. “It makes it just hard enough to get to.”