Things are looking up for one Brooklyn real-estate developer – even if she’s not.
Bucking the trend of high-rise condos, Abby Hamlin – who in the 1990s brought Manhattan its first new town houses in more than a century – will break ground this summer on a row of nine one-family brownstones in Boerum Hill.
The retroconstruction is expected to command a neighborhood record of more than $3 million per house.
“It’s a modern interpretation of the typical brownstone that’s sensitive to historic surrounding but more open and roomy,” Hamlin said.
The State Street houses will run from the corner of Hoyt Street to five magnificent brownstones in the block’s center listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The new four-story, 4,000-square-foot town houses will be similar to those in a row of 14 that Hamlin and partner Time Equities Inc. built adjacent to the historic homes on the block’s Smith Street side a year and a half ago.
Besides winning various design awards, the 14 homes were a hit on the market, fetching between $2.5 million and $2.8 million each.
Sue Wolfe, president of the Boerum Hill Association, said Hamlin has proven she’s not a typical money-hungry developer.
“She’s shown she has excellent taste,” Wolfe said.
The rest of the $200 million-plus project encompasses a square block that Hamlin and Time Equities bought from the state in 2004. It includes State, Hoyt, Smith and Schermerhorn streets.
The plan also consists of a 217-unit housing complex on Schermerhorn for low-income tenants, including local artists and homeless individuals. The Schermerhorn house is set to open this summer.