In the face of gentrification, no group in Brooklyn can withstand the onslaught, whether it’s Poles in Greenpoint, African-Americans in Bed-Stuy, Italians in East Williamsburg, Mexicans in Sunset Park, West Indians in Flatbush, or even the early gentrifying hipsters being displaced by full-blown yuppies in Northside Williamsburg.
No group, that is, except one: Hasidic Jews. While the neighborhoods around South Williamsburg have been completely enveloped by at least the incipient stages of gentrification, the Satmar Hasidim have managed to actually expand their territory to the south and east.
One example is a new building for which a permit application was filed yesterday, at 241 Franklin Avenue, between DeKalb and Willoughby avenues, in the increasingly Hasidic northwestern corner of Bed-Stuy.
There, just a few blocks from the G train, a five-story, four-unit residential building is set to rise, according to the filing. With 6,735 square feet of floorspace, the apartments will have a very frum family-friendly average size of nearly 1,700 square feet.
The developers – listed as Shimshon Baum and Shulem Lowy – picked up the vacant lot last year from its longtime owner for just $200,000, or a bargain basement $30 per buildable square foot. The architect is listed as Sandor Weiss with Gelu Durus Musica.
Based on sales in comparable building, if the apartments are sold as condos, they should go for not much more than $400 per square foot each, or less than $700,000 – about the price of a one-bedroom in the non-Hasidic areas to the north and south.
Talk about this project on the YIMBY Forums
For any questions, comments, or feedback, email [email protected]
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
