Massive Development Planned For Sunset Park

 

An article on another development  in downtown Brooklyn had a link to this story that somehow went under my radar in The Brooklyn Paper. Apparently someone has big plans for the empty lot next to the N train station on 62nd street and 8th Avenue. The lot recently changed hands for it's previous owner for, get this, an astounding $51.5 million. That kind of outside money coming into the neighborhood is what is changing the dynamics of the hood. With mainland Chinese money being heavily invested in New York City (The recent sale of the Waldorf Astoria to the Chinese for example) it would only be natural that one of the places it would end up would be what has become New York's premiere Chinatown our own neighborhood of Sunset Park. According to the article the plans are for a "Plans call for a three-story, Chelsea Market-style retail space to cover the entire site, which is covers an area about as big as three football fields. Rising from that base will be a 150-room hotel standing about 10 stories, two 15-story residential towers with a combined 350 apartments, and an office tower standing 17 stories". Additionally plans also call for "A public green space and sculpture garden will cover exposed sections of the retail building’s roof, and a library, computer lab, and space for a pre-kindergarten program will serve the area’s burgeoning immigrant population". Nothing this massive has ever been done recently in the neighborhood. With all the additional money coming into the Industry City area on the other side of 3rd Avenue we will see a completely different neighborhood in the next ten years if not sooner increasing a process of gentrification that has snowballed into an ever increasing acceleration in the last two years. The question for our neighborhood is whether to oppose it, accept it or ignore it. The only two places where we can make our voices heard in whichever direction you fall is The community board and our local City council member Carlos Menchaca. Notice that none of this was in the news and most of us in the neighborhood are the last to hear about it. And yes, the plans include yet another Hotel in the neighborhood. It might be good for tourists but I'm not sure about the rest of us. I have to wonder what other projects are being planned in the neighborhood that we are unaware of. With billions in Chinese investment money looking for a place to park you can rest assured this neighborhood will get a chunk of it. Trying to stop it will be difficult for us peasants with limited resources when reality and history shows that "money talks". Hold on to your seatbelts, we're in for an interesting ride. I urge all readers of this blog who live in the neighborhood to pick up the phone and call the community board to voice your opinions and throw in Menchaca's office as well, don't let him off the hook. To read more about this you can read the whole article right here.

 

 

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New Hotel Coming to 4th Avenue?

 

Rumor from the locals has it that the properties on the corner of 52nd street and 4th Avenue have been acquired by a Chinese developer and are slated to be torn down to build a hotel. Sunset Park already has the highest concentration of hotels in the borough. The PASUBA (Parkslope, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge) corridor along 4th Avenue has easy access to the R and N lines and easy access to Manhattan so it makes sense as the subway station is right there. With mainland Chinese money being invested in the area hotels make economic sens as well since there is no need to rezone the properties to get one built. All the hotels in the neighborhood charge a fraction of what a hotel room in Manhattan costs and with easy access to the city are more profitable than residential rentals. Time will tell if the rumor turns out to be true, but based on past experience they are usually right. The stores on this corner have been emptying for the last couple of months and it appears the new owners are not interested in renting them out. A clue that the buildings are on the way to be demolished since there are no for rent signs up. 

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New Sunset Park Hotel on 39th street doing quite well.

 

A new hotel that has been opened a little more than a month on 39th street appears to be doing quite well. It is the latest addition to the flurry of hotel building that has made Sunset Park the center of the hotel industry in Brooklyn.

 

Considering the miserable economy it is a miracle that they kept it as a hotel at all. The flip side is that because everyone is trying to save money Sunset Park hotels are benefiting from those who would rather have that extra 30 minutes from midtown that a Sunset Park hotel can afford them. The hotel is ideally situated from the  36th street subway station where you can catch the D,N,R trains. The D train is a mere 25 minutes from midtown on a good day during rush hour. Time will tell if Sunset park continues to survive the economic depression that we are in. We seem to be doing a bit better than our neighbors and I suspect that may have more to do with the local culture than the fact the hotels appear to be booked well in advance and are bringing outside money into the hood.

[where: 11232]
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Two new Hotels on 39th street proceeding on schedule

I had always suspected this was going to be a hotel. Now after speaking to one of the workers at the site I can confirm that 517 39th street will be a hotel. According to the person I spoke to completion is expected in about six months or as soon as the city issues a Certificate of Occupancy.Another building (below) diagonally across the street  at 536 39th street will also be a hotel though the building is far far smaller. I am not familiar with it buit suspect it will open before the location at 571.

With all this hotel activity in the neighborhood perhaps we should be looking into as a community of some ways to get some of the traveler and tourist dollars that these locations will generate. We can be looking forward to some changes in the neighborhood the economy permitting.

[where: 11232]
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Comfort Inn all set, open and ready to go..

The Comfort Inn on 38th street is open for business. Located by the 38th street exit ramp of the Gowanus and only two blocks from the 36th street subway station it is in an ideal location to service out of towners and provide cheap inexpensive hotel rooms. Via the D train from 36th street it is a mere 25 minutes from midtown Manhattan. The well carpeted establishment has a good feel of a prime time Hotel. It also features a breakfast area on the second floor that could easily double as a small restaurant and dinning area should they decide to go that route. I was allowed to take a peek at the place. Perhaps in a week or two I will be able to shoot the rooms so people can take a peek and see the place and get an idea of the accommodations. Let's welcome them to the neighborhood and hope they bring more visitors to the neighborhood and help the local economy continue to survive. The Hotel is owned by the same folks who also own the two Sleep Inns in the area. The Sleep in on 22nd street and 3rd Avenue opened only two months ago and is already doing a bustling business accommodating both tourists and locals who need reasonably priced accommodations  when compared to Manhattan hotel prices.

The small breakfast area on the second floor..

Management feverishly working to get the place ready to take in customers.






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Is this another hotel?

As this building nears completion it peaks our curiosity. The new building located on the corner of 26th street and 4th Avenue appears to have the architectural making of either an office building or a hotel. Hoteliers in the neighborhood to whom I have shown the picture are of the opinion that it is probably a hotel. The postings at the site give no indication what type of certificate of occupancy has been issued if any. We can only speculate for the time being and will have to wait until completion to see what it turns out to be.



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Kings Hotel of Brooklyn is Ready for Prime Time

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Without much fanfare and by stealth of night Kings Hotel opened it's doors to the public last week and is already doing a brisk business. I was invited by the people running it to come on over and take a look as they wanted me to include their hotel on the mall I run on the Sunset Park website. I have to say that I was impressed. This is not a slapped together building reminiscent of most motels, rather it reminded me of one of the top notch Hotels I stayed at while I was in Hong Kong. Lots of marble can be seen everywhere. The quality is more in keeping for a hotel in Manhattan. But one thing I learned about the Sunset Park Chinese is that they like to do things with flair and class. The lobby is pleasing and inviting and though not grandiose in size is rather comfortable.


The hotel is designed to be a basic place to stay without frills. It does offer wifi on every floor and HDTV in every room making it a comparatively inexpensive place to stay that just happens to be 30 minutes from midtown Manhattan due to it's proximity (1/2 block) to the 9th Avenue D train station. It is also ideally located to nearby Maimonides Hospital and the Lutheran Medical Center. So if you are visiting patients there from out of town, it's the place to stay. It's also four blocks from the exits on the Gowanus Expressway. All in all if I were going to pick a spot for a hotel in Sunset Park this would be it. It's proximity to Brooklyn's Chinatown with it's abundance of restaurants specializing in asian cuisine makes that an added bonus. It's also three blocks from the Sunset Diner and fifth avenue which rates an abundance of Mexican and other hispanic restaurants. The Sunset Park area has an bundance of restaurants of every culinary taste.



The rooms are standard sized hotel rooms. Being that everything in the place is brand new it gives a very fresh look and appearance. The hotel has a total of 50 rooms with the usual mix of singles and doubles. The bathrooms are brand new and standard fare.



What surprised me were the hallways. Most hotels and motels are usually very carpeted and spartan in appearance, not Kings. The hallways have marble floors and mahogany doors and trimmings and a classic looking green wallpaper.


There is also the Karaoke lounge on the ground floor. Like many karaoke places it has a nightclub spacey look with lot's of neon at the bar. This should do well for visitors from China as that is a popular pastime among the Chinese. It was after all, built to serve the Chinese community of Sunset Park.



All in all we are hopeful that it's a resounding success. If it's marketed right, it can get some tourists and people who need a place to stay within easy reach of midtown Manhattan. If you just need a place to put your head on a pillow at night and want to see a different part of New York City besides Manhattan but want to get to the theaters in short order this place is it. In times when we have to watch our spare change the economy of staying in Brooklyn only a short jump from midtown then this is a good deal. All in all it looks like the Kings Hotel is off to a good start.

You can check out their rates at Expedia, calhotels.us, Hotels.com

Got relatives and friends coming to visit you here in Sunset Park? Tell them to stay at the Kings.


[where: 820 39th street, Brooklyn, NY 11232]
[where: 11232]
[where: 11220]
[where: 11215]
[where: 11218]
[where: 11219]

 

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