Blogged Time: Brownstoner and "The Modern Townhouse".

Just came across this property under construction along 15th Street while taking pictures for our Norwegian Evangelical Free Church posting. The new condo project, among the many on the block, is located at 188 15th Street to be exact. Nothing too out of the ordinary for these parts, but the reuse of the 100+ year old rowhouse's brick front facade and the addition of the minimalist glass balcony caught my eye. I became curious.
Usually when ever I see a new condo being developed, I always check the Brooklyn real estate web site www.Brownstone.com first to see if he has posted anything online. It's a quick fix.

Of course I wasn't surprised to find a series of updated posts on the property over the last couple of years, the first dating back to May 24th 2005, and again on March 1st 2006, and then most recently on February 1st 2007.

What I find interesting about these Brownstoner "Modern Townhouse" postings is looking back and reading some of the comments. Speculating on all the possibilities... The sale price, the unused available FAR, the affects of the pending sale of the warehouse next door, the eventual demolition of the warehouse next door, the neighborhood Down Zoning, the builder's rush to beat the clock, the subsequent BSA hearing and denial that ultimately killed the planned Katan development, even the future Modern Townhouse project's developer coming on to post what his plans actually entailed.
One begins to see the power of this blog. It is documenting a slice of life in the South Slope during a period of time described by some, as one of unchecked super-accelerated growth.

I think 15th Street, from 4th Avenue all the way to Prospect Park in particular, is turning out to be a microcosmic example of the recent greater, ( by greater, I mean larger), transformations one sees happening in all the outer boroughs in general. I don't believe any mid-block commercial/warehouse/manufacturing space still remains unconverted to residential use. The garages, auto repair shops, parking lots, even church properties have all but disappeared in the last 5 years.

It will be interesting to see how all this blogging plays out in one hundred years from now. Will any of this dusty blogformation even be accessible to future generations of homeowner historians wanting to get a feel for life as it was lived in the early 21st century Brooklyn?

Another chapter... There is an open house scheduled today, March 2nd at 188 15th Street if you are interested.





























The view from 16th Street across the "vacant" lot. 188 15th Street is on the right.