There are still a few spots available for guests to join us at the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership BID Annual Meeting, with guest speaker NY City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. The meeting is on Tuesday, September 27th, from 5-7pm at SoCo, 509 Myrtle Avenue. Drinks and light appetizers will be served. The meeting is open to the public, but RSVP is required.

RSVP at www.surveymonkey.com/s/MyrtleBIDAnnualMeeting2011.

Pratt Institute opened its new six-story, 120,000-square-foot green academic and administrative building, a striking space that is expected to both serve as a physical manifestation of Pratt’s commitment to sustainable design education, and further promote the revitalization of Myrtle Avenue.

Called Myrtle Hall, the building at 536 Myrtle Avenue houses Pratt’s Department of Digital Arts and several administrative offices.

Designed by the New York City architecture firm WASA/Studio A, the new building is expected to meet the United States Green Building Council standards for LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Gold certification based on its eco-features that include exterior sun shades; a green roof that absorbs rainwater, reflects heat, and sequesters greenhouse gasses; and solar photo-voltaic panels that generate on-site electricity. It will be the first higher education building project in Brooklyn to receive a LEED certification and the first academic building to receive a LEED Gold certification in Brooklyn.

In addition, Myrtle Hall will afford Pratt’s Digital Arts department the space and facilities necessary for its faculty and students to continue their cutting-edge design and research. The digital arts area includes state-of-the-art wired studios/classrooms, a digital resource center, animation labs, a recording studio, graduate studio spaces, and a prominent all-glass gallery in the atrium. The building will also soon allow for an incredible improvement to the Pratt student experience by consolidating all student services offices under one roof.

“This is a momentous occasion for Pratt as it demonstrates the Institute’s commitment to innovative design, environmental sustainability, the renewal of Myrtle Avenue, and most of all to its students,” said Pratt President Thomas F. Schutte, who also has been a driving force in the economic revitalization of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill for more than 10 years as chair of the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership.

“Myrtle Hall will move forward our academic program in digital arts and will tremendously improve Pratt’s services for students while serving as a point of pride for the campus community and our neighbors as the first green building in the Fort Greene/Clinton Hill area.”

This post is excerpted from a story in Gateway, the community newsletter of Pratt Institute. More details and the full story can be found in Pratt's December issue of Gateway.

Photo courtesy of Pratt Institute. Top: The main entrance to Myrtle Hall facing Willoughby; Bottom: Myrtle Hall facing Myrtle Avenue.

Navy Green groundbreaking ceremony planned for September 22nd. The Navy Green development will include 455 units of housing, many affordable units. It will cover the blocks between Vanderbilt and Clermont, Flushing to Park.

Ceremony:

Wednesday, September 22, 2010, at 10:00am

40 Vanderbilt Avenue between Park and Flushing Avenues (just north of the BQE)

Refreshments will be served

To RSVP contact the Pratt Area Community Council by September 16 to: rsvp@prattarea.org or 718.522.2613xt 22

More supermarket news for the neighborhood, with the Brooklyn Navy Yard releasing word that a 55,000 square foot ShopRite will be coming to the 6-acre Admiral's Row site at Flushing and Navy. The development will include an additional 30,000 sf of neighborhood retail, 125,000 sf of new industrial space, and will include the preservation of two of the eleven historic buildings. Crain's has the full story.


Rendering courtesy of GreenbergFarrow.

163 Washington is moving steadily upwards. Now at floor #13, it almost dwarfs adjacent Kum Kau restaurant and neighboring low-rise homes. Five more floors to go according to the plans.

The Corcoran Group has now posted some units for sale in the Clermont Condominium up on its website, with listed one bedrooms starting at $409,000 (669 sf) and three bed, two bath units topping out at $865,500 (1323 sf). As many have noted, the building is attractive and well-constructed, and fits in considerably well with the existing Myrtle Avenue buildings in both scale and materials. With 52 units, this is the first new condo building of its size to go on the market within the Myrtle Avenue BID (Flatbush to Classon).

From the listing, it appears the developers have included some "green" features and some extra amenities, with "maple and bamboo together with thermal insulated 8 ft. windows, a high end energy efficient cooling/heating systems and energy efficient Jenn-Air stainless appliances. Amenities at the Clermont include: concierge service, underground parking, a fitness room, video intercoms, and a shared terrace with spectacular views."

We look forward to having these units sell and fill up, to bring more people to the Fort Greene side of Myrtle Avenue.

The six story condo building at 375 Myrtle / 150 Clermont that has been under construction for the last 2 years has released units for sale, including condos with one, two, and three bedrooms. The building's sales site is at Clermont Condominium, with floor plans and interior photos, though prices don't currently appear to be listed on the site yet. Units should be up on Corcoran's site later this week.

Over 200,000 square feet of retail is on the way for the long-planned Red Apple Group development taking shape on the south side of Myrtle between Ashland and the de-mapped Prince Street. Linda Collins at the Brooklyn Eagle has the full story and a break down of the retail space.

"As previously reported in the Eagle, the project, at 162-184 Myrtle Ave., between Flatbush Avenue Extension and Ashland Place, is a mixed-use development combining approximately 500 luxury residential units, more than 200,000 square feet of retail space plus underground parking.

The tri-level retail space includes:
• 61,000 square feet at street level with up to 23 foot-high ceilings;
• 79,000 square feet on the lower (below grade) level with 14-foot ceilings; and
• 89,500 square feet on the second floor with 15-foot ceilings."

As we've mentioned before, the Duane Reade will be back and relocating to the corner of Ashland. We've compiled a list of the many other businesses community members have told us they would like to see, and we are working with the Ingersoll and Whitman Tenant Associations to help ensure that their service needs are met. We have played at active role in recruiting businesses to the avenue for the last eight years, and plan to assist Winick Realty and John Catsimatidis where possible to secure tenants that are reflective of the community's needs. Please drop us a line if you have additional suggestions.

Rendering by Dattner Architects, courtesy of the Brooklyn Eagle

Condo applications are now available for 150 Myrtle Avenue. Forty two (42) units will be available at restricted prices for eligible buyers. Households that earn no more than 195% AMI ($138,255/year) are eligible to purchase these homes. There are 10 studios, 22 one-bedrooms, and 10 two-bedrooms being offered. Preference in the lottery for 50% of these units will be given to current residents of Community Board 2.

Further detail can be found on the developers' website: Myrtle Avenue Condominiums.

After a considerable amount of planning and negotiations, Pratt Institute has made its plans to build a second building on Myrtle Avenue official. Pratt will be building a 120,000-square-foot building at the former "KFC site", with 15,000 square feet of ground floor retail. The new building will further extend Pratt’s presence on Myrtle Avenue, joining the Prattstore, the Institute’s art supply and bookstore, which opened in 2005 at Myrtle and Emerson. Pratt will be aiming to achieve a LEED Gold certification for the new building, and recently received a $75,000 Kresge Foundation grant to help plan for integrating green building technologies. Green features currently being considered for potential application include a landscaped roof to help insulate the building and prevent water runoff, photovoltaic solar panels, and a geothermal climate control system.

Pratt's new building will house several academic programs and administrative offices, including the offices of admissions, financial aid, the bursar, and the registrar; the Pratt Center for Community Development, (formerly PICCED); the offices of the Institute’s Division of Development; The Department of Digital Arts and the Digital Arts Lab; and studios for graduate students.

The building is being designed by the multi-disciplinary architectural and engineering firm of Clinton Hill resident and Pratt alumnus Jack Esterson, Studio A and WASA. The firm is designing the new building to serve as a connection between Pratt’s campus and Myrtle Avenue with an atrium allowing views into and through the building from both sides.

Excerpted from Pratt's press release:

“We are committed to the idea that the building be exemplary, both as architecture and in its environmental performance,” said Jack Esterson, partner in charge at Studio A and WASA, who received a bachelor’s degree in architecture from Pratt in 1975.

“The North façade is highly insulated and finished in brick and glass, in order to complement the 19th century commercial architecture of Myrtle Avenue without imitating it,” added Esterson. “On the South side, a glazed wall with ultra high-performance clear and translucent glass and solar shading is designed to bring daylight into the building year round, while keeping summer heat out.”

The firm’s Director of Sustainable Design and the point person for this project, Tony Daniels, is one of New York City’s most well known experts in sustainable architecture. His work has been recognized for excellence by numerous organizations, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the World Renewable Energy Congress, and the New York Society of Registered Architects, among others.

Pratt plans to break ground on the new project in spring 2008 with an anticipated completion date sometime in summer 2009. Stay tuned for further details, as the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership will be working closely with Pratt to integrate the new building into the commercial corridor, and to make major streetscape improvements along that part of Myrtle Avenue.