Now that the BellTel Lofts have joined the Downtown Brooklyn fray, how does it stack up to other nearby luxurious newcomers such as 110 Livingston and One Brooklyn Bridge Park (and about a million others)? It seems to stack up fairly well, according to a Curbed tipster who checked out the former phone company headquarters on Bridge Street and filed this report:
My wife and I visited the telephone building gone condo last weekend. The apartments are interesting – The most space for your $$ that I have seen so far in the race of condos in the Brooklyn Downtown Area (approximately 1,200 sq ft for a studio + two home offices = 600,000). All and all they look nice – honestly I have seen so many condos that they are all starting to look the same. The best part of the real estate talk:
1. Make sure you take a packet; there is a nice loose foldout map of Brooklyn on the inside. Getting the map is worth going and seeing the apartment.
2. Free “Large” coffee voucher to a coffee shop near the commons (obviously to keep potential buyers off Willoughby Street and see MetroTech) the coffee wasn’t bad and the cups had BellTel Lofts printed on them – nice touch Prudential Douglas.Questions for anyone looking at buying at BellTel:
1. The sales people sold the idea that the residences of BellTel can enjoy the MetroTech commons like any public park in New York City. Does MetroTech really agree to this? I can just see 100+ unit owners converging on the commons like it is “your backyard” (slogan of the real estate sales people). I can just image while having a nice Saturday picnic my family and I are arrested for trespassing. 2. Stump the sales person. The ads say restoration by Beyer Blinder Belle, the firm famously known for restoring Grand Central and Ellis Island. I asked the Douglas Elliman sales person what was the extent of the restoration. There was an uncomfortable pause and he said the building was landmarked, and then he went and asked another sales person. All and all
the sales people really didn’t know. I presume that the exterior is being restored. Obviously the interior has been gutted so it is not. There are some “hip” renderings of the lobby and possibly some restoration?3. Another stump the sales person. There was an article in the Brooklyn Eagle (9/28/06) regarding a (45-story) hotel being built across the street. I asked about the views on that side of the building. The sales person told me that the views were not going to be blocked. I did not notice, yet my wife said that he looked as if he did not even know of the potential
development.
· Another Day, Another BK Condo: BellTel Lofts Available [Curbed]
· Listings: BellTel Lofts [Elliman]