North Brooklyn Photo Tour

[JaxInvestor]

Brooklyn Park



Shotgun Row housing in North Brooklyn


Chickens in Brooklyn!!! They were behind one of the row houses. I went to Haiti back in October of last year and this was an immediate mental throwback to being there!


M&M Grocery on Myrtle Ave. Across from here is a barber shop. Very nice people run these two places. Spoke to the man who runs the barber shop about M&M...the current space up top of M&M is completely vacant. Would be an awesome retail/residential property. Too bad this area is mostly zoned industrial I believe. And he mentioned some of the sites in that particular area had some contamination.


Vacant lot at Chelsea & Price...this is one block west of Park St. Unfortunately this little vacant lot that you see is owned by three different parties. Right across the street from this vacant lot (across Chelsea) is a very large lot that was just buldozed last month. This very large lot is owned by Foley...the VP of Fidelity. This area (1-2 blocks off of Park St in N. Brooklyn) is zoned mixed use.


Apartments in N. Brooklyn...I think this was on Elm St. Kind of stood out among all the shotgun houses. They seemed to be in much better condition (exterior anyway) also.

[Keith726]

I think they could have done a better job with those N.Brooklyn apts.I used to go church in that area in the 70's and early 80's. I really hope they do a good job in bringing that area back to life--BTW Nice PICS Jaxinvestor,,Thanks--Oh can they rezone that area for more residential?

[JaxInvestor]

I assume you are asking about the M&M grocery area...along Myrtle.

Not sure? Just south of here (back towards Price St), is where the state DOT is doing a lot of work. Not much in the way of residential in the immediate vicinity. Just north of this (across the street) is a vacant 1 story tri-plex. The man at the barber shop told me this got condemned and the city will not allow residential in there again now. Who knows how old that info is though?

[Keith726]

What are they going to do with the chickens they are part of Brooklyns history also--LOL :lol:

[Timkin]

Those little houses on shotgun row, is an example of where someone should look at how they could be , instead of demolishing everything in sight.

in their own right, theyre cute little houses. tell me someone who knows realestate pretty well, Restored (with updates) turn key, what are each one of them worth ? just curious.

The Grocery Store with the boarded up top is another gem. You have to imagine it in a restored condition , with lighting and a few Plants around. A nice place to start a new image, with possibly a historic (is that the right word) look.

great pictures.

[Keith726]

I am sorry I think the shotguns houses should go and quickly.They can be replaced with something far better,There where many houses like this on the Northbank as well I think near the La villa area, they also were torn down.

[Timkin]

I havent been through all of Brooklyn but it doesnt appear there is much that remains,, so I have to agree totally with preserving them. School Four has always struck a note with me even when i was a young child. I hope when Brooklyn is redesigned, they will use some examples that exist , on which to build SOME of their housing, and Other Structures..


That Grocery store location could be the starting point of developing a smaller scale, but on the idea of a Five Points type design... It would be nice if most of it became Residential.. but I doubt thats the plan.

[JaxInvestor]

I think the plan is to demolish some of the houses but to keep some as well. In any case, they should re-build in the same style. I think they SHOULD keep some of the old houses and re-store them. The going price back there now is about $20,000. I think each one would need 10-15k in renovations at least if you pick it up for $20k.

[vicupstate]

Originally posted by Keith726@Feb 20 2006, 10:53 PM
I am sorry I think the shotguns houses should go and quickly.They can be replaced with something far better,There where many houses like this on the Northbank as well I think near the La villa area, they also were torn down.

Give me 24 hours to change your mind Keith.

My first house was a restored shotgun in Columbia SC. I have one 'before' picture of it, and everyone that has ever seen it cannot believe the change. I'll scan the before and after pics tonight and post in the morning.

It was a huge mistake to bulldoze all the shotguns in LaVilla. a FEW probably did need to go, but most could have been saved and would be the perfect market-rate housing that DT so desperately needs.

There is an unrenovated shotgun in Springfield on the market for $125k and it had a pending contract.
---

As for the zoning, I don't see that a an issue for most of this area. I don't claim to know the Jax zoning code inside and outside, but some cities will allow 'lower' uses in an industrial area. By lower, I mean anything less 'offensive' than industrial.

For instance building a house in an industrial zone is not a problem, but putting an industrial use in a residential zone IS a problem.

Even, if Jax is not in that category, a zoning change would not be difficult. The people that live there want more residential, not less. They wouldn't oppose it, and given the city's plans for the area, they would be glad to do so.

No one would request the zoning change until they were ready to build though. Industrial property is more valuable, so they would want to be certain that the expected transformation is really going to occur. I think everyone in Brooklyn is kind of waiting to see what this developer does before making there own moves.

----

JaxInvestor, if you know of any lots in Brooklyn for that price, please email me. I would put a contract on it sight unseen. The prices that I have seen already reflect the anticipated gentification.

P.S. Thanks for the great pics JaxInvestor. BTW, there use to be a rooster that hung out at City Hall Annex. Haven't heard much of him lately, though.

[vicupstate]

Originally posted by vicupstate+Feb 21 2006, 12:37 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (vicupstate @ Feb 21 2006, 12:37 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'> <!--QuoteBegin-Keith726@Feb 20 2006, 10:53 PM
I am sorry I think the shotguns houses should go and quickly.They can be replaced with something far better,There where many houses like this on the Northbank as well I think near the La villa area, they also were torn down.

Give me 24 hours to change your mind Keith.

My first house was a restored shotgun in Columbia SC. I have one 'before' picture of it, and everyone that has ever seen it cannot believe the change. I'll scan the before and after pics tonight and post in the morning.

It was a huge mistake to bulldoze all the shotguns in LaVilla. a FEW probably did need to go, but most could have been saved and would be the perfect market-rate housing that DT so desperately needs.

[/b][/quote]
Okay here is the before....



After here is the After...








This is the back



Here are some of the neighbors....



The shotgun on the right is the last unrenovated one on the street.

[thelakelander]

Wow. Just goes to show one man's trash can be another one's treasure. You've definately made the point in favor of saving our remaining shot gun houses.

[Jason]

Very well done! Is that your handiwork Vic?

It still floors me to see some of the amazing renovations in springfield and riverside.

[JaxInvestor]

incredible...i'm a believer.

[Jim]

Money, time and determination can do wonders. Very well done.

[vicupstate]

Originally posted by Jason@Feb 22 2006, 09:42 AM
Very well done! Is that your handiwork Vic?

It still floors me to see some of the amazing renovations in springfield and riverside.

No, I wish I could take credit for it. Renovation is not my handiwork, I wish it were. I'm more the behind the scenes guy. All of these houses were re-done before I even knew about this particular neighborhood.

The funny thing is, once I discovered the neighborhood, I picked that house as my favorite (among the ones within my price range). It came on the market a few months later. Another party put a contract on it before me, but it fell through. The realtor called me back as soon as the first contract fell through, and I rushed down to sign the papers. Good thing too, there were two more contracts behind mine by that afternoon. Four contracts in less than a week.

I'd call that fate :lol:

[Keith726]

Ok I agree

[JaxInvestor]

USE MAP (partial)

[Keith726]

Man I cant wait til all this is done, we got some nasty comments about this area during the Superbowl, this should really improve this area and maybe help out the lavilla area in a jump start.

[Timkin]

Originally Posted by Keith726

What are they going to do with the chickens they are part of Brooklyns history also--LOL :lol:

well I guess we could Bronze them .. or dip em in cement after they die to preseve them.. then put em out as yard ornaments ...hehe


just kidding Keith.. Chicken noodle soup sounds pretty good bout now.

[bubba]

Please pardon my ignorance but these street names are definately Jacksonville,Florida streets but I'm a little confused when you refer to "BROOKLYN".Is there an area in Jacksonville called Brooklyn?