Raising Trees, Lowering Fences at Brooklyn Navy Yard

Driving, biking or walking along Flushing Avenue, commuters can’t help but notice the presence of tall chain link fences barring any access to or views of the river nearby. The Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation is looking to change that and open up some of the 300 acres under their control to residents in the next few months.

Workers at The Brooklyn Navy Yard Center, a new museum and community center at the intersection of Flushing and Carlton avenues, were planting trees and laying sidewalks Tuesday, signaling the impending completion of the $25.5 million project. The opening, scheduled for the middle of November will be the first time the public has had access to the industrial site. 

“The center is not just devoted to the past,” said Lee Silberstein, spokesperson for The Marino Organization representing the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. “It will illustrate how the tenants of the Navy Yard are currently making history.”

Many exhibits will feature innovations developed within the Brooklyn Navy Yard complex.

The second planned publicly accessible development at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Admiral’s Row, when it was moved into the ULURP, uniform land use review procedure, stage. The proposal includes an affordable supermarket and several retail locations.  The controversial development will demolish several historic buildings and renovate two structures, Building B and Timber Shed, on the property.  The seven-month ULURP process is set to be complete in January 2012 when bidding for developers will begin.

The question is when and what effect this will have on property values and rental occupancy in the immediate neighborhood.

“I think it’s positive for the neighborhood, but haven’t seen any increase in real estate prices,” commented Lovemarie Colon, Esq., a real estate attorney whose office at 9 Adelphi is directly across the street from the industrial park. “The weak economy still plays a bigger role in the area,” she continued. It is also possible that the influx of more than 460 residential units, approximately a quarter of which will be affordable housing units will keep prices low for the foreseeable future, allowing for greater income diversity in the area.

Yvonne Barno, a Century 21 Milestone agent representing property in the area echoes those sentiments. 

“I have not received many calls at all,” inquiring about a vacant lot on Carlton, less than a block from the future entrance to the museum center.

More than 5,800 people work at the Navy Yard each day, which is “virtually full,” according to Silberstein. The land use approval and corresponding construction and renovation of Admiral’s Row in 2012 will bring an estimated 500 permanent and retail jobs to the yard with a few current industrial tenants waiting to expand. 

Silberstein expects the Admiral’s Row plans to “soften the edge of the yard in that area,” with greenery, parking and public access (removal of chain link fencing from the two corner blocks). Combined with the removal of locked fences at Carlton when the museum opens, the Flushing Avenue stretch of the Brooklyn Navy Yard will certainly be more aesthetically pleasing. Unfortunately the “softening” effect will offer little comfort to those passing by to retrieve vehicles from the Brooklyn Navy Yard impound lot at Navy Street and Sands Street. Granted they will be able to park their newly liberated vehicles in one of several planned spaces available for visitors to the new shopping district.