We were on Church Ave today and noticed the old podiatrist space was up for rent. (Don't worry the podiatrist just went across the street). Luckily for us someone already investigated the rent.I called the number listed on the old foot doctors office today and got a quote for the rent there. I'm shocked. The women I spoke w at Kaloshi Realty quoted me $3800 a month for an 1100 sq. foot space. That's over $41 a sq. foot! Are these people outta there minds?! A similar space is up for grabs on Fort Hamilton for $14. Seriously, I have a friend in commercial realty who said this would be unheard of even in a trendy part of town.
This isn't anything new. We've heard it before and are convinced Church Ave will stay the dump it is (w quick turn over and/ or easy money businesses) until the landlords change their ways. The likely hood of a bunch of property owners deciding to charge fair rents on an Ave. that has historically been outta wack is slim to none. That being said if the stores stay vacant long enough (cough, cough old optical store at 211 Church Ave - $1100 for 500 sq feet) maybe one of 'em will get a clue.
39 comments:
So what is the solution? Maybe everyone should call 718 287-5200 and inquire about the rent at 408 Church Avenue and then tell them that is totally out of whack and bad for the neighborhood. It would take one minute.
As a "newbie" in the neighborhood it's probably bad form to refer to parts of it as a "dump".
Talk about rude..
not to mention shallow...
"Church Ave will stay the dump it is"
WOW, that statement truly shocked me. I don't think Church Avenue is a dump. In fact, I love that I can fulfill all my needs right here in my neighborhood and coming from a person who lives here, I really think this was a horribly nasty thing to say. I have friends who come over and are really jealous I have so much variety.
Church Ave is NOT a dump and I think you should take back that statement.
Friggin calm down, commenters. Blogger likely meant "real estate dump" since the rents encourage nothing but transience. And who cares what "dump" means? You think Church Ave realtors care? You think they read this blog? Keep your misguided and thin skinned offense to yourself.
Those of us who live here know what we can and can't buy on Church Ave. The rent's are still ridiculous and discourage any variety or creativity. And simply the attitude of the owners and realtors is shortsighted - there is some population in Kensington not being served by local business that goes out of the neighborhood. Therefore, the stupidity of the prevalence of empty, overpriced retail space is apparent.
i am in agreement with you noisejoke! and parts of church ave. are strewn about with litter so yes that does add to the general ambiente of the place. why do politicians get their names on the meager supply of garbage cans on church?
3 or 4 years ago, I encouraged a friend to purchase a coop in ditmas park for 62k. At the time, she couldn't afford an apt in Kensington as the prices were 40 to 60k more for a 1 bdrm. I have seen Ditmas park prices exceed Kensington real estate prices...why is that? Because of their main drag, Cortelyou's shops and because of a fast train, the Q line.
If the "dump" refers to "Real Estate Dump" than that is what the "blogger" should have written.
..or put another way, if she wants to use this blog as a true forum to improve the neighborhood than insulting the area is not a good start. If she truly meant "Real Estate Dump" than she should improve her writing skills.
I've lived in the area for years and happen to love Church Avenue. It's fine to want to improve your hood. (There is always room for improvement) but don't start by calling it a dump. That's just bad manners and poor writing.
.and noisejoke that's what comments are for. If the blogger doesn't want to have comments to her post, she's free to turn the comments off.
I just spoke to the real estate agent that is renting the place. She told me that the owner would be willing to go down to $3500 per month. When I told her that those numbers worked out the around $38 per foot she didn't not seem to care. She also told me that she has had over 5 phone calls from people who want to open A "coffee shop". I told her -not for $3500 a month!!
You gotta sell a lot of coffee to make rent at $3500 per month.
maybe starbucks can make that money?
Don't say the S- word!!
hey, the majority loves starbucks.
I don't give a crap about the independent, bring on the coffee chains who can afford $3500/per month!!!!!
Anon 2:27 -- Just because the majority loves someting doesn't mean it's good or good for you. Take reality shows for instance. Chain stores kill the personality of neighborhoods.
And no, Church Ave is not a dump.
btw, does anyone know what happened to the couple who used to run the Russian store on Church near 5th that close about a year or so ago? the husband was an artist on the side. And the place always had a good cheese selection...
I don't think 1 Starbucks is going to "kill" the personality of Kensington, that's bullshit.
Until a coffee shop can be more profitable and have a better place to hang out-like ambiance, Starbucks will always rule over alot of other coffeeshops. People in this hood want a place to congregate, a place like Starbucks would allow them to do it. Not everyone wants to go to a bar, some people like to bring their laptops and sip their coffee.
Church Avenue has been a dump since the 1970s. So what. Store rents are high because store owners property taxes and water charges have skyrocketed under Bloomberg. Theyn have to pass that on to their tenants.
So the landlords are now in a lose-lose situation. They have to charge high rents to cover their expenses knowing that their tenenats have a good chance of not being around too ,ong because of the high rent. The problem exists in the 4 outer boroughs. No more cheap store rents, even in the outlying portions of Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island.
sometimes this blog can be so obnoxious
you newbies come to this hood and want it to change "your way or the highway"
great, very neighboorly
Kaloshi real estate is also holding the old cornerstone bar hostage on
Cortelyou Road by asking a similarly ridiculous rent.
Uh I don't mean to be a jerk but by all objective criteria Church Ave. is a dump. Really it is. It's OK to see it for what it is and try to change it. It IS a dump. It's business landlords are of the slumlord variety. They get the most money they can for the least amount of investment. No standards for storefront appearance or even repairing broken sidewalks. The whole argument that these landlords have expenses that drive up their costs is pure B.S. Yes Church ave. is a dump. And its OK to call it a dump. And its OK to call it that if it means people will get offended enough to try to change it. Ok so there are some decent businesses there. But you can always find nice useful stuff in any dump if you look for it.
446;
LOL, I AGREE. NO OFFENSE TO ANYONE'S REAL ESTATE AS I OWN AN APT HERE TOO BUT YEP, CHURCH AVE IS A DUMP.
It is what it is!
If you don't think it is, take off the rose colored glasses and you'll see alot of crap!
dump=gritty=cool
We've been on Marlborough & Caton for 21 years...our hunk of Church (Coney I Av to the subway, a bit east of Kensington) is now and has always been...A DUMP, with a few occasional bright spots (like the new La Huasteca restaurant). What has always puzzled me is the endless go-nowhere blight of shuttered storefronts with no businesses in them...now I understand...although I DON'T understand the economic logic of holding out for an impossible rent decade after decade, unless you enjoy saying, "See that graffiti'd roll-down gate rusted shut? It's MINE!"
That said, I should tell you Kensingtonians that I've pointed to YOUR strip of Church Ave.--roughly Ocean Pkwy to McDonald--as something for OUR part of Church Aveue to aspire to!!! A modest aspiration, true--but positively vibrant compared to its sad easterly wasteland, which then explodes into the filthy (but no doubt profitable) chaos of Bobby's-land.
Dump Dump Dump.....Church Avenue is a Dump with crap stores selling crap made in China painted with crap lead paint. Crap that is made with no environmental laws or labor laws. A crappy strip of stores that stays crap because of greedy real estate agents and greedy landlords. The economy is changing. They need to get realistic and help the neighborhood grow in a POSITIVE and inclusive way with local residents able to afford to open a local business. One of the many reasons 7th Avenue in Park Slope is not great is because of greedy landlords and greedy real estate agents pushing up the commercial rents and pushing out any mom and pop businesses.
Gritty? Yes. Cool? Maybe. Dump. Certainly.
Defenders Of Church Avenue Blight, I have one question for you: if our beloved stretch of Church Av is not a dump, what is? Please cite examples.
Aside from the rediculous amount asked for the space, there are problems with it. For one thing, there is only one exit, the front. For another, there are water leaks which the landlord doesn't fix, as I heard. Some things are not up to code. The space is not a bargain on any account, and can be dangerous in case of fire.
Don't knock the easterly wasteland.
That so called "easterly wasteland," in my opinion, just happens to be a strip with just a few stores but it does have a supermarket, the B35, and some beautiful houses if you look to your left (or right, depending on which way you're walking.
As far as Bobby's land is concerned, those blocks happen to be a (not THE but A) commercial hub for the Caribbean community with great stores of all kinds, including Bobby's, Walgreen's, a great Dunkin franchaise, the B/Q line, and numerous and very well stocked green grocers who carry some fresh produce and those products from "back home."
. . . and the span of Church Ave (which includes Korner Pizza, Eve's Nails, Golden Farm [which gets a lot pf props on this blog], Yen Yen, the Russian bakery, Rite Aid, etc.) between O.P. and McD is not a dump. Sure it's not 7th Ave but it's not a dump.
I guess it's all relative and we might just be longing for these days should this nabe ever be gentrified. I shudder at the thought.
Go Kensington.
i've been here over a year, and the only place i've been into is rocky's... there's nothing for me, but the community supports a 'dump' so i go elsewhere. do i want a park slope, no. but would i rather have it like cortylou, yes. so in relative terms, its dumpy and junky... for me. would i be sad if a sbucks moves in, no, its not going to happen... yet. rents are what they are, there usually market driven for commercial space, so i don't understand the greedy owner thing, how can a owner be greedy if month after month they aren't collecting? personally i think church will only change when the demograpic demands it. the subsidised housing hasn't and won't. if we get more density in a high income/education/spending bracket then you'll have a need. this isn't so bad, look at nabs like chelsea, towers next to money... money = better services. it's simple economics.
For all of you that are dissin' our hard working blogger (who's name shall remain anonymous!)for calling Church ave a dump should just take a hard look at all the wonderful things she has done for our neighborhood. Everything she has done for Kensington (which I happen to know is ALOT) is purely a labor of love. She is right. CHurch Avenue is a filthy mess, particularly on the west side of McDonald all the way down to Bergaments. Cars littering the sidewalk (again!), garbage galore, and empty storefronts that cost far too much to rent. Why would anyone pay that kind of rent in such a shabby looking area????
I do hope the city pulls through on the many tree requests. I also wish that the 66th would do their job without constant prompting from the neighborhood and remove abandoned cars or (suspicious) cars left on the sidewalk with no vin #s or plates on them.
Perhaps Bill deBlasio would like to get involved in the beautification of Church Ave? Imagine this-treelined streets with a bustling shopping area that has more to offer than nail salons and 99cent stores. Perhaps he could stategize and figure out incentives for landlords to ask reasonable rents and encourage quality businesses to relocate here.
COME ON BILL!!!! COME ON 66th Precinct!!!!!! HELP!!!
i'm rooting for that atlantic arena.. it'll make people move out here with income :P
Doing stuff for the neighborhood means getting off the computer and getting out into YOUR community.
anon 10.28
I hope you realize all the commentaries from neighborhood meetings and de Blasio updates etc. means the blogger is actually off the computer A LOT! In fact they tried to organize a couple of clean up days for Church Ave but other people didn't get off thier computers...
we're getting petty to start assuming the amount of time people spend on the computer. if it weren't for the computer, some people wouldn't know of the things they could go out to help with. so attacking computer use is pretty lame.
I'm going to ave to agree with brenda from flatbush, and anon801. When I think of Church Ave in Kensington, I forget that it includes streets outside of Ocean Parkway and McDonald Ave. Church ave from Ocean to CIA is a dump, as is from McDonald to Bergament (36th street). I don't think the rest of Church Avenue is as dumpy or crappy as anyone says. Yes, it would be nice to have a few more stores or restaurants, but I wouldn't call it a dump. It's funny how the very next post Jen's talking about the great bargains at the outlet store and posts 'church ave isn't that bad after all'.
In regards to all the comments about getting the poor people out so you could have your 'needs' met: If you go out past Ocean Parkway towards flatbush, you'll notice a lack of nail salons. The B35 is a reliable bus, that even includes a limited service, so it makes it very easy for women in flatbush to travel here to get there nails done. I would bet a majority of their customers are not even from the neighborhood. I wouldn't be surprised if that were the case with some of the other stores that nobody seems to go to. The changing demographics of this neighborhood might not change the church ave strip at all.
Anon936, the Albemarle Neighborhood association was around way before Jen's blog and somehow this neighborhood managed to block the Mobil Diesel station without her, so while it's nice to read about some neighborhood stuff on a somewhat daily basis- it's not the end-all, be-all, or do-all of Kensington.
Real Estate taxes have gone up roughly 110% since 1990. Water charges up roughly 44% since 1995. It's tough to pass that on a downscale area like Church Avenue.
I don't get it either.. how these landlords can ask for high store rents. I guess someone's renting them, but in time, no one will be able to if the economy continues to tank and the store rents remain high.
Or... you can stroll down to the really scrappy section of Church Ave and rent the old hip hop shop(SIMPLY THE TRUTH). $3,000 a month for 800 sq.ft!!!!!
Who would possibly pay that much????
RIDICULOUS!!!!!!
I still fail to see how this situation is a "scam."
The "For Rent" sign is gone and workmen are inside renovating. Anyone here have know who rented it and what is going in there?
a tampon store.
O.k, o.k, people! Sheesh! This aian't Manhattan! O.k! You are not going to find a shoppers,neighborhood, yuppie, Buppie, upper middle class, shops, because honestly most of the people here that live here are not those types of people. As for the high rents. Pfft! New York, people are filled with greedy landlords, absentiee landlords, and stupid landlords that exspect to become millionaires because they once took a real estate course at the AMEX. As for Church Avenue, look for the gems and leave the high muck e muck exspectations @ Greenwich Villiage. O.k!
Oye!
Clueuin
P.S
Just be lucky that you live in a pretty nice neighborhood with people who are trying not to put signs up saying "Yuppie, Whitey, go home. Alright!
Post a Comment