The new Berry Street
These luxury loft condos are but one example of new construction that has popped up everywhere, along with vacant storefronts and repair shops converted to ultra-hip lounges and restaurants. The lonely, sparse sidewalks were literally choked this evening with hipsters, wanna-bes, and kids from Manhattan in for a Saturday night fling. The quiet sense of possibility I knew back then has been replaced with American Apparel and all sorts of consumption.
There is even a huge new complex at the river, which used to be lined by empty warehouses and weedy yards. Now 35-story condo towers are preparing to open, with new pedestrian piers, tens of thousands of square feet of available retail and restaurant space, and parking garages. An immense old warehouse designed by the architect Cass Gilbert (who is perhaps best known for the Woolworth Building in downtown Manhattan, in 1913 the tallest building in the world) in the rarely employed neo-Egyptian style has been totally renovated and is currently renting out with amenities (and prices) not before seen this side of the East River.
From Egyptian warehouse to luxury lofts
The amount of gentrification in the old neighborhood just boggles the mind. It shows how quickly an urban place can transform, within the context of vast numbers of people and dollars that is New York. Does it all feel right? No; I miss the grittiness of the old place. A lot of the new architecture is banal. Most of the artists have departed for cheaper digs further out in Brooklyn or Queens.
But hey, if you just have to have that perfect pomegranate mojito, you no longer have to take the train into Manhattan to get it.
Birmingham, I won’t be around to attend Design Review this coming week, comment on the latest (non-drive-through!) plans for Chick-Fil-A, etc. But we’ll be back and ready to examine lots of new topics in just a couple short weeks. Stay cool.
Like this:
Like Loading...
Related
Bhamarchitect's Blog 