Fort Greene, Clinton Hill & Bed-Stuy

Why are these three adjacent neighborhoods close to the top of many home buyers’ lists? They are delightful to behold with blocks of brownstone-clad townhouses bordered by canopies of leafy trees arching across them. Many buildings date back to the pre-Civil War era and are preserved by Landmark Historic status. Homebuyers also appreciate the proximity to what is arguably the best transportation hub in the city connecting through Atlantic Avenue-Barclay Center. You can get anywhere from here including out to an East End summer home via the Long Island Railroad. This part of Brooklyn's brownstone belt is largely preserved by landmark status. These historic homes must retain their vintage streetscape appearance, but today most are lovingly, restored and updated. Some modern condo developments dot the landscape, as well as older cooperative apartments available.

 

Much of Fort Greene was designated as a Landmark Historic District in 1978. Its location is east of Brooklyn Heights and has easy access to Manhattan via the best transportation hub in Brooklyn at Atlantic Avenue-Barclay Center. Fort Greene is built around the beautiful 30-acre Fort Greene Park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who also designed Manhattan's Central Park. Specialized Brooklyn Tech High School is located just across the street from the park. I call Fort Greene home today and can tell you firsthand how great it is to live here. The neighborhood is part of the Brooklyn Cultural District which includes revered institutions including BAM, Theatre for a New Audience, The Center for Fiction, BRIC Arts, and MoCADA. Fort Greene is bounded by the Brooklyn Navy Yard to the north, Flatbush Avenue Extension to the west, Atlantic Avenue to the south, and Vanderbilt Avenue to the east.

 

East of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill has its own Landmark Historic District designated in 1981. A stroll through this leafy green neighborhood will convince you that it's one of the most beautiful in New York City. The area has a rich history dating back to the 1860s when the area was developed with rows of Italianate and Beaux-Arts townhouses, with enormous mansions lining grand Clinton Avenue. This was considered Brooklyn’s Gold Coast at the turn of the 20th Century. One of its prominent residents was oil executive Charles Pratt, who famously built four of the Clinton Ave mansions for himself and as wedding gifts for his three sons. He also founded and endowed Pratt Institute, a private university that is an institutional anchor of the Clinton Hill community to the present day. It is bordered north by the Brooklyn Navy Yard, Bedford–Stuyvesant to the east, Prospect Heights to the south, and Fort Greene to the west.

 

East of Clinton Hill is Bedford–Stuyvesant or as it is more commonly called “Bed Stuy”. With roughly 8,800 townhouses, many of them built prior to 1900, it is the largest area of intact Victorian Brownstone architecture in America. These mostly late 19th-century townhouses are visually exquisite and rich in history. Modern Bed Stuy has welcomed a new generation drawn to its tree-lined streets, proximity to Manhattan, and the affordability of these largely untouched historic homes. Property values here have trended steadily upward for over 20 years, drawing the interest of new home buyers and smaller developers seeking to restore and renovate these handsome 19th-century homes They often found a blank canvas with eclectic details in the Italianate, Romanesque, and Neo-Grec styles; complete with fully intact plaster ornamentation and millwork, Adding value with updated interiors and mechanical systems. The area as we know it today was developed in the 1890s from east to west and was completely built up by the 1920s. It is preserved and protected today from non-contextual development by the Bedford–Stuyvesant Landmarked Historic District.

 

Although pricier than before, this part of Brownstone Brooklyn is often a more budget-friendly alternative to the neighboring areas of Clinton Hill and Fort Green. The Landmark District greatly restricts larger new developments in the area, but there are a few like 315 Gates Avenue in which we've done many deals. It's always exciting to represent townhouse sellers here, many of whom have owned their homes through several generations, and have the opportunity to realize the newly appreciated value of their homes. Bedford–Stuyvesant contains the local sub-sections of Stuyvesant Heights and Ocean Hill. Parts of eastern Clinton Hill were once considered as a part of Bed Stuy. The neighborhood is bordered on the north by Williamsburg, on the west by Clinton Hill, Broadway to the east, with Prospect Heights and Crown Heights to the south.