A Cobble Hill Blog tipster who has lived in the neighborhood for a decade sent us the following mysterious quandary, which we shall file under the WTF category: “On Sunday we parked our car on Congress Street between Clinton and Henry on the north side, in a spot that would expire Thursday morning. When I dutifully went to move it last night, it was now on the south side of the street. The north side was covered in fresh tar and marked with saw horses, so clearly it was moved for road/utility work.”

She adds, “I am grateful the city did not tow the car (when we left it there Sunday we saw no warnings), but the car was in reverse with the emergency brake still on and locked, just as we left it. How in the world did they physically move it, and are there any regulations about this?”

Any ideas, out there?

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7725

A pair of real estate developers is planning to renovate four pre-Civil War Cobble Hill townhouses—and to build from the ground up five more—all on a single block, at 118–123 Congress Street. The Real Deal reports that the project is a joint venture between 184 Kent developer JMH Development and Madison Estates. Morris Adjmi is its architect. It has yet to win approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Madison Estates’ president and owner Gerard Longo expects that sales of the properties will bring in $27 to $30 million.

Currently, there are two properties at the site: one comprising the four townhouses, which were previously adjoined but will be separated into single-family residences; and the other a building constructed in the late 1970s, Longo tells the Real Deal.

Before their sale on March 1, both buildings were owned by the Brooklyn Diocese of the Roman Catholic Church, and the townhouses were used as a church rectory. JMH and Madison together purchased the Cobble Hill properties for $6.6 million.

The developers will be renovating townhouses with an eye toward accuracy, they say. They have vowed not to use materials that weren’t used at the time of construction, more than 150 years ago. The other building will be razed to accommodate five new single-family townhouses with features similar to their older neighbors in the Cobble Hill Historic District. The firms hope to break ground in the fall and estimate a rough 12-month completion.

(Photo: The Real Deal)

Source: Cobble Hill Blog
http://cobblehillblog.com/archives/7691