BAY RIDGE — Thirty-two units of housing with parking for half of them will be coming to the Third Avenue lot that, for the past several years, has served as parking for Brooklyn Market, the supermarket across the street.
According to Michael Niamonitakis of Meridian Properties, LLC, the group behind the development of the new five-story rental building that will replace the Brooklyn Market parking lot at 8101 Third Avenue in Bay Ridge, told this paper, “The building will include a fitness room, a bike room, virtual package room, storage rooms and a roof deck. … For some tenants who work at home, they will have the option of going downstairs and having internet access, printers, scanners and a coffee station.”
In addition, Niamonitakis said that there will be a single approximately 250-square-foot retail space on the first floor that might hold a small coffee shop.
Niamonitakis owns Meridian Properties along with his cousin, also named Michael Neamonitakis, but spelled with an “e.” Meridian has owned the lot for the past 10 years.
Niamonitakis said that Bay Ridge has had very little new housing in the past 10 years. “This gave us the opportunity to bring something to Bay Ridge that the neighborhood had not seen in a long time,” he said.
“We feel that parking should not be an issue,” Niamonitakis contended, given that there will be 16 parking spots for the 32 units. “Currently, we manage approximately 500 units in Bay Ridge,” he said. “We find that 80 percent of our new tenants renting in Bay Ridge apartments don’t have a car,” said Niamonitakis.
Furthermore, there will be a bike room on the first floor, encouraging people to use bikes and have a safe place to store them. In addition, he told this paper, “If there is extra parking space that the tenants in the building do not need, we will speak with Brooklyn Market and negotiate a portion of the parking lot for their use.”
As far as the small retail space, Niamonitakis said he would like to find a tenant who offers a service to the residents of the building.
Niamonitakis, who was born and raised in Bay Ridge, called this an exceptionally personal project. “When we undertook this project, we wanted something that would conform to the neighborhood,” he told this paper.
“We didn’t want a flashy glass structure or something that looks like it belongs in Miami Beach. We wanted to make sure the colors of the brick and everything we’re picking out is going to be in line,” he said.
S. Wieder Associates Architect has released a rendering of the five-story brick building. The building is projected to be completed in 2021.
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