500 Fourth Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 500 Fourth Avenue by Carter Horsley

An upzoning of part of  the Park Slope section of Brooklyn in 2003 resulted in new residential construction, such as the 12-story residential condominium building at 500 Forth Avenue between 12^th and 13^th streets, that was completed in 2010. 

The large, new building, which has 156 apartments, was developed by Isaac Katan and designed by Robert Scarano.  It was completed in 2010.

Bottom Line

An apartment building designed by Brooklyn’s most controversial and innovative architect, Robert Scarano, this full-service building on the edge of Park Slope is a not run-of-the-mill cookie-cutter. The design looks like it was produced in an artistic and asymmetric waffle iron, which makes it large bulk more interesting with bumps and crannies.

Description

A February 6, 2008 article by Ben Fried at streetsblog.com noted that "when the City Planning Commission upzoned Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue in 2003, it was hailed by some as a breakthrough" and that "residential development would reshape this urban speedway, the thinking went, from a pit stop for cabs to a stately corridor of mid-rise residences - Brooklyn's answer to Park Avenue."

Borough President Marty Markowitz described the avenue as “a grand boulevard of the 21^st Century.” 

Well, it’s not yet Park Avenue but it now has some new residential fortresses and this building is a stand-out. 

The initial developments after the rezoning were not encouraging “for anyone who hoped to see a walkable, mixed-use district take shape here,” according to Mr. Friend’s article that observed that "one new apartment building, the Novo, looms fortress-like over the playground next door," the article continued, "while another, the Crest, greets passersby with man-sized industrial vents. A new hotel, Le Bleu,…meets the sidewalk with a parking lot fit for a suburban dentist's office.” 

“Instead of transforming Fourth Avenue into Brooklyn's next great neighborhood, these developments turn their back on the public realm, burdening the street wall with industrial vents, garage doors and curb cuts,” the article continued, adding, however, that the developer of 500 Fourth Avenue was putting a commercial tenant on the building’s first floor.

Amenities

The building has a fitness center, a solarium for yoga, dance and meditation, and a children’s playroom. 

It also has a double-height lobby with a “trail of river rocks, limestone flooring, backlit white onyx, suede-wrapped wall paneling and a fireplace. 

The 24/7 attended lobby has concierge service, a garage, and cold and dry storage. 

A Club 500 lounge has a large LCD television, kitchenette, plush seating and a gaming area with a pool table, all of which can be sectioned off to suit all of residents' entertaining needs. 

Adjacent to Club 500 is a 2,500-square-foot landscaped terrace with seating. 

The building also has a 3,000-square-foot duplex townhouse and many balconies.

Apartments

Kitchens have Viking appliances and Manhattan Calacatta marble countertops and snow and ice honey onyx and frosted glass backsplashes. 

Master baths have Gaudi marble floors and walls of Lagos gold-honed limestone with accents of mosaic toffee and shimmering millennium glass. Larger units offer double sink vanities with separate Zuma soaking tubs and frameless glass shower stalls. 

Apartment 9G is a two-bedroom unit with a large entry foyer that leads to an 18-foot-long living/dining room with a 123-square-foot balcony and a large pass-though kitchen. 

Apartment D on floors 3 and 4 is a three-bedroom, two-bath unit with a foyer that leads past a large pass-through kitchen to a 15-foot-long living/dining room and a 92-square-foot balcony.

Location

The building is convenient to the F, M and R subway lines and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. Nearby Atlantic Terminal also provides connections to the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N and Q trains, as well as to the Long Island Railroad. 

In a November 3, 2008 article at the realdeal.com, Gabby Warshawer observed that "one of the avenue's most prolific developers, Dominic Tonacchio, said that the economic downturn would slow the transformation of Fourth Avenue but maintained he still thought "it's going to be the next Park Avenue." 

"However," the article continued, "even he is changing his strategy to cope with the new financial situation. While Tonacchio was originally intending a 49-unit condo development at Warren Street and Fourth Avenue, he's decided to go rental with the project, which is nearing completion. Tonacchio - a partner in the 113-unit Novo on 4th Street and Fourth Avenue and in the boutique Le Bleu hotel across the street - is also partnering with another prolific Fourth Avenue builder, Isaac Katan, on a 108-unit rental that is in the early stages of development on 6th Street....A building under construction at 500 Fourth Avenue on 12th Street will soon steal the Novo's thunder as the biggest condo on the strip. Isaac Katan, who partnered with Tonacchio on the Novo, developed 500 Fourth Avenue and said...he and his partners will consider taking the building rental as a fallback. Nevertheless, he's sanguine about its prospects as a condo. 'We'll have Manhattan-style service because it's a large-scale development,' he said, noting that the building will have ...ground-floor retail....Katan said Fourth Avenue is alluring to developers and buyers alike because of the dearth of new construction in the rest of Park Slope. 

Some observers have said that the avenue’s six lanes are too much, but one benefit is that it provides its buildings with a lot more sun and privacy than a four-lane road.