Carter's Review

This 6-story, dark building at 385 Union Avenue between Ainslie and Powers streets in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was originally planned as a condominium by its developers, Anshel Friedman, Pincus Freund and Joseph Freund in 2008 but they defaulted on their loan the next year and the building went into foreclosure in 2010. 

Madison Realty Capital bought the defaulted loan from City National Bank that had taken the loan over from the original lender through the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.  When Madison Realty took over the property nearly all of the building’s 23 one-bedroom units and 24 two-bedroom units had been rented out. 

In 2015, the building was acquired by Sugar Hill Capital Partners for $37 million and an article by Konrad Putzier at therealdeal.com March 2, 2016 reported that Sugar Hill was trying to sell the property for $53 million.  The article said that the building was vacant when Sugar Hill bought it from Madison Realty but was fully leased when the article was published. 

The building was originally designed by Next Architecture and Karl Fischer did the renovation.  It is a block away from the L and G trains.

Bottom Line

Like a Flamenco dancer in a black dress who flashes her colorful petticoats at the clapping of her troupe, this low-rise dark building in Williamsburg has a vibrantly colored base that visually swirls with great vigor.  Ole!

Description

With its rooftop bulkheads, this low-rise dark building looks like a mighty cruiser cutting through the choppy urban turf that it churns up with its colorful, phosphorescent base. 

This gray-brick building has long dark metal protruding spandrels and its many of its multi-paned windows have broad dark metal mullions that syncopate its racing flavor. 

It has a dramatic recessed entrance in the middle of its street frontage that is highlighted by a bright-orange indented second-floor wall.

Amenities

The building has a roof deck, a garage, a gym and cold storage.

Apartments

Apartments have washers and dryers and floor-to-ceiling windows. 

Apartment 2J is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads in one direction to a 6-sided master bedroom and in the other to an 18-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen and a balcony. 

Apartments G and F on the 3^rd through the 5th floors are two-bedroom units with 17-foot-long living/dining rooms with open, pass-through kitchens and balconies. 

Apartments I on the 3^rd through the 5^th floors are two-bedroom units with 18-foot-wide living/dining rooms with open kitchens and balconies and the master bedrooms have balconies. 

A one-bedroom unit on the 6^th floor has an entry foyer adjacent to an open, pass-through kitchen that leads to an angled, 15-foot-wide, living/dining room with a large angled terrace.