The Williamsburg Social, 250 Bedford Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 250 Bedford Avenue by Carter Horsley

Williamsburg Social is a two-building residential complex at 250 Bedford Avenue in the Greenpoint section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

It was completed in 2013 and consists of a 5-story building with 72 apartments and 13 three-story townhouses that have an address of 129 North Third Street, known as “Williamsburg Townhomes.”

RKT&B Architects and Stan Allen designed the complex, which is owned by SL Green Realty Corporation and the Magnum Real Estate Group.

Bottom Line

A handsome complex, which is known as Williamsburg Social, of rental apartments and attached townhouses with a common front yard and some retail space, it is very close to a Whole Foods store.

Description

The buildings have beige stone and glass façades and the rental section of the complex has some retail space. 

The façade has a vertical motif.

The townhouses are 14 feet 9 inches wide and have sunken living rooms with high ceilings and open space in the back.  The first floor has a kitchen, a bathroom and a living room/conservatory that opens to the backyard.  There are two bedrooms and a bath on the second floor and the third floor has a master suite and a terrace with a spiral stair to a rooftop terrace.

The townhouses are setback about 15 feet from the building line and have stoops and “unfenced” front yards that form a 200-foot-long common space with benches and planters.

The rental building has a very large and impressive grey marble wall behind its concierge desk in the double-height lobby that overlooks the landscaped garden.

Amenities

Williamsburg Social has a doorman, a recreation room with two conference rooms, a kitchen, a billiards table and a bar and the building also has a bicycle room, shared courtyard, parking, a package room with cold storage, and a roof deck.

Apartments

Apartments have eat-in kitchens with stainless steel kitchen appliances, white oak flooring and radiant-heated flooring in the bathrooms.

All apartments have washers and dryers.

Apartment 413W is a two-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to a 25-foot-wide living room next to a pass-through kitchen and a 380-square-foot terrace.

Apartment 509W is a one-bedroom unit with a 15-foot-long living/dining room and an open kitchen and two terraces with a total of 556 square feet of exterior space.

Apartment 310W is a one-bedroom unit with a large entry foyer that leads to a 18-foot-living/dining room next to an enclosed kitchen.

Apartment 212W is a studio unit with a 14-foot-long living area with an enclosed kitchen.

History

It was developed initially by Quadriad Realty Partners of Manhattan that according to a July 26, 2013 article in The New York Times by Alison Gregor “faltered after construction began in 2007” and the project “was taken over the Thor Capital Group, which also had problems, and then by Triton Realty Holdings, which completed construction.’

In 2010, the article continued, “a partnership of the SL Green Realty Corporation, one of the city’s largest office landlords, and the Magnum Real Estate Group, a residential management and development company, bought the 24,470 square feet of retail space on the Bedford Avenue side of the development for $20.8 million,” adding that “that space contains an HSBC Bank and a Duane Reade” and that “Triton retains ownership of the rest of the retail space, which is on Berry Street and includes a parking garages and the gym Retro Fitness of Williamsburg.”

In March, 2013, SL Green and Magnum, which is headed by Ben Shaoul, bought Williamsburg Social and Williamsburg Townhomes from Triton for about $51.5 million, and the article said that Mr. Shaoul said the purchase was “the first residential venture in Brooklyn for both Companies.”.

Location

A Whole Foods store is nearby as is the Bedford Avenue station of the L subway line.