It looks like New York is shaping up to be the next Hollywood. Yesterday, Samson Stages announced its plans to open film studios and soundstages in Red Hook, Brooklyn. The film production company has tapped architecture firm Bjarke Ingels Group (BIG) to design the 300,000-square-foot venue, located at 744 Clinton Street.

This isn’t BIG’s first go at a television studio project. The firm revealed visuals in 2021 for a location it is working on for Wildflower Studios, an endeavor owned by actor Robert De Niro. The seven-story “vertical village” in Astoria, Queens is slated to open this year.

As for the Red Hook development, it too will be a “vertical village” rising up from the current waterfront site of Sunshine Lighting. The building’s vertical massing will be formed by the stacking of eight stages. In addition to production studios and stages, where projects ranging from 30 second advertisements to music videos to feature films will be shot, the project will also create new park space on the waterfront.

“This project is truly transformational, and I am excited to highlight the renderings and begin construction on the brand new soundstages and studios. The new addition to Samson Stages will create jobs, will give the neighborhood a new waterfront park, and will continue to make New York the center of TV and film production,” said Cofounder and CEO of Samson Stages Sam Geiger in a press release.

In addition to the park, the other public-facing operation on the site is a cafe. Renderings of the planned redevelopment show the tiered structure faced with a wood slatted facade, with plantings and vegetation interspersed throughout, as well as a sprawling lawn that extends outward from the building. The site will be surrounded by water where visitors can kick back or, as depicted in the renderings, kayak. Parking will be located within the structure.

“New York has become a leader when it comes to the TV and movie scene. To put it simply: the expansion of Samson Stages is the right project at the right time,” Cofounder of Samson Stages and Principal at Vanta Developers Charles Sobel said.

Samson Stages owns other production venues nearby on Hicks Street and in Sunset Park, where an array of projects have been filmed and produced, including a few that have starred big names in entertainment such as Ryan Reynolds and Bruce Springsteen.

A construction timeline for the project has not yet been announced.

As reported by The Architect’s Newspaper By Kristine Klein

 

Here is just one way to use reclaimed materials to bring unique areas to your home.

This beam was from a Brooklyn Heights brownstone was reclaimed to create a lovely living room bench in a new apartment!

December 26, 2022 – January 8, 2023

Wrap up your holiday season and say goodbye to your tree at Mulchfest. Join NYC Parks and the New York City Department of Sanitation in the NYC holiday tradition of recycling your Christmas tree!

Designers are predicting a rise in eclectic, bold, and maximalist interior design – the return of the accent wall is perhaps inevitable. So many great prints out there to make a quick impactful change. See my quick update done in a couple or hours.

Also check out this great active from House Digest for some other great ideas.

Mortgage demand dropped again last week as rates climbed higher, but one type of loan is attracting borrowers. Adjustable-rate mortgages, or ARMs, which offer lower rates, are seeing renewed demand after getting very little interest over the last decade.

Total mortgage application volume dropped 2% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s seasonally adjusted index, a consequence of surging rates.

The average contract interest rate for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages with conforming loan balances ($647,200 or less) increased to 6.81% from 6.75%, with points increasing to 0.97 from 0.95 (including the origination fee) for loans with a 20% down payment. That is the highest rate since 2006.

“The news that job growth and wage growth continued in September is positive for the housing market, as higher incomes support housing demand. However, it also pushed off the possibility of any near-term pivot from the Federal Reserve on its plans for additional rate hikes,” wrote Michael Fratantoni, MBA’s chief economist in a release.

The average rate for 5/1 ARMs, which has a fixed rate for the first five years, increased slightly, but was still lower, at 5.56%. The ARM share of applications was just under 12%. When rates were lower at the start of this year, that share was barely 3%, where it had been for several years.

ARMs can be fixed for up to 10 years, but they are considered riskier loans because the rate eventually adjusts to the market rate. Rates have been so low for so long that before rates started to rise borrowers didn’t need to take on that additional risk.

Higher overall rates crushed refinance demand even further, with applications off 2% for the week and 86% from the year-earlier week. At this rate level, there are barely 150,000 borrowers who can benefit from a refinance, because so many people already have loans at far lower rates, according to Black Knight, a mortgage technology and analytics firm.

Reported by CNBC

By Diana Olick

PUBLISHED WED, OCT 12 20227:00 AM EDTUPDATED WED, OCT 12 20228:23 AM EDT

City officials are taking a deep dive to assess the possibility of bringing Manhattan ferry service to a historic Coney Island pier.

The new stop could be Steeplechase Pier, on the Atlantic Ocean at Coney Island’s more tourist-friendly southern end.

A century ago, the landmarked Steeplechase Pier welcomed steam-powered paddle boats. It’s now a popular spot for fishing and crabbing.

A ferry would cut commuting time to Lower Manhattan by 30 minutes, and help relieve traffic and transit issues that have long plagued the neighborhood, according to officials.

Steeplechase Pier sits next to Maimonides Park, home of the Brooklyn Cyclones, and is within walking distance of billionaire developer John Catsimatidis’ new Ocean Drive condo complex. Catsimatidis, who is also pushing to bring casinos to Coney Island, has spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lobbying the city for a neighborhood ferry landing.

The city had long planned a ferry stop on the north side of the filthy Coney Island Creek, but the proposal is all but dead in the water after a significant sand-shift was discovered during construction that requires significant dredging work to make it navigable, officials said.

The city’s Economic Development Corp., which oversees NYC Ferry, claims it hasn’t given up on putting a stop along the creek, but after a push from community advocates, has begun working with engineers to see if the project could be moved to Steeplechase Pier, which has its own issue: the ocean’s choppy waters. The city is studying both plans and is expected to have results next month.

In January 2019, then-Mayor Bill de Blasio announced an expansion of NYC Ferry service that included the Coney Island Creek stop. The route was supposed to launch last year, but the project was held up after Assemblywoman Mathylde Frontus (D-Brooklyn) and other critics raised concerns about environmental issues with the creek site.

As reported by New York Post , By Rich Calder , September 3, 2022 4:49pm

Mention the code FRAME/DRIVER for a 10% discount on framing at Frame-Atlantic.

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128 Kane Street Apartment #3

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