Real Estate Weekly: "Park life pulling buyers to new south Brooklyn" (!)

Park life pulling buyers to new south Brooklyn, declared Real Estate Weekly in an 12/8/17 article that could, perhaps, be appended to a piece about Sheepshead Bay.

Nah, it's about 550 Vanderbilt:

Downtown Brooklyn’s renaissance is well underway as new retail and residential continues to grow.
In one pocket of the neighborhood, a sleek and modern condo building is leading the charge to draw in a new wave of residents.
550 Vanderbilt is the first building to open at Pacific Park Brooklyn, the 22-acre site that will ultimately have 16 buildings and 350,000 s/f of public park space once completed.

So the "south Brooklyn" of the headline is the southern "pocket" (?) of Downtown Brooklyn, which is, of course, not Downtown Brooklyn but Prospect Heights. And, of course, it's not "public park space" but rather publicly accessible open space. Which is not close to ready.

Amenities or price?

From the article:

The tower first launched sales in June 2016. This summer, the development team brought in Ryan Serhant and his team from NestSeekers to close out the tower.
“We got involved this summer and it’s been absolutely insane,” said Serhant. “We’re really looking at it as a new era for Brooklyn. It’s not just another building with pretty finishes and nice amenities.”
Serhant did call the building one of the “most amenitized” in Brooklyn.
The 218-unit condo, designed by architect COOKFOX, has 10,000 s/f of amenities. They include a massive gym, a large amount of lounge space, a library that was created in partnership with bookstore McNally Jackson, and a roof deck where residents can grow their own vegetables.

Sloppy, sloppy. Sales launched in June 2015 (though the official debut was September), not June 2016, and the building has 278 units, not 218.

It's "been absolutely insane," in part, because they maneuvered a huge tax benefit. And they're cutting prices.

The new park?

From the article:

“What we’re really selling is a new neighborhood,” Serhant said. “This is the first chance to own in a building inside of a park. How often do you get the chance to do that in New York? It’s a great deal for people who don’t want to look back and say, I wish I did that.”

Well, there will be 8 acres of open space, eventually, perhaps by 2025, but it could take longer. Meanwhile, there will be a lot of noisy construction.

The sales switch

From the article:

Forest City tapped Jodi Stasse of Corcoran Sunshine to lead sales. “They did an amazing job helping us come up with a unit mix and initial pricing,” said [Forest City's Susi] Yu.
After they had opened the building and sold through about 65 percent of the inventory, the development team decided they needed “fresh blood” at the project, so that’s when they tapped Serhant to close out sales.
“He’s obviously very different to Corcoran Sunshine’s approach toward marketing and definitely has a cult of personality that follows him around,” said Yu. She said the since bringing in Serhant and his NestSeekers team this summer, sales have been “robust” at the project.

Not sure that a "cult of personality" sells units more than effective price cuts.

How many buildings?

From the article:

The Pacific Park project as a whole is picking up steam, as four other buildings in the plan are under construction or in various stages of opening. Yu said the new developments have helped turn interest more south than north in Brooklyn.
“I think people’s perception of the neighborhood and center of excitement and energy about Brooklyn has definitely shifted from the northern borders of Brooklyn to the south and Prospect Heights,” she said.

Four other buildings under construction or opening? Well, three other buildings--535 Carlton, 461 Dean, and 38 Sixth--have opened. Nothing else is going vertical.

Apparently the final odd quote delivered the even more odd headline.