A seaside getaway is just a B61 bus-ride away!
A developer plans on building a 19-key hotel near the Red Hook waterfront, according to plans filed with the city last week. The transit-starved nabe may not be the most obvious location for a boutique lodging, but some people will pay good money to vacation in a secluded coastal hamlet, notes one real estate insider.
“This could be a weekend destination,” said one broker who asked not to be named. “I think if they did something sort of cool and interesting it could work.”
Borough Park real-estate mogul Abraham Leser wants to erect a five-story inn on Van Brunt Street between Beard and Van Dyke streets, as first reported by New York Yimby. The building would include a dining room, recreation area, and a rooftop terrace, plus medical offices on the second floor, according to the still-pending application.
Out-of-towners may need to avail themselves of an Uber — the hotel plans only call for eight parking spaces, and it is a long hike to the nearest subway station — though a ferry stop and 12 Citi Bike stations are coming to the neighborhood in 2017.
But who needs to cross the Gowanus Expressway when you can spend your time strolling the sleepy streets sampling regional delicacies and shopping for local handicrafts?
“I think it’s a fun place to visit because of the scale of it, because it’s not really developed, and the waterfront is so amazing,” said the real-estate guru.
Notably, the location is also ambling distance from Atlantic Basin — where luxury cruise liners often dock for a spell — and the site of a massive waterfront office and retail complex an Italian developer plans on building between Coffey and Wolcott streets.
Leser seems to be a fan of car-free living — the developer angered Bensonhurst residents earlier this year after filing plans for a 13-building apartment complex on the site of the old Maple Lanes bowling alley with zero parking spaces.
Current zoning would allow him to build his lodging without going through a lengthy public review process or getting approval from Council. But the clock is ticking — the land is in one of the city’s so-called Industrial Business Zones, where Mayor DeBlasio will soon make it much harder to open hotels.
