Greenpoint Pencil Factory Condominiums, image courtesy of Flickr.com
Fact: condos are nice. In Williamsburg and Greenpoint, they offer many things one rarely used to see in these old, somewhat industrial neighborhoods, like new construction, modern architecture, and many luxury amenities, to name a few. They attract a hip, new crowd which helps give a small neighborhood a culture and vitality it may not have had before.
But if you walk through these neighborhoods, there a distinct disparity between these new condos and the older construction of the rest of the neighborhood. The intent is obvious, and many people like the idea of merging the old with a touch of new. It really is an attractive idea in theory, symbolizing an update of the area but still retaining old charm, but I have to question the practicality of it. It seems that these condos aren’t selling as well as developers and owners would like and the result is half-empty complexes and projects shutting down mid-construction.