$4250 – Duplex Office + Loft = Duploftice (Bedford L)

The problem:  You’ve been pining away for a live/work loft in Williamsburg since the 90s.  Everything’s either been too grungy, too small, too shady or too remote.

The solution:  See below.

- This is what you see when you first walk in.  Dark wood plank floors, modern open kitchen with a balcony.

- A closer look at that balcony.

- Another angle of the kitchen.  There’s the door on the 3rd floor you just walked up to (sorry, no elevator).

- Swing around the corner and you’re in your bedroom.  Sprawling, bright, epic views of the Manhattan skyline.

- Turning around you’re bound for the walk-through full bathroom.

- This is the office space through the bathroom also connected to the kitchen.  This is where master plans are made.

- Sweet!  Can we go upstairs now?  Sure.

- Oh, so there’s a HUGE room up here with insane views, a private roof deck, another bathroom, separate entrance and two closets?  Yup.

- Not a bad spot for an entertainment set-up.

- Half bath for your showering convenience.

- Custom closets make things much neater.

- From the railing looking back on your future chill/work zone.

- Now from the other direction.  Private.  Epic.

- Available October 1st, 2011.

- Heat/hot water are paid for by tenant.  Cooking gas is included.

- 1100 sq.ft.

- It’s a 3rd floor walk-up so get ready to schlep.

- Located here.

- Comment on this post to set up an appointment.  Thank ya!

$1900-4200 – Hello Greenpoint! I want to move to you! (G’pt Ave. G.)

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, your ship has at last come in.

The new building full of brand spanking new gorgeous rentals on Kent St. x West St. and Franklin are available. And guess who can get you in there first… (?)

Show ‘em what they’ve got, Rod:

- From the outside, a completely respectable reno.  Sand blasted brick and subtle detail restoration of what was the “original” pencil factory.

1br w/Private Outdoor Space

- Polished poured concrete floors and a skylight gives you some serious glow for this ground floor 1br with outdoor space.  Built-in AC units keeping things chill in here but the rest of the building has central air/heat.

- There’s your private entrance to your private patio outdoor space of total serenity.

- This be the actual bedroom of the 1br we be discussing here.  Sleeps one comfortably, two preferred (wink-wink)… or three? Naughty naughty!

- All the bathrooms, aside from the half baths, are like this.  Full tub, sinks with drawers, toilet seats with plastic covers on them.

- The developers of this place actually got it right – DEEP closets all over every unit.  In the bedrooms, in the hallways.  Explore your inner hoarder.

- You’ll need to squint and use your imagination slightly here.  Aside from it being slightly blurry, there will one day be a nice new energy-efficient fridge and dishwasher in those large gaps to the left and right of the frame.  Otherwise, this is basically the kitchen layout for all the units.  Bon appetite!

1br Upper Floor

- Hellllloooo?  Echo!!!!  Sloth… love… Chunk!!!  There are some 1brs in this building that can convert to 2brs because they’re so damn huge.  This is one example.

- An 180 degree turn to the left from the above photo reveals this.  In between those two windows along the right side is where a pressure wall could be installed to add another bedroom.  Up to you.

- A peak around the archway reveals the bedroom in which you may find yourself sleeping soundly.  While window does happen to face Kent St., I don’t think a car has driven down it since the late 1800s.

- If I may interject a moment of reality here, heat and cool are controlled by the tenant in all units… which means they are paid for by the tenant.  If you keep it at off all the time, you won’t pay a dime.

1br w/Balcony & City Views

- Ok, back to the fun and excitement.  View-oooo-oooooos!  This unit will have a balcony where you can hang out with your coffee and terry cloth leisure suit.

- The living room… oh, and there’s the door to that balcony I was telling you about.

- Some more imagination kitchen.  These are done now so when we view, you won’t have to envision anything.

- It’s like a spa in here.

2br Duplex w/Private Outdoor Space

- Yup.  Duplexes.  Crazy space and a second floor for office, recreation, and parties when your parents go out of town.

- Another look at the main room and hallway.  That banged up door on the left leads to your private patio shangri-la.

- This is the stairwell of another duplex also on the ground floor but you can see how these units are all very different.  Lots of possibilities for good livin… for instance, here you can stage your own performance of Macbeth.

- This is the living room attached to the photo above.  Dope.

- “Yeah, hi, I’m gonna need two closets right next to each other.”  Sure, no problem.

- Again, heat/cool not included (sorry Charlie).

- Prices are not fully determined but 1bs are between 1900-3200 and the 2brs go as high as 4200 but that’s the ceiling.

- Move-in is looking like mid-September but could be November 1st.

- Map here.

Give me a holler or comment on this post if you’d like to view.  I’ll be there all day Thursday 8/25 giving special guided tours if you’re around.

$2000 – 1br honeyed Graham crackers (Graham L)

Oh, how I miss the kind and gentle folk of the Graham Avenue section of Williamsburg.  Café Capri, Emily’s Pork Store, Fanny, Daddy’s, Fortunato Bros.  And how bout all those newfangled yummy places?  Mother’s, Motorino, Mesa Coyoacan, Variety Café, Sel de Mer.  It’s endless food hedonism and sensory enjoyment!

Here’s where you can now live:

- Now there’s a living room that just says, “Hey!  Live in me!”

- Woah… I know this looks just a horizontally flipped version of the one above but, I kid you not, it’s the bedroom.  Those sliding doors actually do access a private balcony that you can use to go between both rooms when you get bored of using the doorway.

- KERSPLOOOSHH!!!  The open lid is inviting you.

- If conjuring is your bag, this is where you can prepare your culinary alchemy.  Plenty of room to brew kombucha up on that cabinetry.

- It’s a shared yard but damn!  Definitely salubrious.

- Another look from the ground level.  I’d totally grill out here.

- I can personally attest to the landlord being freakin’ awesome because I lived in one of his buildings. He’s really my favorite landlord of all time.

- Available June 1st (maybe May 1st if you can make up your mind by April 15th).

- Heat/hot water included.

- Pets are a-ok.

- Map here.

If you want a look, leave a comment ‘n stuff!

$1890-3000 – Vinny Hill vs. Navy Yard: Who’s tougher? (York St. F or Clinton/Wash. G)

Like a couple ‘a tramps, Vinegar Hill and the Navy Yard have been the knockaround neighborhoods for as long as anyone can remember.

Both hoods are just far enough from the subway to be annoying and the present housing offerings are different but the same.

See:

Vinegar Hill – Loft 1 ($3000/month)

- Windowy!  It’s a corner unit facing the street with river views and a private patio hence the price tag.

- All the finest in standard appliances and fixtures.  You can see how the space is really just a giant rectangle.  But, whu-where’s the fridge?

- Here it is (that sliver of blue to the left of the photo).  Why?  Just chillin’ I guess.  No tub makes it hard to take a bath.

- And here’s the amenity any (relatively) fresh air loving renter’s been waiting for – your own plot of astro turf!  It’s a little dark but you walk out on this bridge to a partitioned area for your fill of outdoor recreation.

Vinegar Hill – Loft 2 ($2500)

- Purportedly the “best deal,” this one’s slightly cheaper.  It’s another corner rectangle drenched in sunlight.  No outdoor space but all the other supplied living essentials are intact.

- You can kind of get a feel for the width of the place with this shot.

- I just wanna run up and rip that plastic off the never-before-used microwave!

- That’s another fridge to the right there.  Same thing going on in this bathroom as in the other one.  Ho-hum.

Vinegar Hill – Loft 3 ($2300)

- Things are starting to really look the same now except that wall to the left is angled sightly making this one into an irregular polygon as opposed to a rectangle.  Geometry lovers, this one’s for you.

- Hey, corner kitchen!  Looks different but is really the same (appliances, fixtures, etc.).

- Remember that doorway in the background of the first picture of this unit?  Well, there’s where it leads.  I think it’s about 2 square feet of balcony overlooking the roof of the neighbors.

- Not for nothin’, this IS the view it gives you.

- PS. The fridge was blocking the bathroom too much for me to snap a photo but you can expect it to look exactly the same as the others posted.

Vinegar Hill – Loft 4 ($2300)

- A slightly wider rectangle, maybe more like a square come to think of it.

- Kitchen seems a little more squat than its neighbors.

- A slightly different angle with light bouncing all over the place.

- PS. Same thing happened with the fridge blocking my view of the bathroom but, again, it’s the same shit thing as above.

- I would be remiss if I didn’t check out the roof deck for you.

- Pretty nice common area to whack some golf balls into the river or slice into the electrical plant.

- I believe heat/hot water are included but I’ll double check for you.  Gas/electric are not.

- It’s an easy application process for this one.  All they really care about is good credit.

- 24/hour doorman or woman.

- Laundry in the building.

- These and about 20 more like them are available now.

- Map here.

Navy Yard – Loft 1 ($1890)

- It was a little tricky to shoot this one for some reason but this is the front part of the slightly “L-shaped” layout.  Those are your three portals to the outer world.

- It’s a little kitchen cubby but not the worst place to prepare a meal.  There is, in fact, a dishwasher lurking behind that low left wall.

- Here’s how the kitchen looks with a little bit of the rear of the loft in the background.  Ce ne pas grave.

- Out of the darkness, the rear of the loft is revealed.  That back area looks like a good place for either a bed, if you don’t mind sleeping that close to your front door, or a workspace.  Just throwin’ out some ideas.

- Hooray!  A tub!  That yellow hue is coming from whatever tint is on that light fixture which is a little acidic for my tastes but that’s just me.  Just like anything else, it can be changed.

- Oh yeah, hell yeah.  Closets to the right…

- …and closets to the left.  Well, closet singular.

- I suppose this is my one qualm about the units in this building – the janky-ass popcorn sprayed concrete ceiling.  This is a form of asbestos sequestration that looks great if you’re renting out the space for a sweat shop or building materials storage depot but for living, it may or may not be slightly off-putting.  Again, this is just me talkin’ here.

- For the location being what it is, super far from the train and ridiculously close to the BQE, these guys make up for it with a 6-month membership to their spa (wish I’d checked it out actually), one month free rent, all utilities included (except cable but all service providers are already in the building), and there’s an organic grocer and fancy Cuban restaurant butt up against it.

- Garage parking available for $150/month.

- 24/hour doorman or woman.

- Laundry in the building.

- Rent stabilized.

- Available April 1st.

- Map here.

And there you have it!  Comment to this post so I know you’re alive and interested.

$1785 – 1br by the imaginary sea (Graham L)

When I lived this close to the BQE back when rent was $400/month, I’d close my eyes real tight and pretend the whooshing of the cars was really the foamy waves of the Jersey Shore.

Check this place out, Snooki!

- Looks like a scene from some SoCal crime drama.  This here’s the living room.

- This is where the future action is to take place.

- Yummy things will be made here.  Dishwasher for washing dishes and cats.

- Quite a nice bathroom I must say.  I’d be happy to bathe here on the regular.

- There’s the Jersey Shore!  And in the distance, your view of the skyline.  Oh, and that’s your balcony right there in front.

- If indeed you ARE going down to Seaside Hights, NJ, you’re gonna have to spend some serious time carbo-loading and pumpin’ some iron down here in the fitness center.  Cappishe?

- Lastly and not leastly, is the sick-ass view from the common roof deck.  You’ll thank me when we’re kickin’ it up there on the 4th of July raining Roman candle fire down on the BQE below.

- Utilities are NOT included.  LAME!

- Available Feb. 1.

- Pets are A-OK.

- 1st month rent and 1 month security to move in.

- Map here.

Comments will grant you access… so do comment.

$2750 – 1br Grand Accomodations on Grand (Bedford L)

This crib still has the good vibes from its last tenant (my friend and brilliant writer).  It’s a 1br loft, mega luxurious, titanic windows, laundry hookups, dishwasher… the whole nine.

Shall we have a look-see?

- This is a pretty good overview of what you’ve got – sleeping loft up above the kitchen, fully stocked and new kitchen, and there’s the dining section of your massive, gaping, ginormous living space.

- If you were to sit in the middle of the room and look both ways 180 degrees in opposite directions, this is how the world would look to you in there.

- Admittedly, I’m fetishizing this living room but it’s nearly impossible to capture the enormity of these windows, the light, and the feeling that 18′ ceilings provide.  Oh, and there are two balconies out there – great for parades!

- This is where you put your bed.  Not sure of the dimensions but you can totally squeeze a queen sized frame in there.

- This is where you put your clothes… and a guest lodger if necessary… it’s huge in there.

- Back to back kitchen views!  The one on the left is a little bit closer up so you can feast your eyes on your NEW DISHWASHER!  No more dish pan hands!

- Just in case you didn’t believe me, here’s the washer/dryer hookups.  These babies are rare.

- What lux condo rental would be complete wihout a hyper-modern bathroom?  So inviting…

- Available 2/1/09

- Heat/hot water not included.  Sorry

- Map here.

Comment on this post and I’ll get right back to ya!