Riverside Apartments Retail, Long Empty, Finally for Rent

It's long been a mystery as to why the controversial owner of Brooklyn Heights' historic Riverside Apartments (the Pinnacle Group) cleared out the retail tenants on the ground floor and left the spaces empty for years.

There was the River Deli, at the corner of Columbia Place and Joralemon Street, where you could buy a soda and a sandwich; the charming Alicia's Cafe further down Columbia Place; and a very nice florist. (For some reason a laundry is still open, but that's the only retail left on the block.)

Now, several of the retail spaces are for rent, including the corner River Deli space; the space around the corner at 32 Joralemon; and the space that used to house the florist.

Controversy continues. The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a revised plan for an underground parking garage on the West side of the huge building, but the complex’s tenants’ association continues to oppose the garage -- objecting to, among other things, knocking down trees that may be more than a hundred years old, and the possibility of fumes emanating from the underground parking. In November, tenants hired a lawyer, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.

There are many comments by tenants about the scoping work going on at Riverside Apartments on the Brooklyn Heights Blog.

According to the Observer, "Pinnacle Group, which . . . owns 420 buildings in Manhattan and the Bronx, has been the subject of repeated attacks by housing advocates for its tactics in turning affordable units into market-rent apartments."

UPDATE here.

Photos by MK Metz

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