On the market for $24 Million — in Red Hook

Eye On Real Estate: It's 145-165 Wolcott St., where 'Analyze This' was filmed

July 2, 2014 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

There's lots-o-land to go with this Red Hook auto body shop at 145-165 Wolcott St., which is for sale. Photos by Lore Croghan

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That’s a big chunk of change for an auto-body shop building — $24 million.

But this is sought-after Red Hook we’re talking about, and the Perfect Bodies Auto Collision site at 145-165 Wolcott St. is 80,000 square feet in size, which is a big piece of property.

Realty Collective, the seller’s exclusive agent, has sent the offering memorandum for the property to development firms that are active in Red Hook, the brokerage’s president, Victoria Hagman, told Eye on Real Estate.

These include DUMBO developer LIVWRK, which is buying the Golten Marine building at 160 Van Brunt St., and Est4te Four. See related story for a full account of how busy Est4te Four has been in the waterfront neighborhood.

Also, Realty Collective has fielded calls from brokers repping potential buyers, she said.

Best-case basis, the purchaser of 145-165 Wolcott St., which is zoned for manufacturing, will develop the property as a creative venue for artists’ studios, woodworking, metal working and galleries.

“That’s what I’m really hoping — that Red Hook can become the ‘maker space’ again,” said Hagman, 33, who launched her Red Hook-based firm in 2005. “Here, we won’t have the ‘Whole Foods effect’ like in Gowanus, with artists priced out.”

There’s widespread expectation of rising rents and property prices in Gowanus, where Whole Foods’ first Brooklyn store opened to great fanfare in December at Third Avenue and 3rd Street.

The Wolcott Street property, which is newly on the open market, belongs to Louis Iovine, city Finance Department records indicate. The company occupying the building is family-owned, with no lease, and will vacate the building by request.

Earlier this year, Iovine signed a contract to sell a massive site just across the street at 62 Ferris St. to developer Est4te Four — again, see related story.

By the way, for trivia buffs who want to know everything about Red Hook: A scene from “Analyze This,” Robert De Niro’s and Billy Crystal’s comedy about a mobster and his shrink, was filmed at 145-165 Wolcott.