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PHOENIX FALL REAL ESTA TE/HOMEMontague Street continues to change as rents go up and businesses move on. (Phoenix/Taylor Photo)Montague Street Is Mailed By AAA FirmsLooking To Move To The High Rent BlockBY ROB TAYLORWith a Burger King, a Benetton%u2019s and a Haagen-Daz store already in place, the appearance of Montague Street is continuing its change from a Heights neighborhood shopping street to a downtown Brooklyn version of Manhattan%u2019s Columbus Avenue.All the symptoms are there: flash, real estate speculation and fast food.One man who is happy about what is happening is Alain Palmieri, the director of the Montague-Henry Corp., which is renovating a building at the firm%u2019s namesake intersection into a mini-mall. %u201cA great number of professional people have moved into Brooklyn Heights. These people are bringing with them the potential purchase of upmarket products and a lot of take-out food.%u201dBut, with all the street advice and turmoil, some merchants and real estate brokers wonder if the business speculation is a short-lived phenomenon of the %u201cyuppie intrigue%u201d and Downtown Brooklyn%u2019s development, and not a realistic approach to the street%u2019s long-term needs. %u201cIt%u2019s not a Park Avenue trade down there,%u201d says Joan Natale, a broker with Frank McCurdy Co.%u201c Rents are going up four to five times when the leases expire, but this is Brooklyn.%u201dThe two-story mall Palmieri is developing on the northwest comer of Montague and Henry Streets will include %u201c11 AAA quality retail and restaurant establishments,%u201d says Palmieri. (AAA is a Dunn and Bradstreet rating of top-quality companies.) There are four spaces still available in the mall that range in size from approximately 500 to 826 square feet, according to David Rosenburg, a salesperson with Garrick-Aug Associates, the facility%u2019s Manhattan-based leasing agent. One ground-floor space is waiting to be rented.None of the tenants has moved into the facility yet, though a pizza store and bakery still occupy their original spaces in the building. %u201cWe%u2019re trying to work it out so that no person moves into the mall and is on his own,%u201d says Rosenburg. %u201cThey are all experienced operators and will help the neighborhood 100 percent.%u201d%u201cIt is still empty because we don%u2019t want to do it piece-meal,%u201d adds Palmieri, %u201c but we have been very selective and have worked to make sure the tenants are complimentary.%u201dBy selective and complimentary,Palmieri is also referring to tenants whoand 132 Montague St. The buildings are owned by Sylblin Realty Corp. and were reported to be for sale at $3 million. The Workbench, the furniture company on Clinton Street who must find a new home in 1987 is reported to have been the prospective purchaser until Sylblin pulled out of the deal at the last moment when it was approached by another unknown buyer.The deal has not fallen through, but it is now being litigated and a possible sale could still be made. Sylblin%u2019s attorney,Frank Giordano, was not available for comment and a spokesperson for the Workbench refused to say anything about its real estate dealings.The property does serve as a case reminder, however, of the amount of money being paid for Montague Street property. Municipal records show that mortgage values for the three buildings went from $75,000 in February, 1952 to $275,000 in April, 1973.Whether the pace of the speculation and merchant turn-around will last is still in question. Many of the store windows are empty indicating that the rents being asked by the building owners are higher than businesses can afford for the neighborhood.Bernard Atkins, a real estate broker and 30-year owner of Weir%u2019s Florist, says that landlords are waiting for the Morgan Stanley Building to be completed and expect an influx of a large number of lunchtime shoppers and restaurant-goers to be roaming the street.%u201cThey%u2019re holding onto their asking rents,%u201d he says, %u201cbecause 3000 more people are going to be down here during the day and they are expecting business to get even better.%u201dAtkins laments the change, and says he does not see the charm of the street lasting much longer. %u201cThe aesthetic quality of Montague Street is being ignored completely,%u201d he says.Palmieri looks at the situation differently. %u201cIn our case we weren%u2019t using our property well in the short run,%u201d he says. %u201c Before we began the mall we did a study and there are a large number of office and residential people moving to Brooklyn in the long run anu u it need loi tut: uuameoaco mOVuig 1Hto the mall is definitely there. You are not losing any of the residential traffic on the street, but the lunchtime crowd is definitely growing in large numbers.%u201dPalmieri Associates hopes to turn this section of Montague Street into a thriving mall with a variety of stores. The developer says the mall is empty because he is looking to open it in a big way, not piece by piece. (Phoenix/Taylor Photos)The mall is still empty because we don V want to do itpiece-meal. But we have been very selective and haveworked to make sure the tenants are complimentary.can afford the rents. Rosenburg calls them %u201cmarket rate%u201d with the ground-floor space going for $55 per square foot and the second-floor space for $30 per square foot.%u201cThe ground floor space is definitely going faster than the second-floor space,%u201d he says, %u201c but the elevator will make it easily accessible and most of the stores have windows. One store will be a two-level store.%u201d Rosenburg says that the mall will %u201cprobably%u201d be open by early November, but adds that a target date has not been set. %u201cEverything is ready to go,%u201d he says.Montague Street, however, is filled with rumours about the facility and rents that are being paid. There are also local traditions among the merchants and restaurant owners that defies the trend being set byPalmieri%u2019s mall. %u201cThe south side of the street is definitely the shopping side and the northern side is where more of the restaurants are located,%u201d says Natale, referring to local lore about the more prosperous stores in the neighborhood. The mall is on the north side.Palmieri is undaunted by this advice. %u201cWe%u2019ve done our homework,%u201d he says. %u201cWe won%u2019t be losing any traffic especially with the lunchtime crowd that is coming down into Montague Street.%u201d%u201cMontague is known for its walk-ups and walk-downs,%u201d adds Rosenburg. %u201cIt is also a corner location and sits well on the street.%u201d Talk about the changes has slowed in recent months and has turned to the potential sale of three buildings located at 128,130September 11, 1986, THE PHOENIX, Page 17