Back From Vacation

Having spent the last week relaxing in my father's gated community in Naples, Florida, I got used to the lifestyle and came up with an exciting plan for Red Hook, Brooklyn.

Let's tear it all down - the projects, the houses, the industrial sites, everything - and in its place, create a gated golf course community complete with a club house overlooking the water where the Fairway supermarket sits.

Let's face it; Red Hook is failing. A year and a half ago, Time Out New York declared that Red Hook had "arrived." Now it looks like it came and went. Bars and restaurants have closed, condos didn't sell, people have left, crime has gone up. Let's start from scratch. We could call it Del Gancho Rojo Village or Red Hook Lakes.*

What we do have is seclusion and a waterfront location and enough acreage (especially when the projects are razed) to build a championship golf course and an artificial lake.

As for housing, I envision 1,000 Mediterranean-style units comprised of detached villas, coach homes and condominiums. Some will have private pools and most will come with lanais. A limited number of home buyers can purchase their own boat slips. Golf membership would be extra of course.

The club house would feature a bar and restaurant with a panoramic view of the water and the New York City skyline, a fully equipped state-of-the-art fitness center and a business center. There would also be tennis courts, community pools and bike lanes. Golf carts would not be permitted except for on designated cart paths on the golf course. That would just be depressing.

Let's not make this a 55+ "active adult community."** Anyone can purchase here if they have the means. Home prices would start at a very affordable $550,000 for a condo to $8,000,000+ for a waterfront villa.

All homes would feature modern and luxurious appointments and amenities such as gourmet kitchens, ensuite master bedrooms with lavish, spa-like baths, hardwood flooring, central air and heat, high ceilings and private outdoor space.

The community would be secured by a 24 hour gate attendant and accessed only by residents and their guests. I'm thinking the gate would be on Van Brunt and Hamilton, where the cruise ship terminal is.

I think this could all be completed by the Spring of 2016. Let's turn this blighted neighborhood into the exclusive waterfront luxury enclave that it deserves to be. Palm trees and ficus trees will be present.

I'll be waving to you from my lanai with a gin cocktail in my hand.

*I'm open to suggestions.
**Let's not turn this into Del Boca Vista.