OUTLOOK

What's new: Development is scarce in these landmarked areas, and demand is high—so anything new is top-notch. The new four-story condos on State Street between Willow Place and Hicks Street are meant to blend into the historic block, and run from $590,000 to $1.89 million. Slightly more affordable are new units in five brick buildings on Warren Street, between Court and Smith ($525,000 to $995,000). Opening this summer: 58 rental apartments, priced from $1,600 to $4,500, behind a brick-and-glass façade on Atlantic Avenue between Henry Street and the river.

Bargain hunting: Brooklyn Heights bargain” is all but an oxymoron, but check out Concord Village, a group of five co-ops on the fringe of downtown Brooklyn.

Prediction: The best neighborhood in Brooklyn will never be cheap again, especially given the whopping increases of the past decade. But don’t look for more big gains. “I guess we are going to plateau for a while,” says broker Christopher Thomas. Two-bedrooms are the greatest draw (for people who’d otherwise buy a one-bedroom in Manhattan). The weakest market? Townhouses at the top of the range, around $3 million.

— Profile from the March 10, 2003 cover story of New York Magazine