Glory days return to booming Bedford-Stuyvesant.

As downtown Brooklyn becomes a major center for business and the arts, it should come as no surprise that nearby Bedford-Stuyvesant is experiencing some of the biggest development activity in New York City.

With its long rows of brownstone townhouses and discount prices relative to Fort Greene and Clinton Hill, Bed-Stuy is seeing a dramatic revitalization touching virtually every tree-lined block in the neighborhood.

So much construction is going on that Home Depot recently opened a 100,000 s/f center on the corner of Nostrand and DeKalb Avenues.

In a close parallel to the recent fast-paced development in Harlem, much of Bedford-Stuy is an easy commute to prime commercial centers, Manhattan via the 'A' train and planned Nets Arena and Atlantic Yards development in Brooklyn.

According to Massey Knakal Realty estimates, there are nearly 14 million square feet of new residential, retail, office and hotel space in pre-development in downtown Brooklyn that will create a windfall of new jobs in the area. This should give Bed-Stuy a much needed economic shot-in-the-arm. Its residents, unlike other nearby neighborhoods, generally don't work on Wall Street or Madison Avenue. Most in Bed-Stuy are working within Brooklyn, in retail, city agencies or office support positions in the downtown area.

All these trends should further boost demand for housing in the neighborhood.

Already, Williamsburg's Hasidic community, competing for space with the hipsters in the north, is spilling south across Flushing Ave into the area west of Nostrand Avenue.

Values in that area have tripled in the past few years, and continue to rise steadily as warehouse and factory conversions there quickly erase a century-old manufacturing center.

Nearby Pratt Institute has been a primary source of artists that have also moved into Bed-Stuy, and others are following from the East Village and other creative hubs in the city. Artists can now be spotted as far east as Broadway in search of open space and cheap rents. And they're finding plenty of it.

Market rents in Bed-Stuy have remained steady at roughly $800-$1000 for one-bedrooms, $1000-$1200 for 2-BRs, and $1200-$1400 for 3-BRs. Brownstones typically sell for $175 to $200 per square foot, with prime buildings in the Stuyvesant Heights Historic District fetching up to $300 per square foot. Despite big increases over the past few years, these landmarked homes are still at discounts of up to 40% compared to properties in Fort Greene and Clinton Hill.

Hundreds of small vacant lots that sat idle for 30 years and served as local dumping grounds are being snatched up for over $50 per build-able foot--double or triple the price of just a year ago. And in areas near Pratt, development sites are selling for $100 per square foot or more, as condos have begun springing up for the first time in the last year or so. Initially, with sale prices of about $250 per square foot, new condos are now selling at around $400 per foot.

With the influx of residents arriving in Bed-Stuy, retail in the neighborhood has exploded as well with new offerings from cafes, restaurants and specialty shops. Fulton Street has its own financial center around three banks near Tompkins Avenue, and trendy restaurateurs have opened local bistros along Lewis Avenue near the historic district. This trend can only continue as tastes evolve with the changes in immigration.

Many residents are now wondering when a Starbucks and a sushi restaurant are going to open among the mix of bodegas and coffee houses in Bed-Stuy.

Though they acknowledge tough times in the early 1990's, most longtime residents believe the neighborhood has always had a unique charm and knew its glory days would eventually return.

PETER SCHUBERT, BEDFORD-STUYVESANT SALES DIRECTOR, MASSEY KNAKAL REALTY SERVICES