Much of Schermerhorn Street between Adams and Nevins was razed in the 1920s to make way for the A and C subway line. (One treasure destroyed in the process was Frank Freeman-designed, Richardsonian-style Germania Club at 120 Schermerhorn, at right.) Until very recently, it seemed like this stretch of downtown would never be more than a dismal drag of drab commercial and municipal buildings. Now, as The Brooklyn Paper reports, Schermerhorn is getting a new lease on life but not forgetting its more humble history. A slew of new projects are springing up, some of which have significant affordable-housing components. There’s the State Renaissance Court, the 158-unit mixed income (low, middle and market-rate) development and the Schermerhorn House, which is being developed by the same team that did the 14 Townhouses and where half the units will be reserved for the formerly homeless. In addition, you’ve got the 25-story 189 Schermerhorn and a 20-plus-story rental building set to break ground at 230 Livingston. To cap it off, Sam Chang is planning a 80,000-square-foot hotel at the corner of Schermerhorn and Nevins. As Frank Terzulli, of Winick Realty Group, said, If we close our eyes and open them up three years from now, you’d think you’re somewhere else.
Schermerhorn Rising [Brooklyn Paper] GMAP
Germania photo from the Brooklyn Historical Society