Another Big, Contemporary Apartment Building Set to Rise on Tompkins Avenue in Bed Stuy

Another large, modern-style apartment building is in the works on Tompkins Avenue in Bed Stuy. We wrote about this one, at the corner of Lexington Avenue at 281-291 Tompkins Avenue, back in November, and now there are more details and a rendering, first reported on by The Bed Stuy Blog.

It will be 45 feet tall and have 31 apartments when complete. Though there is no sign of the existing five low rise commercial brick buildings in the rendering, this project is actually an expansion of the existing buildings. According to permits, the developer, The Iconic Group, will combine five existing two story buildings into a single building and then add on top of it to create the structure in the rendering above.

The rendering shows a large, box-y building in brick and stucco. The different materials break up the building into smaller sections and make it seem less monolithic. The building varies in height from three to more than six stories, according to the rendering.

Although the rendering shows parts of the building reaching six stories, the permits only indicate a four story building. The ground floor will not have any retail but will instead have apartments, bike storage, trash collection and recreation rooms, according to the Schedule A 

The architect is Nataliya Donskoy, as we reported previously. The site was purchased for $3,300,000 in January of 2013.

This building joins two other large and controversial buildings going up nearby on Tompkins Avenue: 420 Tompkins at the site of the former Weinstein hardware store building and 410 Tompkins Avenue, where Vasco Ventures is planning a much-discussed black building with mirrored cracks resembling lightning bolts.

None of those buildings appear to have ground floor retail either, an unfortunate choice for a traditionally commercial thoroughfare like Tompkins Avenue. What do you think of the design for this one?

Modern New Building Planned for 281-291 Tompkins Avenue [The Bed Stuy Blog]
Two Big Buildings to Replace Smaller Ones at Lexington and Tompkins in Bed Stuy [Brownstoner]
Rendering Posted for Prominent Bed Stuy Development Site [Brownstoner]
Neighbors Upset by Latest Bed Stuy Rendering [Brownstoner]
Rendering by Natalia Donskoy; photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark