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January 18, 2007

Reimagining A Former Storefront on Pulaski Street

rendering
We've been trying to get to this all week...The "Sketch Pad" features The Times has been running are great. In case you've missed them, the concept is to bring in a high-end architect to think out of the box about a space that is rather un-extraordinary on its surface. This week Andrew Friedman, who's best known for his classical designs for Park Avenue folks, takes on a two-story building on Pulaski Street and in the process creates a prototype that he fantasizes could be used to completely redo the entire block. The solution includes taking advantage of the building's former life as a storefront and adding a third floor. The result? "Inside, Mr. Friedman and his team created what Corbusier might have called a machine for living in Brooklyn, a slick residence for the couple he had always kept in mind, and even a child or two, depending on how the spaces would be used."
Designing a Starter House with a Twist [NY Times]
Rendering by Marco Valencia and Nathaniel Brooks of the Studio for Civil Architecture




Posted by Brownstoner at 8:57 AM | Comments (12)
Categories: Architecture, Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

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Comments

Anyone care to comment on the estimate to go up another floor. If I am reading this right, phase 3, at 180k to add a floor ... could that be right?

Posted by: ChuckD at January 18, 2007 9:09 AM

Trust me @ that asking price it's not worth it . pulaski is a mess .

Posted by: eletricgreek at January 18, 2007 9:48 AM

They are looking at $695k for the house, $20k initial reno, $225k second phase, $180k third phase for a grand total of $1.12M.

While it is attractive to get in the door at $695k + $20k initial reno and then do the other phases later (and once you have more $) that's a lot of coin for that area, especially since this looks like in the end it will be a 2BR house.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 9:52 AM

i find the NY Times "sketch pad" to be rather silly and a real cop out. why not show things that are actually built instead of some architect's trendy fantasy. it's hard to take something even remotely seriously when it's not grounded in realities like econimics and geography. oh yeah, my sketch pad is going to be to build an underwater bat cave in the middle of the east river.

Posted by: TT at January 18, 2007 10:19 AM

I like the concept.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 10:45 AM

It's why the architects do this feature though, exactly because it's a fantasy project. Something transformative like this is fun to see, and even if a homeowner did not do this exact same renovation it does give people ideas. However, I nearly spit out my coffee at the idea of a $1.2 (including the renos) house being a "starter home". Maybe the NYT means first-house, not first-home, and assume we assume the young couple in question would have owned an apartment first that can be sold to buy a house.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 10:45 AM

I think you're right anon 10:45 AM. Starter home these days (at least in nyc) for most people are studios, 1 bedroom and 2 bedroom apts.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 10:48 AM

I like the idea--just the idea, of doing something like this on pulaski. it is hopeful. also wish the price could be lower.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 10:53 AM

true. In reality the idea could be used on many streets throughout brooklyn that are lined with 2 story brick buildings like these. Flatbush ave and a lot of the avenues in crown heights comes to mind.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 18, 2007 10:58 AM

I like this alot. I think it is a worthy idea.

Posted by: anon at January 18, 2007 5:40 PM

Does a crappy 2-story on Pulaski really go for $695K? And what couple with "not a lot of money" could afford a million dollar single family home?

Posted by: Drew at January 19, 2007 11:14 AM

I love the concept too but I can't quite believe that an entire new floor could be built for $180k. Wouldn't it be much more? Then how would you justify it for this location? After all, a renovation/extension on a grotty block of BedStuy will price out much the same as on a premium block of Brooklyn Heights. But the appreciation on the resale is far from guaranteed in BedStuy.

Posted by: Anonymous at January 19, 2007 2:14 PM

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