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April 4, 2007

Overbuilt in Prospect Heights: 330 Park Place

When we wrote about 330 Park Place back in January, we tried to retain a glimmer of hope that the developer, who's bulking the building up from 2,500-square-foot one family to a 6,300-square-foot five-family, might not completely destroy the streetscape in the process. We stopped by last weekend and, needless to say, those hopes were unfounded. Not only does the building feel more out-of-scale in person than on film, one can also see certain details which reveal the extent of the developer's slavish devotion to FAR maximization at the expense of proportion, design and neighborliness. The crowning jewel? He's built the right side of the building out by a foot or two into the alley way on the west side of the house, so that the body of the house no longer lines up the the edge of the porch molding. Check out the photo on the jump. It's ridiculous! GMAP P*Shark DOB
330 Park Place: As Bad As Everyone Feared? [Brownstoner]
Developer Non Grata: 330 Park Place Destruction [Brownstoner]

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Wow, Is he building a bomb shelter? Is it just the picture, or are the walls poured concrete? Maybe the marketing for these units will include something about protection in the event of a nuclear holocaust.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 10:46 AM

Damn, that is UGLY... I think in the end when Bk is fully built out to accomodate these supposed 1 million newjacks by 2030, the only nabes that will be pleasing to the eye will be those already landmarked (I hope they move on Crown Heights soon!)

Posted by: me at April 4, 2007 10:53 AM

You should post a picture of the whole block for perspective. It won't be the ugliest house on the block when it's done.

There is a long, proud history of ugly overbuilt stucco houses in Brooklyn that we shouldn't forget. This looks to be more in line with the kinds of things my family would see in Midwood and Flatbush all through the 70s and 80s. If it were two stories taller, and had foam and aluminum holding it together, I'd be more inclined to complain. As it is, this looks very Brooklyn to me. They also seem to be leaving the porch.

Posted by: Park Place at April 4, 2007 11:13 AM

Brownstoner is starting to irk the b'jesus out of me. Every day I read this blog and two thoughts go through my head.

Myself in relation to Brownstoner and Brownstoner in relation to nearly all development is equal to the Critics in the Muppets. Block by Block, Brownstoner sings, "Why do we always come here. I guess we'll never know. It's like a kind of torture, to have to watch it [grow!]"

And the second thought is of Jane's Addiction's song "aint no right."

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 11:40 AM

Oh, please! This looks terrible. How the hell did they get the rights to build over the driveway of the house next door? What a pig!

Posted by: dt at April 4, 2007 12:00 PM

Looks like its being built to the lot line between houses, not over the driveway. Is it necessary? Two feet is almost a staircase in a row house. One foot gives plenty of space for plumbing and HVAC.
Hard to comment on looks when there is no surfacing done. The porch not lining up is not a big deal, especially with the wall abutting it on the left side.
The scale looks OK other than the first floor/ second floor transition looks a little deep.
Not the best style for windows on this scale.
All in all too early to condemn this.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 12:39 PM

As always, nothing but complaints. Yawn.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 12:40 PM

I looked at this house to buy, but couldn't make it work w/o a total overhaul.

The overhaul I imagined isn't this.

And more power to Mr B for complaining. He tends to be right far more often than wrong.

--an architect in Brooklyn

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 1:17 PM

Brownstoner et al, do you realize that what you are looking at is not the finished facade of the building. THE PORCH IS GOING TO BE DEMOLISHED AND A RAMP IS BEING ADDED FOR HANDICAPPED ACCESS. The developer dosen't give 2 hoots about aesthetics. He is interested in one thing - money. He has a rep for building cheap, ugly buildings and that is what he is doing here. Moving the wall is small potatoes compared to what it will look like.
The most troubling aspect of this is that this block is all brownstone, all with original facades. This is the first intrusion of the 21'st or even the 20'th century onto this block.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 1:21 PM

get a life, dude. it's sad.

Posted by: wednesday at April 4, 2007 1:53 PM

Dear Wednesday,
You may not be aware but this site is about brownstones - the name gives you a clue. If you don't appreciate this kind of architecture and interest in preserving it you probably don't belong here - you might want to find something more to your liking elsewhere.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 4, 2007 2:29 PM

1:21PM- The access ramp is a requirement of code if this is to be a multi family unit of a certain size. That's like complaining that someone installed seatbelts in an old car.

Two other things:
1. This isn't the first 20th century house or reno on that block. The house to the left is totally weird and 20th century brooklyn too. It's also ugly by brownstoner standards.

2. Many are posting that this site is about brownstones, so we should all agree that this house is ugly. The house under discussion is not and never was a brownstone. Lots of the houses on that side of the block were never brownstones.

None of these objections help make the house pretty. However, it's worth keeping a truthful perspective.

Posted by: Park Place at April 4, 2007 8:00 PM

Park Place:

The house to the left was built slightly later than the brownstones, maybe 1910(?).
It was the home of a wealthy industrialist, built of brick. It is a single family home. About 5 years ago new owners added one story to it, in identical brick. We are not talking about vinyl siding here. Other than that there has been no modification to the exterior. To compare this to the atrocity that Simcha builders is creating is not a valid comparison. 330 is one of a trio of freestanding houses that all have porches which create a beautiful seen together. That is what is being destroyed.

Posted by: Anonymous at April 5, 2007 3:15 AM

to anonymous 2:29. This site may be called brownstoner but try to explain all the recent advertising "dreamin in Orlando" flats in Italy, Vancouver Real Estate. Stop talking yourself into a mission. YAWN.

Posted by: anon at April 5, 2007 6:50 AM

It does not look that different than the rest of the block from a size perspective.

Look at 11 2nd Place for a development that's way out of wack, this is not. We will have to see what's going to happen with the exterior ... but c'mon people

Posted by: Anonymous at April 5, 2007 8:51 AM

There was a time when nobody in Prospect Heights believed that developers would actually buy intact historical houses to demolish them and build new. The belief was that the market for brownstones (and other historic houses) was strong enough that demos would never be justified economically.

It's now clear that the potential for building out to maximum FAR is attractive enough to encourage a developer to destroy historic buildings and create out of context structures that erode the character of our neighborhood. The potential for spillover from Atlantic Yards makes this situation especially troubling.

We need the LPC to move on historic designation for Prospect Heights ASAP or we stand to lose this architectural and cultural assets of this neighborhood to overdevelopment.

Posted by: ph.fan at April 11, 2007 11:27 AM

« Greek Revival Ornamentation, Off-The-Rack Development Watch: 525 Union Avenue »

April 4, 2007

Overbuilt in Prospect Heights: 330 Park Place

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