Historic District
April 30, 2008
Development Watch: Love Lane Mews with Skylight Views
Construction seems to be moving forward at Love Lane Mews, five former parking garages that are being converted into 38 apartments and two townhouses in the Brooklyn Heights historic district. This building, the only one on the east side of the street, would be two townhouses (with skylights?), according to an older Brooklyn Eagle article. And we just like the hand-painted sign at the construction site to the right. As one of the few new construction projects (aside from the outer shell) in this quiet, landmarked neighborhood, which do you think will come easier: sales, or finding a parking space in the Heights on weekdays?
Love Lane Mews Floorplans Revealed [Brownstoner]
Parking Crunch Worsens as Garage Closes [Brooklyn Eagle]
Heights Conversion to be Called Love Lane Mews [Brooklyn Eagle]
April 22, 2008
110 Amity: Mews Out, Bigger Townhouses (Probably) In
We did a double take when we saw 110 Amity Street, under its Henry Street address, listed at an undisclosed price on Massey Knakal's website. The Landmarks Preservation Commission earlier this year rebuffed Lucky Boy Development and Time Equities' proposal for the property, which most controversially created a gated walkway fronting a row of townhouses behind the Lamm Institute, formerly a nurses' quarters. Locals, politicians and preservation groups lined up at the hearing to oppose the plan, saying it was too different from the surrounding Cobble Hill historic district. “The local community is vehemently opposed to this development that changes the block structure around to create a gated community, shoe-horned into the block only to maximize profit," said an email from a resident opposed to the project.
Lucky Boy principal Jonathan Wachtel said the Massey Knakal listing is old, from when the property was first purchased last year for $6.125 million. "Technically it may still be for sale. We're not in negotiations with anybody, and at this point our intention is to build the project ourselves...But of course, at the right price anything is for sale." He said they'll return to Landmarks within the next few months with some major adjustments. The eight condos inside the early 1900s building will likely remain in the plan, as well as the expanded rooftop bulkhead to accomodate penthouses. But the mews will mostly likely be replaced by much larger, street-facing townhouses with backyards and gardens. "I still think it was a very interesting, very good design, but the community spoke and landmarks listened, so we've moved on. Most likely, it would be a more traditional townhouse configuration." Because the townhouses would be bigger than the mews houses, they would cost more. A new firm, BKSK Architects, would design the townhouses, said Wachtel. RKT&B would still do the Lamm conversion from medical offices to residential.
110 Amity Proposal Takes a Drubbing at LPC Hearing [Brownstoner]
Opposition to 110 Amity Plans Grows [Brownstoner]
Yowza! The Lamm Institute's For Sale [Brownstoner]
April 16, 2008
Guard Starts Talks 'To Come Up With Alternatives' For Row
The Army National Guard held its first consulting meeting yesterday on the transfer of the Admiral's Row houses to the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation. National Guard spokesman Rick Breitenfeldt said more than 30 groups were represented. "We have groups that want to save the buildings and we have groups that want to demolish the buildings and build a supermarket," he said. Four or five meetings are expected to follow "to really come up with a list of alternatives ... like things that can be done with the property." He declined to elaborate on each group's stance, but said, unsurprisingly, "I did hear in the meeting from a lot of city [officials] that, 'If we're required to restore and fix up these buildings, the city isn't prepared to put any money behind doing that, nor is the State of New York ... so please look at funding it through private sources." The city expected to obtain the properties under a previous agreement that allowed them to tear the homes down. A parking lot and light industrial space is also planned.
But alas, it looks like the National Guard's sentiments have a decent chance of changing since that 1996 agreement. They released a report last year estimating the 10 quarters, some more dilapidated than others, could be restored for (an amended) $19.6 million or rebuilt for $24.9 million, acknowledging those estimates still assumed the buildings would be reused as homes, and excluded the cost of abatement and conversion to commercial use. The long report—now available on the National Guard's new Admiral's Row website—determined the quarters retained enough structural integrity to make them eligible for the state and national registers of historic places. The state's preservation specialist issued a letter of concurrence; that the old agreement fails to address the new findings, basically rendering it moot. "We hope that appropriate alternatives will be considered including adaptive reuse and rehabilitation of the historic building and the site (including walls, fences and landscape features). We are not opposed to the redevelopment of the site," it read, "but it is critical that the alternatives analysis seriously consider how these nationally significant buildings can be creatively incorporated into the overall plan." Conveniently, nearby Pratt architecture students came up with just that. Some have suggested Fairway Market in Red Hook, which occupies the ground floor of a large old industrial building, is proof that these homes could also be refashioned into a market. Navy Yard Development Corporation president Andrew Kimball has said he'd like to bring something like Fairway to this supermarket-starved end of town—in the ground floor of a new industrial building—but he's not willing to budget stringing together a bunch of loose, dilapidated houses. As a side note, the quaint six-acre property also has tennis courts and a tennis house with rules still posted, a park, and a timber shed.
As the cliche goes, beauty (and worth) is in the eye of the beholder. So, here's one particularly amazing photo set to judge for yourself.
Admiral's Row website [National Guard]
Pratt Professors Seek To Reconcile Competing Plans for Admiral's Row [Brooklyn Eagle]
Officers’ Row Supermarket Not Happening Anytime Soon [Brownstoner]
Admiral's Row fixup to cost $20M [Daily News]
Photo by incandenza.
April 15, 2008
ProHi Historic District Could Include Almost 800 Homes
Yesterday Atlantic Yards Report had a detailed post on the proposed Prospect Heights Historic District, which was the subject of a neighborhood meeting that representatives from the Landmarks Preservation Commission attended last week. According to the representatives, historic district designation could take up to two years. “This is a neighborhood long of interest to the commission,” said Kate Daly, the LPC’s executive director, at the meeting. The boundaries of the proposed district (which are not yet set in stone) are shown above in a map the LPC sent us. It runs as far north as Pacific and Carlton, with a large section bordering Flatbush Ave and running approximately all the way down to Grand Army Plaza and almost as far east in one section as Washington Avenue. "So far the district would include approximately 776 buildings, and the next step is to get feedback from homeowners about the meeting we attended last week," says LPC spokesperson Elisabeth de Bourbon. After that, the Commission will hold a public hearing on the designation that should happen before the end of the year.
The Prospect Heights Historic District Nudges Forward [AY Report]