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Demolition at Would-Be Hotel Site Near BAM
Last time we heard about 37 Lafayette Avenue, the small apartment building next to BAM was being marketed as part of a potential hotel development site, and now the property is being torn down. It doesn’t look like the demolition has to do with preparing the Fort Greene site for a new hotel, though: The building never sold, and Dept. of Buildings records suggest it’s being demolished because it had become hazardous. A complaint on file with the DOB from the end of November says the following: “Vacant house and the roof has collapsed also there are cracks on the masonry,” and while there’s no formal demolition permit, there’s an open emergency violation. On the jump, a photo of the building in better days.
What is Up at 37 Lafayette Avenue? [Brownstoner]
A Hotel Next to BAM? [Brownstoner] GMAP DOB (more…)
01/04/2012 11:00 AM
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Two Buildings Coming Down at the Navy Yard
For the past few days, two buildings at the Brooklyn Navy Yard that front on Flushing Avenue have been in the process of getting dismantled. Based on this map, it appears the structures in question are Buildings #312 and #592; both are located between Washington Avenue and Hall Street. We have not been able to get a comment from Navy Yard reps on how the demolition fits into the redevelopment happening there. According to the Navy Yard’s list of existing tenants, both buildings were unoccupied. GMAP
11/04/2011 2:42 PM
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Underneath the Siding in the South Slope
Yesterday IMBY wrote about an interesting house at 548 6th Avenue that has recently started displaying what was underneath the vinyl siding it used be covered in. It seems the old wood-frame may not be long for this world, though: A demolition permit hasn’t been filed yet, but a plan was approved last week by the DOB for a four-story, four-unit building. IMBY also notes that “judging by the size and placement of the boarded up windows, I imagine some kind of commercial establishment might have been the original occupant.” Anybody know the more history of this one? GMAP DOB
Photo by IMBY
11/02/2011 2:40 PM
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Commercial Revamp at 225 Eastern Parkway
A tipster filled us in on the extensive work being done to the retail spaces at 225 Eastern Parkway, at Lincoln Place, in Crown Heights. New owners stepped in last December and renovations began in May. Here are the details:
“To summarize, the new owners originally bought the property with the intent of simply occupying them as-is. After some rethinking they decided to go in and invest heavily in refurbishing the units from the core outward. They upgraded the units in order to deliver a renewed “vanilla” retail space without altering the style that the architects originally intended to portray.”
There are seven commercial spaces total: five on Classon and two on Lincoln. Presently three units have been completed; the remaining four are due to be complete by the end of this month. And while none of the spaces have been leased yet, there’s been a good deal of interest. What would you like to see here? Click through for some before and after shots!
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10/18/2011 10:00 AM
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LPC Salvage Warehouse Cleared Out in Williamsburg
A Williamsburg building that once housed architectural treasures is being cleared out to make way for the construction of housing, reports a member of Community Board 1′s Land Use and Landmarks Committee. Over the summer the Landmarks Preservation Commission bid off the artifacts that had been kept in the warehouse at 337 Berry Street since 1980. The Architectural Salvage Warehouse, the Times reported, would be handed over to the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. At Wednesday’s CB1 meeting, the chair of the Land Use and and Landmarks Committee announced that HPD was moving forward with plans to develop the site. The artifacts are currently being moved out of the building, although there was no news about the winning bidder. It’s likely that the warehouse will be demolished to make way for affordable housing. The future of the site will be discussed at CB1′s next Land Use and and Landmarks Committee meeting later this month.
Scraps of History, Up for the Highest Bid [City Room] GMAP
City to Secretly Sell Hundreds of Historical Treasures to One Rich Dude [Lost City]
Photo via PropertyShark
10/07/2011 9:30 AM
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Gowanus Warehouses Prepped for Demolition
In a telltale sign of impending demolition, rat poison signs have been posted all over the warehouses on 3rd Avenue and Douglass Street that are going to be torn down to make way for the construction of Brooklyn Prospect Charter School’s new facility. According to a contractor who was on the scene earlier this week, demolition is slated to begin in about a month. There was word that a tenant who had a live-work space in one of the buildings was going to file a lawsuit against the owner over being evicted, but perhaps the matter has been settled.
More Info on Charter School Coming to Gowanus [Brownstoner]
Gowanus Artists Getting Booted for Charter Build [Brownstoner] GMAP
09/30/2011 2:40 PM
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Demolition Watch: 603 Dean Street
The former homeless shelter at 603 Dean Street on the Atlantic Yards site is beginning to get demolished. The demolition permits for the building were approved a few weeks ago. Community leaders and politicians protested its closure and seizure via eminent domain last year.
Former Homeless Shelter to Be Demolished on AY Site [Brownstoner] GMAP
07/26/2011 2:40 PM
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Former Homeless Shelter to be Demolished at AY
Two demolition permits were just filed with the DOB for 603 Dean (pictured) and 768 Pacific Streets, both addresses of the former homeless shelter on the Atlantic Yards site. The shelter was shut down in early 2010 despite protests from community members and political leaders who objected to its closure and seizure via eminent domain. Tracy Collins has a great shot of the building when it was open, as well as a photo of it from the Pacific Street side. The building neighbored Ward Bakery, which crews completed demolition work on this March. GMAP
07/13/2011 9:30 AM
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Demolition Watch: 563 Carroll Street
The carriage house at 563 Carroll Street, between 4th and 5th avenues, is in the process of being demolished. (Click through for a photo of what it looked like before it was surrounded by scaffolding.) DOB permits indicate that a four-story, four-unit building will rise in its place. The property is next door to a vacant lot, 559 Carroll, where another four-story, four-unit project is planned, so presumably they will be sister developments. GMAP DOB
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07/07/2011 2:40 PM
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Bulldozers for Fire-Damaged Building on Washington Ave.
The entirety of 816 Washington Avenue, at St. Johns Place, has been torn down after a three-alarm fire tore through the building two weekends ago. The four-story building was mostly vacant and undergoing renovations at the time the fire hit. Nearby businesses on Washington Avenue are still shuttered as the demolition process moves along.
Four Alarm Fire Destroys Washington Avenue Building [Brownstoner]
06/17/2011 11:30 AM
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Four-Alarm Fire Destroys Washington Ave Building
This was the scene yesterday at Washington Avenue and St. Johns Place, where a four-alarm fire destroyed the building at 816 Washington Friday night. Both Patch and NY1 reported on the incident over the weekend; apparently the four-story building was mostly vacant and undergoing renovations. It took 140 firefighters to put out the blaze, which spread from the third floor down, destroying the deli downstairs and spreading to nearby shops and homes. Six firefighters were injured but there were no reported deaths. On Sunday it looked like the building was in the beginning phases of being torn down in full.
Photos: Inferno on Washington Avenue [Patch]
FDNY Probes Cause of Massive Brooklyn Fire [NY1]
06/06/2011 10:00 AM
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Curtains for Bed-Stuy Building
A reader forwarded along a tip that 535 Throop, a four-story building at Lafayette, is being torn down. It’s in foreclosure and listed for $355,000, but HPD declared that the “building is vacant and has not met requirements for reoccupancy.” Still, as our tipster says, “It’s a real shame. Not the best building in the area but the last thing Bed Stuy needs is another vacant lot.” GMAP DOB
06/02/2011 11:30 AM
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333 Carroll Addition Loses Steel Skeleton
As shown above, 333 Carroll Street’s controversial rooftop addition has been reduced to its towering brick phallus. Its developer started tearing down the addition last month.
What Goes Up Must Come Down [Brownstoner] GMAP
05/05/2011 10:00 AM
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What Goes Up Must Come Down
This was how the demolition of 333 Carroll Street’s rooftop addition was looking yesterday afternoon. Pardon Me for Asking showed the beginning of the demo on Monday. Developer Isaac Fischman told the Carroll Gardens neighborhood association that he would tear down the hulking addition in January and then proceed with the conversion of the original building. GMAP
04/07/2011 9:30 AM
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AY Demolition Continues to Spread
Well, that was quick. The remains of Ward Bakery, at Pacific and Vanderbilt, were getting chipped away at last week, and now there’s nothing left to see. Looking through the construction fence it’s pretty stunning to see how different the site between Pacific and Dean has come to look in the past few months. The demolition continues to move up Vanderbilt; construction workers are now dismantling the gas station on the corner of Atlantic. No great architectural loss there, but after it falls that stretch of Vanderbilt will be totally empty.
Ward Bakery Remnants Coming Down [Brownstoner]
Fare Thee Well, Hot Bird Signage [Brownstoner]
HoodRich Building Demo’d [Brownstoner]
03/11/2011 11:30 AM
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H&M Site Ready for Construction
In January we caught the first stages of demolition on the Fulton Mall parcel that will house H&M. Now the entire corner at Bridge and Fulton is a blank slate. However, construction on the store hasn’t started yet and no recent building permits have come through. The rendering for the new glass building is here.
H&M Breaks Ground on Fulton Mall [Brownstoner]
03/10/2011 10:00 AM
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Amidst Demolition, What of Landmark Burg Bank?
As Curbed provided visual evidence of on Monday, two floors of an un-landmarked wing of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank on Broadway and Driggs are in the process of being demolished. The big question–aside from why a portion of the building, even if it’s not landmarked, is being demolished–is what’s going to become of the landmarked section. As the photos above show, the inside of the landmark is in the process of being spruced up. Even though the building’s new owner, 175 Broadway Hospitality LLC, runs a hostel, a contractor at the site said the plan is to get a new bank into the property. (It used to be an HSBC before that bank sold it off.) Multiple attempts to reach the property’s owner for clarification have been unsuccessful, but it’s difficult to imagine the LPC green-lighting a plan to chop the space up so it could accommodate a hostel.
Burg Demolition Won’t Affect Landmark Bank [Brownstoner] GMAP
Last photo in set from Property Shark.
03/09/2011 11:00 AM
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Ward Bakery Remnants Coming Down
The last structure standing in the near-empty stretch of Vanderbilt between Pacific and Dean is starting to be demolished for Atlantic Yards. The past few months we’ve covered the other buildings being demolished on this stretch; a parking lot has replaced them. This one was originally part of 774-802 Pacific Street, the old Ward Bakery building. (Click through for a Tracy Collins picture of the building pre-demolition.) We couldn’t get a great shot of what’s left on account of Pacific Street being closed as construction continues. GMAP (more…)
03/01/2011 2:40 PM
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Steeple Demolition Uncontroversial in Sheepshead
This weekend The Times took a look at Sheepshead Bay’s United Methodist, where the congregation says it will have to take down the steeples on the neighborhood’s oldest church because they’re a safety hazard and would be too costly to repair. According to the article, the impending demolition has not been met with much outcry in the neighborhood: “There were no protests, heated community meetings or fund-raising campaigns to save the steeples. That quiet, said Ned Berke, the editor of Sheepshead Bites, revealed just how fragmented and disconnected from history Sheepshead Bay had become. ‘Sheepshead’s changing demographics are an ongoing obstacle to communication,’ Mr. Berke wrote in an e-mail. ‘It really throws a wrench in any attempt to preserve the building and its history.’” The story also notes that the church’s congregation has declined drastically over the years and its “officials said the decision to tear down the spires was not an easy one. It was made only after years of meetings with architects, engineers and city officials.”
A Neighborhood’s Steeples Are Set to Disappear Quietly [NY Times]
Here is the Church, and There Go the Steeples [Brownstoner] GMAP
Photo by wallyg.
02/28/2011 9:30 AM
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New Housing to Replace Bay Ridge Church
Bay Ridge Journal reports that “the charming Salam Arabic Lutheran Church building, at 345 Ovington Avenue between 3rd and 4th Avenues in Bay Ridge, is scheduled for demolition, to be replaced by a 5-story, 25-unit residential development…Salam, originally known as Salem Danish Evangelical Lutheran Church, after a church in Copenhagen, Denmark, was renamed after being acquired by an Arabic congregation in 1995. The Arabic congregation, which says it can’t afford to maintain the building, is sharing space at Our Saviour’s Lutheran Church at 80th Street and Fourth Avenue.” According to Property Shark, the church dates back to 1920; the DOB application for the new construction is here.
Developer Buys, Will Demolish Salam Arabic Church [Bay Ridge Journal] GMAP
Photo from Property Shark.
02/21/2011 9:00 AM
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jad2k
Feb 15, 2012 | 11:04 AM