East New York Savings Bank Development
Rendering of 101 Pennsylvania Avenue via 101penn.com

The modern medical building rising at the corner of Atlantic and Pennsylvania avenues is a beaut — all angled glass with illuminated super graphics and geometric detail. The structure is much more than the typical generic office box.

Its good-looking design is especially heartening as the building is replacing one of East New York’s most significant historic buildings, the East New York Savings Bank. Designed by Richard Upjohn Jr., it was demolished last year.

(Incidentally, the address has changed. The old building’s address was 91 Pennsylvania Avenue. The new building’s address will be 101 Pennsylvania Avenue.)

What do you think of the rendering? Read on for more details and photos.

East New York Savings Bank
Detail of rendering posted on construction fence at 101 Pennsylvania Avenue. Photo by Edrei Rodriguez

The new medical building will likely have outpatient or diagnostic facilities.

Permits filed last year for 101 Pennsylvania Avenue call for a seven-story structure with 121,000 square feet of space and 153 parking spots. The building will house “ambulatory diagnostic or treatment health care facilities,” according to schedule A filings.

The design is visually sophisticated.

Designed by Udo Maron of Array Architects (a firm specializing in medical buildings), the new building will have a windowed ground floor topped by three stories of what appears to be white fritted glass (aka glass painted to act as a sun screen) and then another three floors of clear windows set back from Pennsylvania Avenue.

The facade has alternating concave and convex forms — creating an angular ripple effect that gives the impression of movement and emphasizes that important corner at the intersection of the two streets.

Slightly further down Pennsylvania — beneath a three-story-tall illuminated “101”– is what looks like a driveway for the building’s parking area or patient drop-off.

By the way, women and minority-owned businesses are being asked to participate in the bidding process for the interior buildout of 101 Penn, according to the building’s website. Construction has already started, a visit to the site revealed.

Read on for more info on the East New York Savings Bank and to see current construction photos of the site.

East New York Savings Bank
1938 photo of East New York Savings Bank via East New York Project

The historic East New York Savings Bank was built in 1889.

A four-story Renaissance Revival structure, the bank took up much of a big block in the neighborhood’s most important intersection. The bank’s lovely columned entrance was added around 1917.

The building at 91 Pennsylvania Avenue remained a bank for most of its existence, with the public branch below and offices above. After a business merger in 1997, the bank’s back offices eventually gave way to dentists, accountants, and other professionals.

The 34,000-square-foot structure last changed hands for $5,500,000 in 2005, according to public records. It was bought by Jonas Rudofsky of real estate firm Squarefeet.com, according to permits.

Its threatened demolition, and Brownstoner’s coverage of it, sparked a protest movement to save it and other historic structures in the area.

When Brownstoner historian Suzanne Spellen wrote about the building in 2014, only the ground floor bank was still occupied. The rest was boarded up.

But soon enough, the corner will once more be buzzing with neighborhood activity.

What do you think of the new building design?

East new York Savings Bank Development
Photo of the former East New York Savings Bank by Kate Leonova for PropertyShark
East New York Savings Bank Development
101 Pennsylvania Avenue under construction. Photo by Edrei Rodriguez
East New York Savings Bank Development
101 Pennsylvania Avenue under construction. Photo by Edrei Rodriguez
East New York Savings Bank Development
101 Pennsylvania Avenue under construction. Photo by Edrei Rodriguez

Related Stories
Historic East New York Bank Building Will Be Torn Down and Replaced by Medical Mid-Rise
Building of the Day: East New York Savings Bank at 91 Pennsylvania Avenue
Young East New York Native Fights to Preserve Neighborhood’s Historic Gems

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  1. I dunno, for preservationists and those aware of its pedigree, the prior building was special, but for the average passerby this new building arguably adds more visual interest to the neighborhood. There’s something about modern new construction in a community that lacks it that feels like a refresh, an improvement, an investment. I don’t celebrate the demolition – but its gone and nothing replacing the original building could ever fill its pedigreed shoes. At least this will be a productive space rather than an impractical empty space.

      • that isn’t true at all – the building was formerly occupied by M&T Bank, who moved next door into a new building. for almost 5 years there have been commercial listings for the previous building on loopnet offering the building as-is with no takers. knocking down and rebuilding for a single tenant was arguably more of a headache for the landlord than retrofitting the existing building, i can’t imagine he would have done so as a first course of action.

  2. It’s trash. Because glass is the cheapest building material possible, because it will age badly, because it was built over the community’s objections, because it is indicative of the city’s contempt for the residents, who are marked for displacement.

  3. The problem with this kind of building is the window washing! And on this high traffic corner and low maintenance budget location it is going to be a nightmare to keep gleaming….. so it will end up looking a filthy mess… sorry to say.