Williamsburg Conversion Striving for 'Character,' 'Warmth'

Today there’s a story in the Wall Street Journal about the warehouse on North 4th Street in Williamsburg that Bob Toll’s son, Jacob Toll, is developing. The piece positions Toll the Younger as trying to avoid the rep Toll Brothers projects have for uninspiring architecture with the conversion: “The building’s restorers are paying careful attention to character. They are maintaining the building’s gritty brick exterior, preserving vintage glass-pane windows and circular arch-shaped window openings and incorporating industrial elements such as exposed steel i-beams into the aesthetic of the building.” The real estate scion isn’t going to let the finished product be too gritty, though (“I’m going to be focused on warmth: wood, porcelain, gas fireplaces. It’s not just going to be light bulbs, hanging from exposed wires. That whole thing is kind of over now.”). The building in question, which is between Berry and Wythe, was going to be marketed as the Steelworks Lofts, a condo, before its original developers sold it off. It will now be positioned as a luxury, 83-unit rental. Amenities will include rooftop gardens, a sunbathing patio, a barbecue pit and a bocce court.
Recasting a Brooklyn Warehouse [WSJ] GMAP
Photo by PropertyShark