364 Myrtle Avenue: Scarano Strikes Again
When the new four-story building at 364 Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene came on the market in early 2006, the reception on this site was generally positive. We thought the design, while not our favorite, added some excitement to one of Fort Greene’s unloved stretches. In addition to the generous proportions of the three apartments…
When the new four-story building at 364 Myrtle Avenue in Fort Greene came on the market in early 2006, the reception on this site was generally positive. We thought the design, while not our favorite, added some excitement to one of Fort Greene’s unloved stretches. In addition to the generous proportions of the three apartments (which ranged from 1,500 and 1,700 square feet), these apartment boasted 17-foot high ceilings. And mezzanines. Which should have been the red flag to anyone who was paying attention. The initial asking prices of $877,000, $890,000 and $919,000 were too high and the listings languished until the summer when a 10-15% price cut across the board attracted interest. By Labor Day of last year, all three were in contract, with promised closing dates of early November. It wasn’t until around Christmas that buyers wre told that it could be another couple of months until closing. It seems there was some delay with the Certificate of Occupancy. In a black hole of communication, one buyer managed to get into the building when he walked by and saw some workers on site. When he got up to his apartment, he saw the appliances had been ripped out. A leak from the top floor had poured down into lower apartments and the bannisters were rusting already. His panicked call to the listing broker yielded the admission that the hold-up had to do with problems with the mezzanines and plans that had been incorrectly filed. The architect? Robert Scarano. With the expected delay now projected at one to two years, the developer let all three buyers out of their contracts. All three listings remain on the Corcoran site as of this morning.
364 Myrtle Avenue [Corcoran] GMAP P*Shark DOB
Set Speed Condo Report: 364 Myrtle Avenue [Brownstoner]
What’s Up With The New Building on Myrtle? [Brownstoner]
Bring back planet pleasure
Great post, 11:41 am.
–an architect in Brooklyn
Anon 11:10. You must have missed this news report (not surprising since Brownstoner didn’t mention it). The Spencer situation is still not resolved.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxJe7rLH0Jw
Wow, that was eloquent.
Here’s the likely link between Scarano and all the construction problems. A developer’s use of Scarano is a pretty clear sign that a developer is willing to go beyond merely cutting corners and do whatever he can get away with to maximize profit (and no, there’s nothing wrong with making an honest buck, but that’s not what’s goin gon here).
One of the architect’s first functions in this context is to tell the developer what he can build on a given site. Scarano gets all these jobs because other architects tell developers that they can’t build as much as Scarano tells them they can build. Scarano uses the mezzanines among other tricks to get DOB approval to build far more square footage than zoning allows under a proper reading of the zoning laws (this is part of what got him into so much trouble with DOB). Indeed, Scarano built his business on these mezzanines not because they are so wonderful (that is a matter of taste on which reasonable people may disagree) but because the mezzanines are how he sold himself to developers as being able to help them build more than other architects were willing to sign off on.
It is likely then that the same developers who want a Scarano building because they get, in essence, a stealthy and unlawful boost in FAR in the absence of an alert DOB are also likely to play fast and loose with other things, too, like construction(these developers have been around the block long enough to know Scarano plays fast and loose with zoning). In short, a developer’s choice of Scarano tells you quite a bit about the developer’s overall approach. Scarano gets a lot of attention on this site precisely because he has run into so much publicized trouble, in Brooklyn, with his attempts to be “creative” with FAR, mezzanines and such.
So while Scarano is not necessarily charged with supervising the construction and can’t be presumed responsible for exclusively construction-related problems, a Scarano-designed development is one I would be cautious about because the developer may be willing to take on the same degree of risk and illegality on the construction end as on the design end.
The above Scarano buyer is a perfect example of why mezzanines are wrong.
Scarano files the mezzanines as “storage”, which seems legit. Owner comes in a converts said “storage” space into a bedroom. Effectively creating Living Area that technically doesn’t exist.
The shifty dealers are the owners and brokers who misrepresent their properties.
If you bought a one bedroom with “storage” then its a one bedroom with “storage”, not a 2-bedroom.
Speaking of Developers Group, whatever happened over at the Spencer building? Are people happy there? I never see units for sale, was the C of O issue resolved?
We bought into a Scarano building before all the hoopla over mezzanines – we were one of those mezzanine apartments, too. We absolutely loved the apartment and our problems were all contractor-ish (a leak that they fixed, for example) more than architecture. There were some dumb things, like the bedroom that would be neither heated nor cooled by the central ac because of too small ducts. But on the whole, a gorgeous apartment and we made a ton of money when we sold it 2.5 years later with some minor improvements (built-ins, closets, etc).
I wish Scarano would embrace the mezzanines in whatever fashion is legally required and stop this insanity with filing it the wrong way – our original floorplans called our entire second floor “storage” even though it was partially open mezzanine and partially a big room (which we made our bedroom). If they would just call them what they are – proper 2 bedrooms with lofty, lovely mezzanines. We were definitely admirers of the style. Too bad about the shifty dealings.
“hey brownstoner, can you name another architect in brooklyn besides scarano? what’s your deal with him?”
There’s me, of course.
***
And yes, if you want to know if a building is built right, follow the trail that starts with the developer and goes to a contractor. Few people these days will pay an architect enough to comprehensively administer a building during construction, and no architect would put their professional liability insurance on the line trying to directly control construction.
The rule is: an architect specifies what the detail should be, and what the end result should be, but the contractor is free to chose how to construct it, and ultimately it is the contractor who is responsible for construction (and, the developer who hired the contractor).
–an architect in Brooklyn