Development Watch: 154 1/2 Washington Avenue
Across the street from 163 Washington Avenue, a three-story addition to an existing two-story building is going up, courtesy of Scarano Architects. But really this is just a new building disguised in Alt-1 clothing. Here’s the description of work from the DOB app: “Proposed addition of new three (3) stories & alteration of existing two…
Across the street from 163 Washington Avenue, a three-story addition to an existing two-story building is going up, courtesy of Scarano Architects. But really this is just a new building disguised in Alt-1 clothing. Here’s the description of work from the DOB app: “Proposed addition of new three (3) stories & alteration of existing two (2) stories building, including the demolition & installation of exterior and interior bearing and non-bearing partitions, fixtures, finishes, cabinetry & casework, including the complete repiping of the building.” Can’t have been a whole lot left when all that demo was done, but getting approval for an “Alteration” is much easier than for a “New Building” and if Scarano’s known for anything, it’s for gaming the DOB system. GMAP P*Shark DOB
The last building was truely an eyesore, too beaten up and misused to be repaired or renovated.
the google maps streetview shows there wasn’t much of anything left after they demolished the old building:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=163+Washington+Avenue,+brooklyn+ny&sll=37.0625,-95.677068&sspn=32.335236,55.634766&ie=UTF8&ll=40.693928,-73.966992&spn=0.000472,0.000849&t=h&z=20&iwloc=A&layer=c&cbll=40.694018,-73.967012&panoid=oMXjPZ7hN2zWQQ3kZDiNYg&cbp=12,275.28,,0,-7.65
50% of the existing exterior must remain for it to be considered a renovation. Gene Kaufman, Hot Karl and others at this level all regularly practice this type of “renovation” work.
I have no particular love for Scarano, but I wouldn’t say he’s “gaming the system”. There’s a well established precedent that an Alt can be filed as long as foundation and some (can’t remember the #) percentage of exterior walls remain.