Mid 19th-Century Fort Greene Manse to Be Demolished for New Apartment Building

The days appear numbered for the striking butter yellow Italianate manse on Fort Greene’s South Oxford Street, with developers applying to raze the attractive wood structure and replace it with a five-story apartment building.

The circa 1860 wood frame house, located at 158 South Oxford Street, between Hanson Place and Atlantic Avenue, was called a “rare beauty” by Brownstoner columnist Suzanne Spellen in 2010. She noted its “beautiful Gothic trimmed porch and symmetrical windows” and urged “There are only a handful of these houses left, and very few in such good shape. Let’s protect them now, rather than when the ‘dozers are rumbling up the street.”

At the time, the house was on the list for the proposed expansion of the Fort Greene Historic District. However, that expansion never materialized and the house is not landmarked.

In November, developer Shimon Kleiman applied for a permit to demolish the three-story wood frame and in December he applied for a new-building permit for a five-story building with 17 apartments and 10 off-street parking spaces, records show. Neither of the permits have been issued.

While the permit applications list Kleiman as the owner, city records still show artist Marc E. Lambrechts as having the deed to the property. It’s possible the property has been owned by artists for decades, with the records showing Richard Artschwager, likely the renowned artist, as owning it from 1985 to 1995. In 1995, the deed was transferred to Lambrechts and his wife, Suzie Soo Gyong Cho.

The property, which measures 100 by 115 feet and has buildable rights up to 23,000 square feet, according to PropertyShark, does not appear to be listed for sale. The lower duplex has been rented out over the years, with a listing appearing as recently as October. The city’s finance department recently estimated the market value of the parcel at $8.01 million, according to PropertyShark.

In 2014, the artist sold a neighboring compound at 164 South Oxford Street to a developer for $7.5 million.

Related Stories

• Building of the Day: 158 South Oxford Street
• The Decaying Splendor of a Fort Greene Manse
• Dozens Debate If Apartment Tower Would Diminish Landmarked Fort Greene Church

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