Small Mixed-Use Building Replacing Empty Lot on Grand Street Nears Finish Line in 'Burg

As new life comes to many formerly vacant lots and neglected buildings in Williamsburg, this four-story, mixed-use building going up at 202 Grand Street is filling in a long-empty lot on this thoroughfare of boutiques and restaurants.

It is just down the street from the corner of Bedford, where Flemish brasserie Witlof is getting ready to open in a grand space that was defunct for decades.

It consists of a restaurant on the bottom floor and one residential unit — a  triplex — on the top floors, according to permits. From the outside, the building looks complete, but in fact, the job has not yet been signed off on, and the building does not yet have its certificate of occupancy.

When Brownstoner last checked in here more than a year ago, the concrete block walls were rising.

The architect is Jock Deboer of Deboer Architects of Staten Island, which has handled a range of projects, including restoration, here and in Florida. The owner is Marisa Cardinale, owner of a small real estate firm, Odinga Realty Corp., based in Peconic, N.Y., on Long Island.

The building has a modern industrial look, created with apparently salvaged brick, black window frames, and barn-door-style sconce lights on the ground floor.

We’re guessing the owner is planning to live in it. An investment property would be more likely to have at least three units over three floors.

Schematic for 202 Grand Street, Where Stories Are Rising, in Williamsburg [Brownstoner]

The building under construction last year, above.

A previously published schematic we found posted to the fence last year.

The empty lot in 2012, above. Photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark.