The Darkness at Richard Meier's Brooklyn Tower
When Richard Meier, the architect famous for his glass and steel towers such as those on Perry Street in Greenwich Village, announced plans in 2005 for one of his signature buildings at Grand Army Plaza, the idea met with plenty of resistance from residents of Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Park Slope, as well as…
When Richard Meier, the architect famous for his glass and steel towers such as those on Perry Street in Greenwich Village, announced plans in 2005 for one of his signature buildings at Grand Army Plaza, the idea met with plenty of resistance from residents of Prospect Heights, Crown Heights, and Park Slope, as well as Brooklynites throughout the borough. Thus, some people might have read with relish the New York Times article profiling the building, now open ten months but on the market for much longer. Through interviews with neighbors and residents, the article leaves final judgment somewhat up to the reader: its vacancy rate proves the Richard Meier experiment in Brooklyn a failure, or a building planned in the boom years that is now struggling to fill spaces (the developers report sales of 50 percent of the units, while Streeteasy has recorded only 25), just like many other new developments, independent of architect or developer. Some residents of the sparsely occupied glass box expressed worry about the dropping values of their new purchases, while one retired couple showed more longevity of thought: “We’re living here for the rest of our lives. We know there are ups and downs in the market. It’s not a time to panic.”
Glass Half Empty: Richard Meier’s Brooklyn Tower [NY Times]
On Prospect Park: Is Anybody Home? [Brownstoner]
Photo via Curbed
The surprising thing about the article is the demographic of many of the buyers – aging pensioners. With all that glass, they probably thought it was a nursing home. I’m sorry. Forgive me.
Well, there’s finally something that my friend MM and I disagree about. Sorry, but I think Meier.unlike your namesake, is more fashionable hype than great architect. Not that I begrudge anyone the right to live there if they so choose, as much as I dislike the building.
Oh lord, brooklynista- I really did that by accident (my oops!) Damn that Freud! And really, I admire people who can live in places like this- I love all that sunlight and the views but I need brick. OPP is too open for me but I think the elderly Holocaust couple ar wonderful and anyone who invested that kind of money into this building shouldn’t have to lose by it. I hope it sells out and I hope its not a mistake. And it does look beautiful all lit up at night.
whoever said that the plaza is the plaza and that it doesn’t matter whether one is on the Park Slope side or the Prospect Park side, needs to take a refresher course in real estate 101 and buy the textbook “location, location, location, for dummies”.
Given that the focus of this article about price chops and failure of units to sell, I’m not so sure it is going to be very valuable as free publicity.
Bxgirl, I am laughing over your transposing of the building’s name acronym from OPP to OOP. Guess that tells us what you think of this structure. LOL! But, not to worry, girlfriend, while I have my doubts about the motives of some, I think I know you well enough to also know that the point of your comments was not to throw stones against people who live in glass houses. 🙂
Brooklynista, I was about to type a much less literate version of your second paragraph. Thank you for saving me the trouble 🙂 Except that I too will throw my hat in with those who find it a gorgeous building.
The NYT photog who took that shot made love to it for sure. Note how he spent time, apparently early on a weekend morning, to keep the cars out of the photo as best as possible.
ML said early on:
“It mirrors very closely what is happening in my neck of the woods at One Brooklyn Bridge Park.”
Funny, I was thinking the same thing, perhaps for a different reason. My reasoning in comparing the two buildings is that you have two classes of apts in the same building. In the case of BBP, you have the grand apartments overlooking the harbor, and then you have the crapola overlooking the BQE. In the case of OPP, you have the higher apts overlooking the park, that will certainly not be like ‘living in a fishbowl’. Then you have the smaller apts overlooking someone’s terrace.
As far as a bubble, I disagree this is symptomatic of one. This is a glorious building. In a bubble, you can sell anything to anyone. What’s representative of a bubble is these 4-6 unit shitholes thrown up all over the South Slope, Billyburg, PH, and many mostly or somewhat ‘marginal’ locations. They will never sell at any price, post-bubble. They will end up as decent working class rentals.
This building will always be owner-occupied, and will sell out faster than most people realize. Especially after that article and its free publicity.
well said Brooklynista. Although there are other modern lass buildings I would have preferred to this one, I don’t begrudge anyone their ability to live in OOP. I think the acrimony came from the assumption that if you said anything against the building or developer it was out of envy, not because of the facts.
“Instead of viewing everything through your sad little glasses of class warfare, greed and envy….why not consider that a developer took a multimillion dollar gamble on our boro, with the idea of erecting a premiere building (not everything has to be affordable housing) where one hadnt been built for almost 100 years (yes all those admired buildings running down Eastern Parkway were built during previous bubbles as monuments to their “greedy” developers too”)”
Well, lawdy, I never thought I would find myself somewhat aligned with fsrq on anything, but I guess this building is one of those things that brings out the contradictions in my politics and preferences. There’s no question that I’m a lover of old buildings and am a historic preservationist at heart, but I also love Richard Meier’s modern glassy high rise structure sticking up its nose on the GAP as it looks over the Park. And, while I’m seriously pro-affordable housing, I also get that, in a capitalist society, rich folks have the right to sink their roots somewhere — including the borough of Brooklyn. Finally, unlike Bob Marvin (with whom I’m almost always in agreement) I confess that I’m entertained by the fantasy of trading in my much beloved century old rowhouse on Prospect Park for a great single level, apartment with floods of light and modern conveniences IN On Prospect Park when it comes time for retirement.
Bottom line — I find myself departing from standard positions and preferences when remarkable, exceptional people, things, conditions, etc. come into the picture. In this case, I think Richard Meier’s “bubble building” is an exceptional piece of work by a gifted architect that introduces a whole new vibe of contemporary art and architecture at Grand Army Plaza without diminishing the beauty or historicity of the scene that is already there. So if even with market correction and the eventual sale of my home it’s more likely than not that I’ll never be able to afford the claim of a grand residence in OPP, I certainly don’t begrudge the people who can and do. (BTW, having lived through a housing market bust of the late 80’s, I do believe this current down cycle will also correct and vindicate the investments of those who can wait out the storm.) As a matter of fact, I look forward to seeing OPP when it’s fully sold and inhabited and completely lit up at night. Beyond the aesthetics of such a sight, it’s likely to also be an indicator of an economic upturn for all.