Woods Agree to Dismantle Angel, Work with Developer
Big news on the Broken Angel front: Yesterday, the Woods agreed in Supreme Court to dismantle the 40-foot sculpture that sits atop the former trolley headquarters; they also have a tentative agreement with local developer (and former reno blogger) Shahn Anderson) to turn the building into condominiums, according to Tish James. This is not the…
Big news on the Broken Angel front: Yesterday, the Woods agreed in Supreme Court to dismantle the 40-foot sculpture that sits atop the former trolley headquarters; they also have a tentative agreement with local developer (and former reno blogger) Shahn Anderson) to turn the building into condominiums, according to Tish James. This is not the outcome the Woods wanted but sure beats ending up with nothing. I have to do something, Mr. Wood said. Everything I own is there: paintings, thousands of dollars worth of equipment. Maybe we can do a Broken Angel reno blog? (As an aside, the mainstream media once again fails to give proper attribution to blogs in this article. We just don’t get the reluctance. Robin?)
An Angel Is Pulled Closer to Earth [NY Times] GMAP
Photo by Liz O. Baylen for The New York Times
I agree with Grandpa. Brooklyn is increasingly becoming a tourist destination. It probably would make a great small-scale hotel/bed-and-breakfast.
I’m curious why the woods should “share” their property with this no-name developer? Are the woods getting money from this guy or is this Shaun guy putting up the money for the expenses? No offense but it seems like someone’s taking advantage of somebody. There are plenty of local consultants who would do the same service without any “sharing.”
it may not be a happy ending, but probably better than what i expected to happen. Shahn restores (some of) my faith in local developers. can you imagine what the Fedders guys would have done with this?
B-stoner: a good point about neglecting to mention local blogs. The most impressive thing to me about your sites and often mine is how they become a community forum and a virtual “meeting place” about stuff like this. It does seem like they’re missing a huge part of the story here, and the community, by leaving out B’stoner, CHB, Gowanus Lounge, etc. Maybe it would be too much mixing of media. I have no doubt the NYT has zillions of loyal readers, but they can’t claim to give the personal touch that we do.
Thanks for posting this latest- I’ll do a link to this. And I LOVE the idea of a Broken Angel reno blog. I’m sad that it’s being somewhat dismantled, but am thrilled to hear Shahn will be involved. That puts my mind at ease.
Great, Shahn! Since you have been sensitively and carefully reconstructing your own home, I have great faith that you will do well by the Woods and the community.
The realities of reconfiguring a great old space to meet practical financial goals,as well as architectural, artistic and personal expectations should be interesting. Fortunately for us,(maybe not so much for you, with all of us armchair architects and critics peering over your shoulder)we will be able to chart the progress of the project, and I wish you all the best. I hope this will be the definitive study on how good development can be done, how a unique and wonderful part of the community can be preserved, an artist gets to keep at least part of his vision alive, and you as a businessman come out on top as well.
Buona fortuna.
How interesting. Are you going to try to keep some of Wood’s “original details,” in spirit or in actual materials, in the condos? That would be really cool, although I can also see how Wood’s project is a very personal one and might not have broad appeal? But there must be some way to incorporate details so that the condos are not bland new-development-looking things and retain some character of the Broken Angel? Both on the inside and on the outside? Thoughts?
way to go Shahn!!!
it would be cool to try and re-build something similar to what will be dismantled, especially if you could have Arthur Wood design it, even if it was just a hint of what it used to be.
I just hope there are some family-sized apts. A good mix of 2 and 3 bdrms.
Something has to pay for the cost of renovating the building and bringing it up to code. As many people (including myself) have suggested on this site and to Arthur directly over the past few months, the easiest way to attain this goal is by selling part of the building to the public as residential condos.
Beyond the financing necessary to pay for the work that is required by the DOB, the upcoming downzoning of Fort Greene and Clinton Hill will make Broken Angel unable to ever be legalized if the project is not to a certain point before the downzoning takes effect.
A large portion of the property is going to remain artist space, some of which will be used by Arthur, and some of which will be used by other artists. All of this will be paid for by the residential unit sales.
None of this is a done deal at present, and I asked the NY Times reporter not to use the words “tentative deal” when I learned she was writing an article, but she went ahead and did it anyway.
All of this is being reported because of the meeting yesterday with the DOB where they set strict deadlines for certain things to be done or they will come in and tear the top of the building off.