A new rendering for a 26-story building planned near the base of the Williamsburg Bridge shows it will tower over the landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank next door.

It is just the latest in what has been a long history of plans for the site at 159 Broadway that never came to fruition.

159 broadway
Rendering by Stonehill Taylor

Designed by the architecture firm Stonehill Taylor, the rendering shows an attractive building with a 16-floor masonry base and a 10-floor glass top with balconies and terraces. The beige building has touches of blue in the windows, perhaps curtains or colored glass. While the skyscraper will be one of the tallest buildings around, the proportions of the ceiling and windows on the first few floors appear to be in keeping with the 19th century buildings surrounding it.

The Williamsburgh Saving Bank’s restored starry dome. Photo by Michel Arnaud

On the 18th floor will be a pool, and everything else above will be residential units; below will be hotel units. There will be 225 hotel rooms and 21 apartments (likely condos), for a total of 256 units, according to Building Department filings.

Also in the works is a restaurant on the ground floor and 35 parking spaces, most of them off site. A new-building permit was issued in December, and the Landmarks Preservation Commission does not appear to have been consulted about any potential impact on the Williamsburgh Savings Bank.

The name of the project in DOB filings is the WB Bridge Hotel, presumably referring to the Williamsburg Bridge.

159 broadway
The site in 2015. Photo by Christopher Bride via PropertyShark

Developer Cornell Realty purchased the site in April 2017 for $26.2 million. The previous owner, developer Juan Figueroa, subdivided the Williamsburgh Savings Bank property and restored the 1875 bank, a rare interior landmark, which opened as an event space in 2014.

At the time, plans called for a 37-story building with 144 units, with the name The Williamsburghotel. That, of course, was never built.

[h/t 6sqft]

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