What's the Holdup With Brookland Capital's Cool Milk Factory Condos on Metropolitan?
Outwardly, there is not much sign of progress at 850 Metropolitan Avenue in East Williamsburg, where one of Brooklyn’s busiest developers, Boaz Gilad’s Brookland Capital, plans to convert an old condensed milk factory into condos. And indeed, a dive into the permits reveals construction has not yet started. We have high hopes for this project, which has a…
Outwardly, there is not much sign of progress at 850 Metropolitan Avenue in East Williamsburg, where one of Brooklyn’s busiest developers, Boaz Gilad’s Brookland Capital, plans to convert an old condensed milk factory into condos. And indeed, a dive into the permits reveals construction has not yet started.
We have high hopes for this project, which has a very attractive rendering that shows a contrasting modern addition. The new design is actually more interesting than the existing factory and enhances it, in our opinion.
But building rules may prevent it from happening. After closing on the property in July of last year for $9,350,000, the developer filed an application for alteration permit in December, intending to add a fourth story and 34 apartments. The permit has not yet been issued, and zoning approval (or disapproval) is pending, DOB records reveal.
The building as it appeared when we stopped by recently
The holdup may be related to the building’s FAR, which is already overbuilt by 2,875 feet. (The factory is supposed to have a FAR of 2, but as built it’s 2.3, according to PropertyShark.)
To add insult to injury, the new-building permit application says the developer wants to expand the residential square feet of the building to 275,413 — considerably more than its current total of 30,920 square feet of factory space. Could it be a typo?
Although the building’s existing certificate of occupancy is for a factory, it’s located in a R6B district — between two row houses, in fact — where residential uses are allowed.
Perhaps if Brookland Capital could buy an adjacent property or even just air rights, it could work out. Property records show none of the adjacent properties have sold recently.
Feingold & Gregory Architects is the applicant of record, although YIMBY believes architect Ran Oron’s Manhattan-based Ro/Art may be the actual designer, not just the rendering artist.
Another note: Any condos here would be displacing less lucrative factory tenants, a hot-button issue in Brooklyn’s industrial areas. Until recently, the factory housed knitwear maker Rags Knitwear. It is close to the Bushwick loft area, part of which is a protected industrial zone.
More reading if you’re interested:
Got Milk? Brookland to Build 36-Unit Condo in East Williamsburg [TRD]
Revealed: 850 Metropolitan Avenue, East Williamsburg [YIMBY]
Brookland Capital Plans Condo Conversion for East Williamsburg Milk Factory [Brownstoner]Â Â GMAP
Brookland Capital Coverage [Brownstoner]
Rendering by Ro/Art for Brookland Capital via NYY
The building in 2012. Photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark
Thanks for the update Cate. I love Bushwick but this crazy creep drives me insane every time a neighborhood gets hot (or not). Williamsburg and Bushwick do not extend to Woodhaven Blvd. I once saw an ad in Middle Village off Eliot listed one month as Williamsburg then a year later as Bushwick! Can we just please just call them what they are lol
As for the factory, I hope they get it resolved as those curtains are flapping in the breeze and all the scaffolding and trash on the walk has made it an eyesore. The house to the right (now dark gray) did sell about 3 years ago and was remodeled. I also know some of the neighbors to the left and it wouldn’t surprise me if there are complaints and neighbor problems like no-permits said. This is a much-needed development and much better use of the property than an abandoned factory. Several more on that stretch of Metropolitan out toward Morgan re either being converted, demoed, or new construction so it will be a nice stretch when they are all done. Right now it’s a mess.
This isn’t Bushwick by any stretch of imagination (unless you’re talking in 1600’s terms). It’s 11211, East Williamsburg if you need to put a clarifier on Williamsburg. Bushwick begins way down by Flushing (almost 2 miles from here) and even if you want to stretch the Bushwick boundary up to Grand Street this is still even 5 blocks north of that. Or is someone trying to cash in on the now hip Bushwick name?
Well technically Williamsburg and Greenpoint were also Bushwick, and this area eventually became English Kills, but I’ve never seen a neighborhood map since the 1800s that still calls this neighborhood Bushwick. South of Grand, yes I’ve seen that area called the Bushwick Industrial area, but north of Grand the 11211 zip code has been called East Williamsburg (or just Williamsburg) for decades.