Lot at 27 Cranberry Street Sold – Time to Get Ready for Construction Noise and New Structure?

By on October 30, 2010 2:48 am in Landmark Preservation, Real Estate

Brownstoner reports today:

It’s not often that a piece of vacant land trades hands in Brooklyn Heights, so it grabbed our attention when we noticed that the lot at 27 Cranberry Street had sold. The 25-by-100-foot lot sits on a quiet, leafy block at the northern end of The Heights. According to Property Shark, it comes with the right to build 6,145 feet of residential space.

Is the prospect of a new brownstone in that lot a good thing?  Number 25 Cranberry is one of the oldest homes in the Heights and new construction next door – especially one that DOB filings say will be four stories and take up most of the lot (there’ll be a 2 foot alley between them reportedly) – would literally cramp its style.

What do you think?

Should the BHA oppose construction on this lot?  Or do you say “build baby build?”

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  • John Wentling

    I always thought the lot belonged to #25 – that’s a shame.

  • ABC

    I think #25 sold the lot..

    I don’t think there’s much to oppose. It’s always been a buildable lot.

  • Homer Fink

    Anyone know the history behind the lot? Did it “come with” 25 or was there something there before?

    Nabeguy? Anyone?

  • Homer Fink

    @abc no it was property of #31

  • John

    I say build something nice to look at like a brownstone !

  • John Sean

    What about buildng a mosque, just to stir things up?

  • EHinBH

    This is going to be an awsome spot for someone to build a new ‘brownstone.’ Any word on what the price was?

  • ujh

    The proposed building design has already been presented to CB2’s land use committee.

  • Jorale-man

    I presume it has to be contextual with the surroundings given that it’s in the historic district. If I were to guess, probably similar to the new building on Pineapple Street.

  • David on Middagh

    @John Sean: We have so many places of worship already, but maybe just a little, wee mosque would be OK.

    A mosquito.

  • Cranberry Beret

    I haven’t seen the proposed design, so I can’t offer an opinion on that specifically, but I do know from a quick google search that 100 years ago there used to be a house on what’s now this empty lot. So the idea that new construction (inherently) would “cramp” 25 Cranberry is a red herring. Of course any new building is required to be contextual, and it would be even nicer if the new building echoed in scale whatever used to be there, but I agree with @ABC that there’s nothing to oppose if the question is “Should the BHA oppose construction on this lot?”.

    For me, the scale is the most important part of context, not necessarily the style. I think a lot of the new construction that attempts to blend in with 19th century townhouses just ends up being bland red brick buildings. Something that’s really contemporary-looking could do nicely as long as doesn’t call attention to itself by bulk alone. It would be a pleasant surprise if the builder, either out of self-interested design aesthetic or because of feedback from the BHA, the LPC, etc., chooses a design that does NOT maximize the size based on the allowable area under the law.

    Any other armchair architecture critics out there? Anyone who has actually seen the proposed design?

  • nabeguy

    Never anything there in my lifetime that I can recall, although I do remember the Laszlo family at 29. I’ll throw my hat into the ring with Cranberry Beret and concur that context, and building frontage, is everything. If the building is allowed to extend out to the same frontage as 31, then 29 will be caught in a recess. And their eastern windows will more than likely be facing a brick wall. I fully expect the new owners, who paid $1,2 mil for the space, to develop it to the max front to back. My property is similar to 29 in that I have a very large garden space which abuts a 40 foot wall on one side. Fortunately, the other side is an open expanse. Looks like 29 is going to lose that open expanse to their east. Damn shame, too. Marsha Laszlo was one of the most ardent gardeners in the Heights in her day but I can’t imagine what you could grow in a garden with both the morning and afternoon sun being blocked out.