Former Precinct House at 72 Poplar Sold to Developer

By on May 23, 2011 1:08 pm in Development, News, Real Estate

As reported by Brownstoner, the former police building at 72 Poplar Street, between Henry and Hicks, which has been vacant for some years, has been sold by the previous owner, who bought it at a city auction for $9.6 million seven years ago but whose plans to add two additional stories as part of a residential conversion were thwarted by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. The buyer, identified as Daten Group, paid $7.5 million (down from an asking price of $12 million), and also plans to make the property residential.

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  • Big Dave

    Anybody have dibs on the jail suite?

  • bklyn20

    It’s sad to see this — even though it’s good that the building will be in use. Maybe this could have been the PS8 middle school. I know, it was considered earlier for a PS8 purpose. Too bad.

  • nabeguy

    bklyn20, at this point, it’s better to see anything going on with this building other than its slow deterioration. And the PS8 thing really does not fit into the SCA’s scheme of things. They’d rather waste taxpayer money by building from scratch, and according to their own arcane set of rules, than adapt and re-use an existing structure..

  • bklyn20

    Nabeguy, agreed on both points. Just wish it had turned out differently.

  • Government?

    Indeed, it’s absolutely LUDICROUS that this former 84th Police Station building (NYC owned property, yes?), located about 50 feet from the rear of P.S. 8, somehow wasn’t utilized for a P.S. 8 expansion or middle school!!!!

    Yet another outrageous blunder by the insane bureaucracy that continues to overtake our democracy!!!

  • Winstion Smith

    Yes it does seem kind of ridiculous not to have reused the building, but we don’t know all the mitigating circumstances the SCA had to consider? Believe it of not, it isn’t always cheaper or significantly cheaper to renovate than to build build new. When you build new you get exactly what you need when you renovate you have to compromise.

  • nabeguy

    Winstion, you’re point is well-taken. But I challenge you to find one instance where the SCA renovated a structure that was not previously a school. It just doesn’t fit their agenda, regardless of how much sense it makes (like the renovation of St. Charles School,which would have been a perfect middle school for BH/CH). When I attended the SCA presentation of the 8 extension, one of the reps actually bragged to me that the SCA has a billion (with a B) budget;Their aim seems to be to spend every penny so as to justify it.

  • Government?

    Furthermore, do I need to point out the obvious? If the former police station were made a middle school, such school could easily share facilities, classrooms, resources, teachers, etc., with the existing P.S. 8 merely 50 feet away! How about a common gymnasium, theater, and/or swimming pool for all the students? Sounds very cost-effective to me. (BTW, at least one residential building I know of in DUMBO has a swimming pool inside, & the idea isn’t that far-fetched.)

  • http://www.myhomebrooklyn.com Donald Brennan

    Nabeguy – I understand SCA is repurposing a former commercial building as school in Queens somewhere. Sorry, but don’t know anymore than that.

  • Winstion Smith

    @ Government, No but I do work in the construction industry and I have done some work on school construction projects, so I do know what I am talking about.

  • Winstion Smith

    Nabeguy, You make a valid point. Often agencies need to spend their budget or they risk loosing the same funding next year. A problem no doubt but not really the fault of the agency.

  • Government?

    @ Winstion,

    We should routinely trust & defer to corrupt government & its bureaucracies, they’re the good guys, right?

  • goodtimes

    they should have used the building to make an updated barney miller series…nothing like an abe vigoda look a like to make you smile!!

  • Jeffrey j Smith

    No, they should bring back Toody and Muldoon…there a hold up
    in the Bronx, Brooklyn’s broken out in fights, Theres a traffic jam
    in Harlem thats backed up to Jackson Heights…..

    Car 54 where are you. Ohooo, Ohooo

  • Winstion Smith

    ^, that’s the best idea yet :)

  • nabeguy

    Thanks Donald, I’ll look into that.

  • nabeguy

    I couldn;t find that particular project Donald, but this Times article gives a pretty good summation of the Authority’s size and power.

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/22/realestate/commercial/22schools.html

  • Winstion Smith

    Government, No I didn’t say that. I was saying that there is a problem with the way funding is allocated to government and non government agencies.

  • Gerry

    Govenment,

    And with ALL of the development in downtown Brooklym in the past 30 years there is NO aquatics center no place to swim we have NO POOL! The new Brooklyn Bridge Park has no indoor pool. in Brooklyn Heights there is NO place to swim we need an aquatics center like Aspalt Green in Manhattan.