I Want Candy? 20 Henry Condos At Last Hit The Market

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I Want Candy? 20 Henry Condos At Last Hit The Market

By Chuck Taylor on February 9, 2012 3:46 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Landmark Preservation, Real Estate

The condo project at 20 Henry Street is at last hitting the marketplace after years of delays. Final polishes are taking place at the former Peaks Mason Mints building, known as the Candy Factory, with asking prices between $450,000 and $2.56 million for studios up to 4 bedrooms. The building includes 24 lofts (six of them penthouse units, at $2+ million), with an additional 14 units in an adjacent modern structure on Poplar Street scheduled to wrap by summer.

An article in today’s Wall Street Journal reminds us of the building’s history: The former industrial space was built in 1885 Continue Reading →

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Downtown Skyscraper District: He Said/He Said On Landmarks Approval

By Chuck Taylor on February 8, 2012 9:34 pm in Brooklyn History, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown Brooklyn, Landmark Preservation

Despite City Council approval February 1 of the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District, which designated 21 buildings along Court Street as a new landmark district, the debate continues in an Op-Ed He Said/He Said piece in the Brooklyn Courier. Commentary is offered from supporter Philip Magnuson, chair of the Brooklyn Heights Assn. Landmark Preservation Committee; and opponent Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. Continue Reading →

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Downtown BK’s Historic Offerman Building At Last Gets New Life Via TJ Maxx

By Chuck Taylor on February 7, 2012 8:01 pm in Brooklyn History, Commercial Real Estate, Development, Downtown Brooklyn, Landmark Preservation, Shopping, Streets

The beautifully historic but long-suffering Romanesque revival Offerman Building along Fulton Street Mall is at last getting the facelift it so deserves. As H&M continues its new-construction two-story glass modernist build-out next door, TJ Maxx will open a downtown Brooklyn store at 505 Fulton Street, according to signage that appeared within the last week.

Imagine Ralph Lauren, Calvin Klein and Giorgio Armani having presence on Fulton Street (albeit last season). This long-promised renaissance may well take hold, after all, Continue Reading →

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March On: CFAF Offers Heights “Family Walking Tour”

By Chuck Taylor on February 3, 2012 11:12 am in Architecture, Brooklyn History, Events, Kids

Until the next Homer Fink Hidden Brooklyn Heights tour, New York’s Center for Architecture Foundation (CFAF), in collaboration with the Brooklyn Historical Society, is offering a “Family Walking Tour of Historic Brooklyn Heights.” The excursion, which takes place Saturday, March 17 (rain date on the 18th) from 2-4 p.m., will “explore the architecture of this beautiful, historic neighborhood on an interactive walking tour with CFAF Educator Jane Cowan.” Continue Reading →

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City Council Approves Skyscraper Historic District

By Claude Scales on February 1, 2012 10:54 pm in Architecture, Government, Landmark Preservation

Today the City Council approved the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District by a vote of 46-1, with two abstentions.

The Brooklyn Paper: Preservationists hailed the city for protecting a slew of Romanesque Revival and Beaux-Arts structures, including the tiered co-op 75 Livingston St., which housed some of the designation’s most vocal opponents.

“We’re thrilled,” said Judy Stanton, executive director of the Brooklyn Heights Association, the powerful community group that helped push for the district. “The opposition exaggerated the negatives. This is going to be good for Brooklyn as a whole and very good for Downtown and Court Street.” Continue Reading →

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NY Daily News Weighs In On Downtown Landmarking: “No Good Reason”

By Chuck Taylor on January 28, 2012 12:11 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Downtown Brooklyn, Landmark Preservation, Real Estate

The New York Daily News published a to-the-point Opinion piece titled “The Battle Of Brooklyn” condemning the proposed Brooklyn Downtown Skyscraper District, which is heading for a full City Council vote February 1. The five-paragraph story calls the bid to protect the 21 buildings “transparently nonsense.” Continue Reading →

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Downtown Brooklyn “Skyscraper District” On Track For Approval

By Chuck Taylor on January 25, 2012 2:33 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Commercial Real Estate, Downtown Brooklyn, Government, Landmark Preservation

Despite vehement opposition from segments of the local real estate community, the downtown Brooklyn “Borough Hall Skyscraper District” is on track for approval by the New York City Council. On Tuesday, January 24, the plan offering landmark protection to 21 buildings that abut Brooklyn Heights, was given a go by the Council’s landmarks subcommittee, all but ensuring the entire Council will ratify it Feb. 1. (See BHB’s previous Jan. 19 post here.) Continue Reading →

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Will Someone Buy the Heights Cinema Building to Preserve It?

By Claude Scales on January 23, 2012 11:38 pm in Architecture, Development, Landmark Preservation, movies

Kate Briquelet’s Brooklyn Paper story quotes Brooklyn Heights Cinema owner Kenn Lowy as saying he has “received e-mails from people interested in buying the building.”

The Brooklyn Paper: “There are a lot of people who want to keep it around,” said Lowy, who hopes to find a new home for the theater if the building can’t be saved. “It makes it easier to move forward knowing we have all this support.” Continue Reading →

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BHS Exhibit Praised on Times Opinion Page

By Claude Scales on January 23, 2012 12:27 pm in Brooklyn History

Brooklyn native and New York Times writer Francis X. Clines, in a short essay at the bottom of today’s opinion page, observes:

Just as Americans visit the Old World in search of family roots, tourists are showing up at the Brooklyn Historical Society, in hopes of tracking down their grandparents’ neighborhood ties and old houses — brownstones in Park Slope, row houses in Bay Ridge — in the New World. Continue Reading →

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Modifications to 72 Poplar on CB2 Executive Committee Agenda Tomorrow Evening

By Claude Scales on January 22, 2012 11:42 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Landmark Preservation, Real Estate

The plans of the development company that bought 72 Poplar Street, the former NYPD building (see photo), will be considered at the meeting of the Executive Committee of Community Board 2 tomorrow (Monday, January 23) evening, starting at 6:00, at the Library Learning Center, room 515, of Long Island University, at DeKalb and Hudson Avenues. Continue Reading →

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REBNY Amps Efforts To Quash “Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District” Landmarking

By Chuck Taylor on January 19, 2012 2:33 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Downtown Brooklyn, Government, Landmark Preservation

The Real Estate Board of New York is amping its drive to derail the still-tentative landmarking of 21 buildings in downtown Brooklyn, by sending out a mailing to thousands of area residents urging them to bend City Council’s ear against the newly proposed historic district. In addition, on Friday, REBNY sent a letter to City Council Speaker Christine Quinn urging the Council to rethink the decision.

All landmarked districts require final approval from the City Council and mayor within 120 days. The Council vote is slated for Feb. 1, with two hearings scheduled next week. Continue Reading →

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…Meanwhile, New Design for 30 Henry Approved

By Claude Scales on January 18, 2012 11:04 pm in Architecture, Brooklyn Heights, Development, Government, Landmark Preservation

According to Brownstoner, the Landmarks Preservation Commission has approved a new design for the five story residential building to replace the Eagle at 30 Henry Street, at the corner of Middagh. NOTE: the picture on the linked Brownstoner post is of a bank building in Williamsburg, not a rendering of the new 30 Henry design. For an earlier version of the 30 Henry design, see here. There is, as yet, no rendering of the new design available. As we noted earlier, the revisions required by the LPC at its previous hearing were “minor”, so it’s safe to guess that the approved design will not differ greatly from the earlier one.

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Source: Plans for 70 Henry Street Withdrawn from LPC Hearing

By Homer Fink on January 18, 2012 9:29 pm in Landmark Preservation

According to a BHB source the landlord of 70 Henry Street, Tom Caruana, has withdrawn his proposal for a new structure at 70 Henry St. to Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee. The building currently is the home of the Brooklyn Heights Cinema, which would be displaced if the plan were to move forward.

No word yet on if this is simply a postponement or a permanent shift in plans.

DEVELOPING….

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BHS Opens Year’s Programming with Author of Literary Brooklyn Tomorrow Evening; Building Tour Saturday

By Claude Scales on January 17, 2012 8:28 pm in Architecture, Arts and Entertainment, Brooklyn History, Events, Literature

The Brooklyn Historical Society, 128 Pierrepont Street (corner of Clinton) will open its 2012 series of events tomorrow evening, Wednesday, January 18, starting at 7:00, with a discussion on literature in Brooklyn, giving special emphasis to the Borough’s (then City’s) first literary great, Walt Whitman.

Evan Hughes will discuss his recently published book Literary Brooklyn, which examines the connection between writers and Brooklyn as a place and identity. Edgar Garcia will discuss Walt Whitman, one of the authors featured in Literary Brooklyn, particularly Whitman’s role in Brooklyn’s publishing history. This event is part of BHS’s spring series, Inventing Brooklyn, which examines key people that have influenced Brooklyn’s past and present and highlights cultural trends that have roots in Brooklyn’s rich and diverse history. This event is free and open to the public. Continue Reading →

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Montero’s Bar Matriarch Pilar Montero Dies At Age 90

By Chuck Taylor on January 17, 2012 9:34 am in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn History, Nightlife, Obituaries

The long-lived Montero’s Bar at 73 Atlantic Avenue announced on its Facebook page the passing of matriarch Pilar Montero, at the age of 90. She died Saturday night, January 14. Pilar and her husband, Joseph, opened Montero’s in 1947, which was once a haven for longshoremen and sailors. Today, it is beloved for karaoke, pool and its rustic knick-knack-packed ambiance. The New York Times said in a 1995 story that Pilar was born in New York’s West Village and first came to Brooklyn as a little girl on the ferry on which her father worked. You can post fond memories on Montero’s Facebook page here.