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 as the base of candy makers Mason Mints and Mason Dots. In the 1970s, it became housing for artists under the state’s Mitchell-Lama subsidized-housing program.

Artists lived in studios there until the program ended in 2004. Developers Urban Realty Partners bought the site in 2007, but weren’t able to finish a conversion to condos after the imminent financial crisis. Los Angeles-based Canyon-Johnson Urban Fund stepped in and took over the project in 2010, alongside plenty of legal drama.

When plans were first announced that the factory was slated to become a condo development, the Brooklyn Heights Assn. wanted 20 Henry’s garden to remain open space, the WSJ adds—which is now the site of the new 14-unit modern building. BHA executive director Judy Stanton says she still prefers the garden to the new building, but is glad the factory is finally ready for new homeowners: “I’m sure it will attract families.”

Brokerage firm Stribling & Associates is marketing the project, and says that 20 Henry St. already has an 800-applicant waiting list.

(Photos: Wall Street Journal)

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.

Read both pieces in their entirety here, with edited highlights below…

Philip Magnuson
The Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District, with the splendid Greek Revival Borough Hall and North Plaza at its focus, is figuratively and functionally the urban center of Brooklyn, located at the civic, business, education and transportation hub of the borough. It is the interface of the vibrant neighborhoods of Metrotech, Fulton/Downtown, Court Street and Brooklyn Heights. They all share the new district as a historic core and a distinctly Brooklyn’s “Town Square.”

This historic district is on its way to cohesion and vitality. Also, like so many inner city districts now returning to robustness, it is rich with a varied, significant and potentially endangered architectural context. The assemblage of important, large-scale, early 20th century skyscrapers along Court Street, each with its own exuberant historical style, embrace a richness and scale befitting the official and commercial heart of Brooklyn. The skyscrapers play a significant role in defining the singular quality of this area.

The designation of the Court Street skyscrapers is a timely step in recollecting, acknowledging and preserving Brooklyn’s urban richness. We believe the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District will safeguard and support the present and future renaissance of this unique neighborhood.

Steven Spinola
The creation of a Downtown Brooklyn Skyscraper Historic District is unwarranted and would add burdensome costs for local property owners and retail tenants. The Real Estate Board of New York believes there is no need to create a special historic district in this area of Downtown. In fact, the report of the Landmarks Preservation Commission notes that several of these buildings have no distinctive architectural style worth protecting and have undergone numerous renovations over the decades.

More troubling, creating a special historic district would impose millions of dollars of additional costs on existing property owners and retail tenants. Once an area is landmarked, significant added costs (are) attached to property improvements; one must acquire additional city approvals and it takes longer to secure such approvals, and all improvements are subject to review.

Many require further review by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, which often requires plans to be redone and certain materials to be used, which adds time and cost to any renovation. These delays often result in massive losses for retailers and landlords because space sits empty while awaiting commission approval.

The commercial office market on Court Street is already suffering with a 17% vacancy rate. The landmark designation will impose an additional tax on such space, making it more difficult to rent and provide less incentive to upgrade. This proposal will harm rather than help the properties in this district.

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, as developer United American Land has its eye on fully developing the block at Fulton and Bridge Street, after demolishing the Offerman annex to build H&M.

Meanwhile, downtown Brooklyn’s City Point up the block continues to take shape, first comprising a four-story 50,000 sf retail building on Albee Square across from the landmarked Dime Savings Bank building. In all, that project intends to encompass 1.5 million square feet of retail and residential.

The Offerman Building’s upper floors are rumored to be going residential, so it appears a full reno is forthcoming. The handsome structure was built in 1890 by Henry Offerman, at the time one of the tallest buildings in Brooklyn. It is best known as the location of Martin’s department store, which ushered other major retailers to the area, including A.I. Namm & Son Department Store and Abraham & Straus (today, Macy’s).

Read a full history of the building on The Smoking Nun blog here.

Admission is $20 for a family of four ($5 each additional); and $10 for CAFF or Brooklyn Historical Society members. The meeting point is BHS at 128 Pierrepont Street.

Pre-registration is required. For tix, click here.

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.”

According to the Brooklyn Paper story, Council Members Steve Levin and Brad Lander, both of whom voted for the designation, received assurances that proposed changes to buildings within the district would be given expedited consideration by the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and that the LPC will “be flexible” with requests from residents of 75 Livingston.

The piece goes on, “No one has claim to freeze New York’s ever-changing silhouette” and claims that the buildings’ “demolition and replacement would, frankly, be quite beautifying. Here is a landmark case of abusing the landmarking process.”

Key endorsements for the landmark designation—which runs along Court Street, from Montague four blocks south to Livingston—were voiced by the council’s Subcommittee on Planning, along with Councilman Stephen Levin, who represents the area.

In a joint statement with Councilman Brad Lander, who heads the subcommittee, Levin said, “After close consideration, we believe this new historic district will strengthen the character of Downtown Brooklyn, allowing for new development and growth like the new retail space planned for the Municipal Building [next to Borough Hall] while preserving the graceful, historic, early-generation skyscrapers that make it Brooklyn’s civic center.”

Lander and Levin added that they intend to ask the city to ease rules for storefronts and work with Livingston Street residents “without imposing hardships on co-operators.”

The district was first proposed to the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2010 by the Brooklyn Heights Assn. and other preservation groups and since, has fostered snarky opposition from the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Brooklyn Law School, Court-Livingston-Schermerhorn Business Improvement District and similar groups.

Once again, REBNY president Steven Spinola tore the initiative to pieces in a New York Post article today: “Not only is this an inappropriate use of landmark designation, but it will end up costing the city much-needed tax revenue and jobs. This is another case of the city landmarking away its economic future.” As well, in a direct mail campaign blanketing the neighborhood, REBNY claimed, “In these economic times, when every dollar counts, landmarking threatens to send Court Street back to the ‘bad old days’ of empty storefronts and dirty streets.”

City officials refute that the designation only sets guidelines overseen by Landmarks to ensure that construction blends with the neighborhood.

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.”

The story also quotes landowner Tom Caruana’s architect (not named) as saying “plans for the site are not yet ready to be shared.” Architectural historian Francis Morrone, author of An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn, who the article says “is working with the [Brooklyn] Heights Association on an in-depth history of the building”, is quoted thus: “It’s an intact piece of history, …A major part of what makes Brooklyn Heights what it is is this historical physical fabric.”

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.

Clines reminisces about going to the first night game at Ebbets Field and watching Jackie Robinson play. He also waxes nostalgic about the taste of Schaefer beer, one of several brands of suds once brewed in Brooklyn, at a ballgame, and then notes that BHS has, in the past, mounted an exhibit on brewing in Brooklyn. He then praises two current BHS exhibitions. One is Home Base, which will be in place until April 1 of this year. This is about the Dodgers and Ebbets Field, and is curated by local high school students. The other is the Society’s on-line exhibition An American Family Grows in Brooklyn, which gives the history of the Lefferts family, early Dutch settlers here. BHS is located at 128 Pierrepont Street, at the corner of Clinton.

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.

According to the developer, as quoted by C.B.2:

Application is to extend the existing fourth floor, construct a new fifth floor addition, set back the rear wall by five feet to achieve legal light and air requirements, construct new rear façade, install new accessible ramp at Poplar Street entrance, create new window and door openings at east and west facades, and construct a one-story rooftop addition on adjacent garage.

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.

Preservationists had claimed victory last September when the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously approved the “Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District,” a cluster of highrises built in the late 19th and early 20th centuries along Court Street and the corners of Joralemon, Remsen and Montague Streets around the already landmarked Borough Hall. Commission Chairman Robert B. Tierney noted then that “the buildings had a central role in Brooklyn’s development and illustrate an important chapter of New York City’s history.”

But a number of property owners, local landlords and developers were vehemently opposed, claiming it would drive up costs and impede retail redevelopment. Mike Slattery, SVP of the Real Estate Board of New York, sneered in September that the buildings “have little architectural and historic significance and distinction.”

In an article published in Crain’s Business New York January 18, Steve Spinola, president of REBNY, further belittled the district: “The city continues to landmark away its economic future. We want the people in the area to know landmarking will cause a lack of investment in buildings.”

Detractors argue that the designation puts a financial burden on landlords, who have to obtain additional permits and pay extra fees for any changes or upgrades on their properties. REBNY surveyed owners of roughly 750,000 square feet of space within the proposed historic district, and predicted property owners and retail tenants will incur $4.7 million in additional costs over the next several years as a result of landmark regulations and rules, according to the letter obtained by Crain’s.

“Some owners were prepared to make an investment in their buildings, but now they have a noose around their neck because it will cost them more money,” added Spinola.

Brooklyn Heights Assn. president Judy Stanton has stated that the landmark designation “is necessary to protect those buildings from being torn down—it does not prevent redevelopment. It has been a longstanding regret we did not get a district sooner.”

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

DEVELOPING….

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.

This Saturday, January 21, BHS will present a guided tour of their building:

Come explore our beautiful landmark building. Designed by architect George Post and built in 1881, Brooklyn Historical Society’s building was ahead of its time. Using the latest technology, Post created a magnificent structure with amazing craftsmanship. On this guided tour you’ll learn not only about the building as an architectural gem, but you’ll also find out the “more than meets the eye” history of one of Brooklyn’s premier cultural institutions. This tour is free with museum admission and open to the public. Admission is always free for BHS members. This tour is part of BHS’s Brooklyn Walks and Talks program series.

Museum admission (for non-members) is $6 for adults; $4 for seniors over 62, students over 12 (college students must show ID), and teachers; and free for children under 12.

Some residents were horrified at this prospect, decrying the “nightmare” of “promenaders peering into windows of homes and hoodlums shouting unseemly language,” according to an account in The Brooklyn Eagle quoted by Henrik Krogius in his new book, “The Brooklyn Heights Promenade.”

One Squibb executive, according to the Times article, even offered to waive the condemnation fee for taking a portion of his back yard if the Promenade were eliminated from the plan. Evidently, he would have preferred to have the upper level of the BQE exposed a short distance behind his house than a public walkway.

Brooklyn Daily Eagle: Following what one person described as “an exhilarating” discussion on the value of contextual vs. contemporary architecture in a historic district, the Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) yesterday asked the design team of a proposed new five-story, five-unit building at 30 Henry St. in Brooklyn Heights to consider making some additional changes.

The story notes that Brooklyn Heights preservationist Otis Pratt Pearsall and Brooklyn Heights Association President Jane McGroarty and Executive Director Judy Stanton all urged the Commission to reject the proposed design and require something contemporary and distinctive. BHA member and architect Jonathan Marvel is quoted as saying, ““We implore you to inspire, to delight, to raise the bar on originality.” But Park Slope resident and preservationist Clem Labine said the site doesn’t need a “starchitect” building that would be “dissonant and disruptive.”

The Commission’s legal counsel said it didn’t have the power to require “a particular style.”

Brooklyn Paper: Next Wednesday, building owner Tom Caruana will present plans for a new structure at 70 Henry St. at Community Board 2’s Landmarks Committee — an early step in gaining city permission to demolish an edifice in the landmarked neighborhood, according to District Manager Rob Perris.

The article quotes Caruana as unwilling to reveal details of his plans, but saying he will “move forward” as soon as possible. Lowy is quoted as saying he will do whatever is necessary to keep the Cinema going, even if he has to move it to DUMBO.

Homer’s pal/Brooklyn Heights native/The Who’s #1 fan Binky Phillips writes in his HuffPo column today about how he discovered his favorite band while growing up in here in the 60s:

Huffington Post: One day, I, along with a few live-on-the-same-block pals, were hanging out on my stoop on a dull nothing-to-do overcast day. I became aware of an approaching presence across our sleepy street. I turned to see who was walking north and it was… A Rolling Stone!

There is no other way to put it. This tall thin translucently pale guy was wearing a radical rust colored suede sports coat, bright red wide-wale corduroy pants, a green and orange paisley shirt, actual black leather Beatle boots, not Flagg Brothers’ facsimiles in brown suede. But, it was his hair that just blew us all away. It was wavy strawberry blonde, pulled behind his ears, and down past his collar by at least 8 inches. Simply the longest hair we’d ever seen on a guy, longer than any of the current Brit rock stars even. Almost like a man with Rita Hayworth hair. Best of all, this guy actually looked like a cross between Mick Jagger and Keith Richards (and The Move’s fabulous Ace Kefford!), the same cartoon pout and craggy cheekbones. We couldn’t believe our eyes, floored! Did a guy this radically world-class cool actually exist in Brooklyn Heights?!

Brooklyn Eagle: Just this past year a rift was opened within the BHA membership, when the BHA leadership sued to block the conversion of the Tobacco Warehouse into a theater for St. Ann’s Warehouse — what many saw as one more move essentially directed at the Walentases. St. Ann’s has found a three-year refuge in another building, but the issue is likely to arise again.

Change is happening all around in Brooklyn. The challenge for the BHA in 2012 and beyond, as it protects the character of what [B. Meridith] Langstaff called “a spot that is healthful, high, cool and quiet; a spot that is withdrawn from the great traffic lanes and yet reached by every subway line in the City,” is to become a better partner with the rest of Brooklyn as the borough continues its climb from mid-century decay into perhaps the liveliest part of the city — to keep the Heights cool even as it welcomes the new “cool” of Brooklyn.

What’s your two cents on this issue?

Brooklyn Eagle: “The house I bought in 1957, 59 Hicks St., to start my veterinary practice, was owned by an elderly bachelor: Joe Kaplan. Joe had a shop near the Brooklyn Navy Yard where he repaired and altered Navy uniforms. Having to leave that location because the building was to be demolished, he had bought 59 Hicks St.

“The ground floor had store windows and at one time held a chain grocery store. The walls and ceiling were covered in patterned pressed tin and all the pipes were exposed near the very high ceiling. It was built in 1822 by a man named John Rogers, who was a cooper…

…Mentioned in the book “The Great Bridge” by David McCullough was the fact that the house was used as the architectural office for the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, which I had been told by old-timers in the neighborhood who got the information via their parents.

The video features Krogius and numerous images that tell the complex story of one of our neighborhood’s prize treasures.

Henrik’s thoroughly researched and illustrated book is available locally at The Women’s Exchange on Pierrepont Street and Book Court in Cobble Hill.

Watch the full video interview after the jump.

Brownstoner reports today on the release of the renderings for the proposed new building at 30 Henry Street. News of the new structure broke recently with word that CB2′s landmarks committee has given its OK while the BHA had asked for a more contemporary design after seeing preliminary renderings. Also, the the new complex will boast a waterfall.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission is scheduled to review the design tomorrow (12/20).

Judy Stanton, Executive Director of the BHA, said:

We knew that our fight to save the Tobacco Warehouse for the public was necessary and that the defense of the public trust in this case was the right thing for the Brooklyn Heights Association to do. We feel doubly rewarded by Justice Vaughan’s decision to uphold it.

BHA President Jane McGroarty said:

We hope everyone will now agree that the Tobacco Warehouse is exactly where it belongs and that a precedent has been set that sends a strong message: public spaces and are for all of the public to enjoy and attempts to take away any of it will be met with action by community groups and the courts.

Joan Zimmerman, President of the Fulton Ferry Landing Association, said:

Historically, it’s fallen to us, the community, to step forward to protect the Tobacco Warehouse from being snatched from the public. This victory for public land – not once, but twice affirmed by the court, is incredibly gratifying and will stand as a precedent for years to come.

The decision was also praised by State Senator Daniel Squadron and Assemblywoman Joan Millman.

Update: Haley Stein, Esq., Senior Counsel in the City’s Law Department, who served as lead counsel for the City in the case, had this to say:

This decision is a major setback toward improving the park and prevents the City and Brooklyn Bridge Park from moving forward with a project that would provide funding for the long-term preservation of the Tobacco Warehouse. The State transferred Tobacco Warehouse to Brooklyn Bridge Park without parkland restrictions, and we continue to believe that the community would greatly benefit from its re-use as a cultural and community center. The decision also hinders plans to rehabilitate and re-use Empire Stores — a series of enclosed warehouse buildings that are in need of preservation and are not usable by the public. The redevelopment of Empire Stores as a commercial and retail space is vital to providing revenue for the operation and maintenance of the park. We disagree with the decision and are considering our legal options.

]]> http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33729/feed 37 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33612 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33612#comments Thu, 08 Dec 2011 01:28:15 +0000 Homer Fink http://brooklynheightsblog.com/?p=33612 Sheldon Keck, a pioneer in art restoration, lived with his wife Caroline and family in Brooklyn Heights from 1940 to 1963. The Brooklyn Eagle writes about the Kecks this week:

Brooklyn Eagle: In moving to the Heights, the Kecks first rented at 11 Cranberry Street, then became homeowners at 87 State Street. They made friends, raised two sons, and weathered the disruptions of World War II. At 11 Cranberry they became close friends with the artistic couple in the penthouse apartment, John O’Hara Cosgrave II and Esta Cosgrave. Mrs. Cosgrave painted the Keck family in 18th century dress, a reproduction of which adorned the Kecks’ 1948 Christmas card.

]]> http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33612/feed 0 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33368 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33368#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:16:51 +0000 Homer Fink http://brooklynheightsblog.com/?p=33368 The Brooklyn Eagle reports today on plans by the Fortis Group for the paper’s former headquarters at 30 Henry Street. In its original piece about a proposed condo on there, the paper reported that the new building would be 65 feet high, 15 feet over what is allowed in our landmark district. However, the BHA’s Judy Stanton, who has seen the plans, told BHB last weekthat the proposal was a 50 foot structure. The Eagle’s report today includes a similar statement from Stanton. The proposal was approved by CB2′s Land Use Committee on 11/16 and will be presented to the full board on 12/14.

But what new info did we learn from today’s report? THERE’LL BE A WATERFALL.

Brooklyn Eagle: According to Perris, BKSK architect Stephen Burns made the presentation to the Land Use Committee. Citing the committee minutes, he said there will be accessible underground parking with the parking entrance slightly sloping down.

The layout of the building will consist of floors two to four with one layout — some units containing 10-inch balconies for flower boxes and casement windows — and a separate layout for the top floor penthouse.

Burns also told committee members that the entranceway into the building will be through a covered passageway that leads directly to a courtyard. The courtyard will have a waterfall that is visible from the entrance, according to the Land Use Committee minutes.

]]> http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33368/feed 6 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33359 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33359#comments Wed, 30 Nov 2011 21:05:47 +0000 Homer Fink http://brooklynheightsblog.com/?p=33359

There’s already one complaint on file with the NYC Department of Buildings about after hours work at 47 Hicks Street, home of Tutt Cafe. And that doesn’t include BHB readers gripes about the new giant pizza sign in front of the eatery, ostensibly part of its current renovations.

North Heights resident Andrew Porter observes, “Walked by on Tuesday, and they’d erected a large, green external sign; strictly illegal. Talked to possibly owner, or guy in charge of the construction, about how Tutt is in a landmarked area. They were working on the outside of the building, on the entryway into the door. No permits, not even from DOB. Owner of brownstone next door came out, agreed with me in passing that permits are required. I am working with the BHA on this.”

Commenter AEB adds, “I can attest to the fact that the new northerly sign is in fact new, not a redo of an existing one.”

]]> http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33359/feed 42 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33212 http://brooklynheightsblog.com/archives/33212#comments Tue, 22 Nov 2011 20:23:02 +0000 Homer Fink http://brooklynheightsblog.com/?p=33212 Brooklyn Heights Association Executive Director Judy Stanton sent us a dispatch this morning about construction plans for 30 Henry Street. The site has been sold by its owners, the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, to DUMBO based developers the Fortis Group. The Eagle’s own report on the sale claims that Fortis plans to build a 65 foot, 6 story condo there, a potential challenge to current landmark restrictions. (N.B. Their initial application.)

Not so, says Ms. Stanton who has seen the Fortis plans. Her take after the jump.

The BHA was shown a presentation for a new building by Fortis at 30 Henry Street. We were given copies of the plans but I do not have permission to release them to the media. They do not show a 65 foot building. The site falls entirely within the LH-1 boundary (aka 50 ft height limited district). A taller building would not be permitted without a variance which would require an application to the Board of Standards and Appeals in addition to the necessary approvals required by the Landmarks Commission.
The latter is certainly not what was shown to the BHA nor to the Community Board. I would suggest that that Linda Collins needs to double check her understanding of whatever plans she has found on file with the DOB which may have included the floor below grade (cellar). The BHA was shown and we are still expecting a 50 ft building plus the mechanical equipment set back behind a stair bulkhead which would not be visible from the street. (Mechanicals are not counted in the 50 foot limit.)

Speaking about the design, the BHA always favors contemporary design for new construction in the Historic District. While not every owner/architect has felt comfortable about following our recommendation, the Landmarks Commission DOES support contemporary design in historic districts. It should be emphasized that Brooklyn Heights is a veritable treasure trove of 19th century architectural styles, and this historic district can absorb more variety. Note:This topic is currently the subject of an exhibit at the Brooklyn Historical Society Context\Contrast: New Architecture in Historic Districts 1967 to Present. which we encourage everyone to see.

With regard to 30 Henry Street, it is a gateway site in the Heights, and one that cries out for a distinctive and much more contemporary design than was shown to the BHA last week. Fortis has hired excellent architects in BKSK, and the BHA has respectfully asked them to ‘return to the drafting board’ to create a building that celebrates our time.

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