Near the corner of Nostrand Avenue and St. John’s Place, in the rapidly changing central Brooklyn neighborhood of Crown Heights, a developer is planning to build a five-story, seven-unit passive house apartment building.
The project, designed by Zakrewski + Hyde Architects, will technically be an alteration of the existing three-story walk-up at 852 St. John’s Place. “We’re retaining as much as we can” of the existing structure, developer Justin Stewart told YIMBY (he was responsible for the city’s first certified passive house project, a brownstone rehab at 23 Park Place in Park Slope).
“The front façade,” however, “is not in good shape at all” – it’s currently a mish-mash of styles, without the attractive features of its neighbors – “and the back façade is not a pretty sight. What is going to be there will be light years ahead.”
The current building totals around 3,100 square feet of net floor area, to which nearly 3,000 square feet will be added, for a new total of 5,800 square feet of net residential space (the rest taken up by mechanicals and common space that doesn’t count towards zoning).
The property has traded hands five times over the past decade, with the first sale in 2005 for just $390,000. The latest sale came earlier this year for $1.23 million, or more than $210 per buildable square foot, putting 852 St. John’s Place in the hands of the current developer.
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