East New Yorkers rallied early last year to save a historic bank building at 91 Pennsylvania Avenue in East New York, after plans surfaced for a seven-story medical building that would replace it. The wrecking ball ultimately came for the 19th century Renaissance Revival bank designed by Richard Upjohn, and now the new medical facility is rising fast.
Six stories of concrete have gone up so far at the site, which Tectonic recently stopped by to snap some construction photos. The building, now known as 101 Pennsylvania Avenue, will occupy half of the block and all of Atlantic Avenue between New Jersey and Pennsylvania avenues. It’ll span 116,500 square feet and come equipped with 187 parking spots. Garage space will fill parts of the second, third and fourth floors, and the rest of the building will be devoted to medical offices.
101 Pennsylvania Avenue, rendering via Brownstoner
The design appears to be a cut above a typical New York City medical building. Brownstoner revealed a rendering of the project in February, and its angular glass facade and illuminated signage is more reminiscent of Hudson Yards than East New York. Designed by Array Architects, the development won’t have the charm of the old bank, but it will revitalize a long-vacant property on a prominent corner.
101 Pennsylvania Avenue, photo by Tectonic
Unfortunately, this project illustrates why the city may have waited a little too long to rezone industrial East New York. The old zoning only allowed certain kinds of commercial and community facility projects, and there was little demand for new retail and office buildings here. But the new zoning—which was approved in April—will allow residential, commercial, and community facilities to rise on this block.
The developer is an LLC led by Jonas Rudofsky, who works at a commercial brokerage nearby called Squarefeet. His LLC acquired the 55,700-square-foot site for an undisclosed amount in 2010.
101 Pennsylvania Avenue, photo by Tectonic
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Fast and furious development growing in 2016, welcome East New York on future simple design.