Earlier this year, Curbed posted renderings of a pair of buildings planned for 735 and 737 Bergen Street, in northwestern Crown Heights, saying the designs look “like an establishing shot in a movie about a dystopian police-state.” While YIMBY didn’t think the design was all that bad, developer Boaz Gilad sent architects Issac & Stern back to the drawing board. They’ve come up with a much more attractive look for the project, which Gilad shared with YIMBY.
The redesign swaps out the original light gray brick for a darker shade, and replaces the spandrel accents between the top two floors with a stronger grid, featuring a rust-colored material that looks a bit like the Barclays Center’s Cor-Ten steel. The top floor of the five-story buildings also gets outdoor balconies, with planters partially shielding them from the street, and two of the angled window bays have been replaced with ones parallel to the sidewalk.
Original design of 735 & 737 Bergen Street, rendering by Issac & Stern
The redesign is part of a broader trend in Crown Heights towards higher design and more expensive construction (condos rather than the rentals of the last cycle), as the neighborhood’s northwestern corner transitions from gentrifying fringe to established area, where buyers are willing to put down roots.
The building at 735 Bergen Street will contain eight units spread over 8,267 square feet of total construction area, while No. 737 will hold nine apartments within the same building envelope. The units – one-, two- and three-bedrooms – will be sold as condos, Gilad told YIMBY, and he hopes to get them to the market by spring of next year.
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