A small, boutique condo project is about to replace a century-old brick apartment building at 371 Baltic Street, in the borderlands between Boerum Hill, Gowanus, and Carroll Gardens. YIMBY has renderings of the four-story building, which will rise between Smith and Hoyt streets, near Gowanus Houses.
The facade will be made of poured-in-place concrete, echoing the nabe’s industrial history. The somewhat Brutalist design will certainly stick out on this block lined with aging brick row houses and a school built in the 1920s. (Confusingly, the school is called the “Cobble Hill School of American Studies,” but most folks consider the area Boerum Hill.)
The project was filed as an expansion of the existing two-story building, and the developer plans to preserve a bit of the old structure, including the foundation and a few walls.
Side view of 371 Baltic Street, rendering by Atelier New York Architecture
The new development will hold four spacious condos – three full-floor units and a penthouse duplex. All four units will have three bedrooms and private outdoor space. Residents on the first floor will get a private backyard, and occupants of the second and third floors will have private balconies. Penthouse dwellers will be able to enjoy a private roof deck.
Apartments will range from 1,100 to 2,000 square feet and offer between 350 and 800 square feet of outdoor space.
Rear view of 371 Baltic Street, rendering by Atelier New York Architecture
The building won’t have any parking, but the Bergen Street stop on the F and G trains is only a ten-minute walk away. And Boerum Park, which is right next door, has a nice playground for residents with children.
Long Island City-based Atelier New York Architecture is handling the design, and Xavier Guery of Soho-based XNV Properties is the developer.
The Department of Buildings has approved plans, but no work permits yet. Guery expects to start work in the spring and finish in a year and a half.
371 Baltic Street in July 2015, photo by Christopher Bride for PropertyShark
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UGLY piece of garbage! What kind of disturbed mind creates such an eyesore and think’s its “cool”? Destroying 3000 years of classical architecture for a brutally boring insult to senses and property values. Neighbors must be thrilled. Also good for shrinks because anyone living in this horror will need extra doses of antidepressants.
Beautiful, modern, minimalist aesthetic. Some people may not be able to appreciate but I’m sure they will get it eventually.
Yeah, when one of the cement blocks hits me on the head and brain damage ensues, then I’ll “get it”…seriously why any human would want to live in such a soulless pile is beyond reason. Nothing beautiful about it, and no aesthetic whatsoever. Not to mention a bit on the arrogant side considering the neighborhood, sketch up nonsense.
In these simulations I see that the material and volumetric choice result from the desire to enter a volume that show itself as a monolithic block, with symmetry and harmony between empty and full and the same constructive elements, deriving from a constructive grid studied to create proportions in all three facades.
With this aesthetic choice, I see that the interior has been designed to create spaces with large brightness, resulting from the large openings facing the private garden and the public park, creating a natural overlook that give serenity to the future tenants.
(so they will not need any antidepressants)
certainly far fewer than 10 minutes to walk to subway entrance. closer to 3-4 minutes at most.
There are very few brick row houses on block. A mix of perhaps aging tenements and new construction including Baltic Tower across the street.
Hooboy, I’m not usually overly critical of modern architecture, but big slabs of beiton brut are pretty damn ugly, and will of course start being rust-stained within a few years. They could at least use white concrete or some sort of cladding rather than reliving the worst mistakes of the 1970s:
http://www10.aeccafe.com/blogs/arch-showcase/files/2014/02/42-appartments-the-white-concrete-corner-building-assures-the-transition-towards-the-town-houses-further-down-the-street.jpg