On the eastern side of Kent Avenue just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, 333 Kent Avenue attracted attention several years ago when Brownstoner reported the existing mansion sold for $5 million in early 2012. When the building initially hit the market, Curbed covered the listing (initially $12.8 million), and the property’s history of dramatic price-drops also includes zombified plans for redevelopment.
But finally, those plans are about to see new life, although the plan exam for the building’s vertical expansion were disapproved earlier last week (likely the result of administrative formalities). Diad Architecture is designing the addition, which will also change the building’s technical use from manufacturing to commercial and residential.
333 Kent Avenue will gain two stories, rising from 28 to 48 feet in height, and its square footage will increase from 7,805 square feet to 12,468 square feet. The existing structure will see a relatively simple conversion from manufacturing to commercial use, while the entirety of the 4,663 square foot addition will be residential — and split between two units.
333 Kent Avenue, image by Diad Architecture
Given the generous proportions, condominiums are all but guaranteed. And while a $12.8 million price-tag for the site during the recession was laughable, it could easily be attained with the vertical expansion.
Diad’s plan for the site overlays a boxy two-story contemporary addition atop the former bakery, and the result is restrained and attractive. Nearby, the Domino Sugar Factory’s transition will offer a similar contrast in old and new, though the small-scale transformation of 333 Kent Avenue better illustrates why Williamsburg has gentrified so quickly (small-scale solutions for demand that is extreme, pent-up, and impossible to satiate).
333 Kent Avenue’s commercial interior, image by Diad Architecture
The owner is listed as John Dougherty, a “trustee” of Kent Avenue Realty Trust. Completion is expected in 2016.
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