Most of Bed-Stuy’s vinyl-clad 19th century wood frames aren’t long for this world, and soon, two more will meet the wrecking ball. Today, new building applications were filed for a small residential development at 299 Van Buren Street in Bed-Stuy, between Lafayette and Stuyvesant Avenues.
Roughly a year ago, YIMBY reported on filings calling for a seven-story, 32-unit residential building at 1255 Bushwick Avenue, in southern Bushwick, and now construction is beginning at the site, where only the façade of the former church stands. According to Brownstoner, the building will measure 21,897 square feet, so units will average a condo-sized 1,368 square feet. Brookland Capital is developing, while Issac & Stern Architects is designing.
In October of 2014, YIMBY revealed renderings of the six-story, 23-unit mixed-use building planned at 95 South 5th Street, in western Williamsburg, and now the building is topped out, according to Curbed. Horrigan Development and Pilot Real Estate Group are developing the project, while Standard Architects is designing. A 675 square-foot dining establishment is planned on the ground floor, and units will average 790 square feet in the 18,575 square-foot structure.
As property values skyrocket in the low-slung eastern edges of Williamsburg, small developers are searching for ways to boost a site’s density without spending exorbitant amounts of money on construction. Increasingly, they file their developments as alterations, rather than new buildings, which allows them to avoid building expensive underground parking. And the J-51 abatement gives landlords a break on their property taxes, in exchange for preserving at least 50% of the old building and keeping the new units rent-stabilized for up to 20 years. One of these enterprising developers has filed alteration applications to expand a little three-story brick apartment building at 196 Montrose Avenue, on the corner of Humboldt Street.
An anonymous LLC has filed applications for a six-story, eight-unit mixed-use building at 818 60th Street, in southern Sunset Park, a block from the N train’s 8th Avenue stop. The building will measure 11,121 square feet in total, which includes 2,122 square feet of retail space on the ground and cellar levels, in addition to 2,017 square feet of community office space on the ground and second-floor levels. Shiming Tam — based a few blocks away in Borough Park — is the architect of record, and a two-story building must first be demolished.
