A humble, two-story wood frame house in the heart of Bushwick is going to be completely rebuilt and expanded. Thomas Barry’s Opera Studio Architecture designed an exciting new facade for the home, which will triple in size once work is done.
What is Brooklyn? For many, the borough is associated with new buildings populated with young professionals fleeing Manhattan, where the cost of living rises as high as the skyscrapers. Some prefer to dismiss them as silver-spoon suburban transplants wishing to emulate some fantasy starving artist lifestyle, which they would assert is long-gone from the borough. Others would disagree, pointing at the “authentic Bohemians” living in rundown, graffiti-covered, and sometimes illegally-run lofts on the fringes of industrial districts, not yet touched by true gentrification. In contrast to another stereotype, which presumes that manufacturing has also left the borough, these pockets of industry still teem with activity, whether in dusty cement-mixing lots, in auto shops that clog the sidewalks in front of them with rides-in-progress, or in manufacturing plants where they are rightfully entitled to slap a “Made in Brooklyn” label onto their wares.
Willoughby Avenue between Central and Evergreen avenues in Bushwick used to be a reminder of the city’s worst years, with an odd mix of decrepit wood frame houses, vacant lots, and garages. But several new buildings have transformed the block in the last decade, and now another project is set to join the mix.
Plans have been revived for a five-story, 40-unit residential building at 1461 Gates Avenue, in the heart of Bushwick. Shia Lefkowitz initially filed applications for the project back in January 2013, and has now submitted additional documents for it. The structure will measure 34,547 square feet and its residential units should average 698 square feet apiece, indicative of rental apartments. Amenities include a 20-car underground parking garage, storage for 20 bikes, and a rooftop recreational space. Michael Avramides’s Midtown East-based architectural firm is the architect of record. The 92.67-foot-wide, 12,693-square-foot assemblage consists of a vacant plot and a two-story townhouse at 1453 Gates Avenue. Demolition permits were filed for the townhouse in 2013. YIMBY previously reported on plans for a four-story, 10-unit residential buildings at the site. Those plans were to include four 10-unit structures (presumably to avoid parking requirements), although it appears the developers will be moving forward with the single-building plan. The site is located two blocks from the Myrtle-Wyckoff Avenues Subway Station on the L and M trains.
Brooklyn-based New Green Holdings has filed applications for a four-story, eight-unit residential building at 111 Troutman Street, in western Bushwick. The structure will measure 7,592 square feet and its residential units should average 686 square feet apiece, indicative of rental apartments. There will be two units per floor, with one of the ground floor units also containing space in the cellar level, and one of the fourth-floor apartments featuring space in a penthouse. Michael Avramides’ Midtown East-based architectural firm is the architect of record. The 25-foot-wide, 2,500-square-foot lot is currently occupied by a three-story townhouse. Demolition permits were filed in April. The site is located three blocks from the Myrtle Avenue stop on the J/M/Z trains.
