Most development on the Northside of Williamsburg consists of glassy new buildings, but every once in a while, someone converts a pre-war structure instead of tearing it down. Today, YIMBY has a look at 119-123 Kent Avenue, where three century-old townhouses will expand and get a new, brick facade that stretches across all of them.
The vacant lots that remind Crown Heights of its worst years are slowly giving way to development. On the western edge of the neighborhood, in a lot next to the Franklin Avenue shuttle tracks, a new six-story building is in the works. The development would rise at 916 Bergen Street, between Franklin and Classon Avenues.
The 16-story, 522-unit mixed-use building under construction at 325 Kent Avenue, a block in from the East River in Williamsburg, is now 11 stories in height. Progress on the building – which was only in the foundation stages earlier this year – can be seen thanks to photos taken by Tectonic. The latest building permits indicate the structure will eventually encompass 401,246 square feet. It will feature 9,378 square feet of retail space on the ground and second floors, followed by residential units on the second through 15th floors. Twenty percent of the rental apartments, or 105, will rent at below-market rates through the housing lottery. Amenities include a five-level parking garage (two underground and three above-grade), storage space for 266 bikes, and “recreation space” on the fourth and 16th floors. The building represents the first phase of the five-building, mixed-use Domino Sugar Refinery mega-development. Two Trees Management Company is the developer, SHoP Architects is the design architect, and Ismael Leyva Architects is serving as the architect of record. Completion of the first building is scheduled for 2017.
A nearly 150-year-old residential structure in Brooklyn will soon get a facelift. The Landmarks Preservation Commission recently approved the restoration of 218 Guernsey Street, located at the corner of Oak Street in the Greenpoint Historic District.
South Williamsburg-based developer Yoel Schwimmer has filed plans for a five-story hotel at 1548 Bedford Avenue.