JMH Development and Madison Estates just won Landmarks approval to transform the Brooklyn Heights Cinema into apartments, but their first project to rise in a historic district was the Townhouses of Cobble Hill, at 110-126 Congress Street. The development’s five new townhouses are inching toward completion, and renovations seem to have finished at the four 19th century Greek Revival homes.
Excavation and piling work has begun at 153 Remsen Street, in Brooklyn Heights, where Quinlan Development Group and Lonicera Partners are developing a 19-story, 60-unit mixed-use building, only a block away from stations served by the N, R, 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains. YIMBY revealed the Perkins Eastman-designed building in February, and 4,575 square feet of retail is planned for the ground floor.
In December 2014, YIMBY noticed excavation beginning at 401 West 31st Street, in Midtown West, where Brookfield Properties is developing a 64-story, 790-unit residential building, featuring 3,440 square feet of retail space; now the building is a floor above street level, per Curbed. The building will measure a total 756,700 square feet, and SOM is designing, while SLCE is serving as the architect of record. Completion of the tower is expected in Summer 2017.
Over the last few months, the Department of City Planning has lost the PR battle over the proposed Jerome Avenue rezoning. Residents and activists accused the city of trying to create a new neighborhood called “Cromwell-Jerome,” a reference to DCP’s initial plans for a zoning study, and in response, officials dropped “Cromwell” from the title. In reality, planning officials hope to revitalize a narrow, 73-block stretch around Jerome, from 167th Street to just south of Fordham Road. They want to improve parks, the streetscape, retail, community services, schools, and economic growth, instead of simply pushing through more housing development.
Bedford Realty, doing business under Spencer Estates LLC, has filed applications for a four-story, eight-unit residential building at 216 Spencer Street, a vacant lot in the northwestern corner of Bedford-Stuyvesant near the Bedford-Nostrand stop on the G train. The building will measure 6,680 square feet, which means units will average 835 square feet. Jeffrey Kamen is the applicant of record, and the site’s former three-story occupant was demolished in 2001.
