Rendering of 55 Pearl Street entrance. Image Courtesy: Alloy Development.

Proposal garners high praise from Commissioners after reduction in visible height, revisions to alleyway entrance. On March 12, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a proposal by Alloy Development to construct a five-story residential structure where a garage now stands at 55 Pearl Street in the DUMBO Historic District. The corner-lot building will house five individual townhouses with entrances on both Pearl and Water Streets. The project will total approximately 3,000 square feet.

Commissioners originally considered a proposal for the site on February 5, 2013. (See CityLand coverage here). At the hearing, preservationist organizations objected to the bulk of the proposed structure. A representative of the DUMBO Neighborhood Alliance asserted that the existing early-20th-century garage building should be preserved in some form. Commissioners found the scale generally appropriate, but objected to the design of an “alley” on Pearl Street that would serve as a garage entrance, and asked for further design refinements.

Architect Jared Della Valle presented the original proposal and announced a number of revisions to the proposal at the March 12th hearing. As the original plan proposed, the building would be clad primarily in wood on the ground floor, while the glass facade of the upper stories would stand behind a pattern of ductile concrete fins. Della Valle produced a sample of the concrete material that would be used for the one inch thick fins on the upper stories and used the sample to demonstrate the “warm palette” of the planned building.

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Rendering of proposed residential building at 55 Pearl St. Image Credit: Alloy Development.

Commissioners praised design of project composed of five residential townhouses, but asked to see further refinements before voting to approve. On February 5, 2013, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on a proposal to demolish a one-story garage building, and construct a new residential development at 55 Pearl Street. The site is at the corner of Water Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO Historic District. The heavily modified garage building is thought to have been constructed in the early 20th century by the John W. Masury & Son company, a prominent paint manufacturer. The proposed building would rise to five stories, with an additional floor-height parapet to conceal a penthouse.

Architect Jared Della Valle, of Alloy Development, presented the plan and noted that it was significantly smaller in height and floor area than what was allowable as-of-right. The new building would be composed of five individually-owned townhouses with separate entrances. There would be no indication of the distinct properties on the upper stories. Della Valle stated that the proposal sought to create “a happy marriage” between context and economic viability. An alley would be visible above the first floor of the building on Pearl Street, which would provide parking for residents. Della Valle noted that this was consistent with the “slot alleys” common to the formerly industrial neighborhood.

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