Developer testified to the great cost of converting buildings to housing. On June 26, 2007, Landmarks held its first hearing on the potential designation of three 1884 buildings within the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The plan received overwhelming support.

Among those in support included representatives from the development team that plans to convert the plant to a mixed-use complex containing 2,200 units of housing, 660 of which would be reserved for affordable housing.

Michael Lappin from the Community Preservation Corporation, and the project’s architect and contractor, testified that the buildings posed a greater challenge to convert than many other loft buildings. The buildings’ structural support rests on brittle cast-iron columns that no longer provide sufficient support for the original structure. If the construction team were to retrofit the original beams, 50 percent of the interior space would be lost to a new support system. The only remaining option would be to gut the interior, maintaining only the facade. (read more…)

Refinery buildings, just north of Williamsburg Bridge, were completed in 1884. On May 22, 2007, Landmarks voted to consider designation of the former Domino Sugar Processing Plant in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Under consideration are three connected structures, the Pan House, Finishing House, and Filter House, which is the largest structure in the complex, standing 13 stories above the East River. Landmarks’ action did not include the nearby 1960s building hosting the yellow neon “Domino Sugar” sign.

Located just north of the Williamsburg Bridge, a fire destroyed the original 1856 plant. The replacement facility, which includes the three buildings being considered, became the largest sugar processing plant in the country once construction ended in 1884. Landmarks’ research department pointed to John van Voorst Booraem, the company’s chief engineer, as the plant’s probable architect. The Domino plant remains the largest surviving structure from Brooklyn’s sugar processing industry, once a major business with New York as the nation’s largest producer. (read more…)