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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Image: Courtesy of GreenbergFarrow

Toll Brothers will build 67-unit project on vacant lot formerly occupied by factory building. On April 20, 2010, Landmarks approved Toll Brothers’ proposed 67-unit residential complex at 205 Water Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO Historic District. The vacant lot fronts Water and Plymouth Streets and was formerly occupied by a factory last used by the Brillo Company. The building was demolished shortly before the district’s 2007 designation. A 2009 rezoning opened the industrial area up to as-of-right residential and commercial development. 6 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2009).

At the hearing, attorney Valerie Campbell, representing Toll Brothers pointed out that the project conformed to the lot’s split M1-4/R8A and M1-4/R7A zoning. GreenbergFarrow architect Navid Maqami described the building’s design. Maqami said he drew inspiration from the varying street wall heights of the area’s architecture, as well as from the rusted metal, cobblestones, and concrete materials that characterize the neighborhood. He explained that the building reached 80 feet along Water Street and rose to 97 feet on the Plymouth Street frontage. A two-story tower would rise above the rest of the building, with a portion cantilevered slightly over Plymouth Street. The building would be faced primarily with castin- place concrete, and its base and entrance would be built with CorTen steel, which forms a rust-like patina as it ages. (more…)

DUMBO Rezoning, Proposed Zoning used with permission of the New York City Department of City Planning. All rights reserved.

Residential conversion of buildings east of Manhattan Bridge now as-of-right. On July 29, 2009, the City Council rezoned a 12-block area of former manufacturing loft buildings located east of the Manhattan Bridge along Brooklyn’s waterfront in DUMBO. This approval adds to several private- and City-initiated DUMBO rezoning plans, and extends the area allowing as-of-right residential conversions from the blocks between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges to the 12 blocks east of the Manhattan Bridge.

The rezoned area closely corresponds to the DUMBO Historic District and is generally bounded by the Manhattan Bridge to the west, Bridge Street to the east, John Street and the East River to the north, and Front Street to the south.

Planning proposed replacing the area’s M1-2 and M3-1 manufacturing districts with M1-4/R8A and M1-4/R7A contextual zoning districts to promote new mixed-use construction. The new zoning allows as-of-right residential and community facility uses while continuing to permit light manufacturing uses. The plan applies the M1-4/R8A district, allowing greater density and asof- right floor area, to the blocks closest to the Manhattan Bridge. It applies the lower-density M1-4/R7A district 150 feet east of Jay Street to the blocks closest to the low-density residential area of Vinegar Hill. (more…)

Proposed DUMBO Historic District. Map: LPC.

Local elected officials behind push for designation. On December 18, 2007, Landmarks voted to designate a portion of the DUMBO area as an historic district. DUMBO, an acronym for Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass, served as a center for American manufacturing beginning in the 19th century. The architecture of its industrial buildings range in materials from brick and timber to reinforced concrete. In the 1970s, young artists began moving to the area and converting the buildings into lofts and studios.

At the October 30th public hearing, several elected officials, including City Council Member David Yassky, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz and representatives for Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez and State Senator Martin Connor, joined local residents and supported designation. 4 CityLand 157 (Nov. 15, 2007). (more…)