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…)

Borough President believes development along Gowanus Canal may encourage DEP to initiate clean-up effort. On January 7, 2009, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on Toll Brothers’ proposed waterfront development at 363-365 Bond Street in the Carroll Gardens neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project would be located on two full blocks along the Gowanus Canal, bounded by Carroll Street, Second Street, and Bond Street.

In order to facilitate the proposed development, Toll Brothers submitted several applications, including a rezoning of the two-block area from M2-1 to M1-4/R7-2, a text amendment for a special mixed-use district, and a special permit to modify height, setback, rear yard, and inner court regulations. Highlights of the project include two low-rise five-story buildings fronting Bond Street, a series of four-story townhouses along First and Second Streets, and two twelve-story buildings fronting the canal. The project would also contain approximately 2,000sq.ft. of community facility space, 2,000 sq.ft. of retail space, and 23,000sq.ft. of publicly accessible waterfront space along the canal. Toll Brothers expects the development to provide about 460 residential units, 30 percent of which would be affordable to families making 40 – 80 percent of area median income. (more…)