Independence Community Bank plans to sell its grand branch at the corner
of Court Street and Atlantic Avenue in Cobble Hill to a DUMBO-based development
company that would build a seven-story apartment complex above and adjacent
to the bank, Independence bank said this week.
The Brooklyn Papers first reported on the planned development in June
2004. This week, an Independence spokesman confirmed that the bank was
negotiating the sale of that building, as well as an adjacent parking
lot and a one-story building on the other side of the parking lot.
The potential buyer is Two Trees Management, a development company owned
by the father-son development team of David and Jed Walentas, according
to applications filed with the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission.
Two Trees, known primarily for their residential and commercial conversions
in DUMBO, are nearing completion on the Court House apartment complex
catty-corner from the Independence bank branch at Atlantic Avenue and
Court Street. They are also planning a residential conversion of the former
Board of Education headquarters at 110 Livingston St. “We’re
negotiating to sell the property,” said Mike Armstrong, a spokesman
for Independence Community Bank. The sale includes the bank at 130 Court
St., an adjacent parking lot at 180 Atlantic Ave., and a one-story building
at 182 Atlantic Ave. that houses the Independence Community Foundation,
which will be relocated.
Should the sale go through, the bank would relocate temporarily to its
branch at 195 Montague St. during construction, but eventually buy the
bank space back from Two Trees as a commercial condominium, said Armstrong.
Two Trees currently leases space to Independence for a branch on Washington
Street at Water Street in DUMBO.
He said the bank would retain its entrance on Court Street while the apartment
building entrance would be on Atlantic Avenue.
The resulting building would stand seven stories straight across Atlantic
Avenue. The construction would add a two-level penthouse over the top
of the bank, which was built in 1922 in a Florentine Renaissance-style.
The new construction would bring new studio and one-bedroom apartments
into the increasingly busy stretch of avenue running through Brooklyn
Heights, Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill.
The spokesman said negotiations were “serious enough that we’ve
applied together with [Two Trees] for the permits — the Landmarks
Certificate of Appropriateness and the City Planning permit to change
the bulk of the building.”
While not itself a landmark, the former South Brooklyn Savings Institution
sits at the northeast corner of the Cobble Hill Historic District and
therefore any changes to the building facade and any proposal to build
higher than is permitted under the district guidelines requires Landmarks
Preservation Commission approval.
According to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, Two Trees Management
has submitted applications for permits to build atop the bank, to demolish
the one-story building and to construct “a penthouse addition and
seven-story adjacent addition.”
Diane Jackier, a spokeswoman for the Landmarks Preservation Commission,
added that Two Trees had applied to “change the use of the building.”
All of the permits, however, will first require a review by Community
Board 6. The board was scheduled to hear the application for a certificate
of appropriateness on March 31.
Of particular concern to some area residents is the proposed building’s
penthouse addition, which would reach a height of 81 feet, piercing the
50-foot height limit on residential properties in the Brooklyn Heights
and Cobble Hill historic districts, and even the commercial height limit
of 60 feet for the Atlantic Avenue corridor.
Some nearby residents are not pleased with the plan.
“This bank has never done anything in the best interests of the community,”
said Dick Turmail, who lives at 173 Pacific St., behind the parking lot
that is slated to become part of the residential development.
Turmail doesn’t think it will be approved.
“This is a historic landmark area. It’s why many of us moved
over here when we were young professionals,” said Turmail.
“We really single-handedly carved out this neighborhood and made
it a historic district,” which he said would be compromised by an
influx of new residents, mainly singles due to the size of the apartments.
Carolyn Konheim, an environmental impact consultant who lives at 175 Pacific
Street, agreed, saying it was important to maintain the 50-foot height
limitation in Brooklyn Heights and Cobble Hill, noting that a zoning resolution
allowed 60-foot limits along Atlantic Avenue, which is where the two-story
bank is located.
“People don’t want to have that precedent broken because it
would establish a breech for other developers, particularly along Pacific
Street, where there are lots of parking lots and garages that would consider
the same kinds of exemptions.”
Armstrong countered that the property belonged to Independence long before
the neighborhood was a hot spot.
“This property’s been owned by Independence Community Bank for
100 years or more,” he said, and added that although plans were moving
forward, they are not set in stone.
“This is happening to move the process along while we’re finalizing
the sale,” said Armstrong. “That’s why the applications
have been filed jointly, but it’s in contemplation and expectation
of the sale.”
Likewise, he said, “If for some reason the sale isn’t concluded,
this will not be happening.”
According to Turmail, the plans, since they’ve been in negotiation,
have stirred strong rumblings of opposition.
“There’s already been an outcry,” said Turmail, at a Cobble
Hill Association meeting last week.
He lamented the ever-changing streetscape of greater Downtown Brooklyn,
even beyond the bank.
“We have trees and we know our neighbors,” said Turmail. “This
kind of thing really starts destroying the roots of the community, slowly
but surely.”
