Once home to the Hanan & Son shoe factory, 220 Water Street, Brooklyn, was built in two phases: the first, in 1893, using heavy timber; the second, in 1905, with reinforced concrete. The historic building merges these two U-shaped structures together with a brick façade. The recent rehabilitation of 220 Water Street transforms it from a vacant manufacturing facility to a 134-unit luxury apartment building in Brooklyn’s DUMBO (“Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”) neighborhood.
Led by developer GDC Properties, the Building Team completed the rehabilitation of 220 Water Street late last December in order to meet the deadline for New York City’s J-51 tax incentive program, which expired at the end of 2011 and is still facing renewal difficulties. The building was issued a temporary certificate of occupancy just three days before the end of the year.
PROJECT SUMMARY
220 WATER STREET
Brooklyn, N.Y.Building Team
Owner/developer: GDC Properties LLC (submitting firm)
Architect: Perkins Eastman
Structural/MEP engineer: Glickman Engineering Associates
General contractor: The Rinaldi GroupGeneral Information
Size: 196,000 sf
Construction cost: Confidential (at owner’s request)
Construction period: October 2010 to December 2011
Early plans called for the apartments to be laid out conventionally along double-loaded corridors, with half facing the street and the other half facing the interior courtyard. When it was decided to single load the corridors, the developers opted to create the apartments as deep units, whose interior rooms would receive daylight through the high windows along the corridors.
Also of concern were the several grade changes around the perimeter of the building. To ensure that first-floor units would receive privacy from pedestrian traffic, the Building Team elevated the first floor and created staircases leading upward into the building from Water and Front Streets. Inside, a 30-foot-high grand lobby that replaces the interior courtyard offers residents lounge areas, concierge services, and a coffee bar.
Due to 220 Water Street’s landmark status, the Building Team needed to manage stormwater runoff without adding scuppers or downspouts at the roof, which would have required perforations in the parapet wall. Instead, stormwater is taken through the building, and through the lobby’s copper piping, into three large custom retention vaults.
The new 220 Water Street has since become another hallmark of residential revival for the new Brooklyn. +
Related Stories
| Mar 19, 2014
Is it time to start selecting your own clients?
Will 2014 be the year that design firms start selecting the clients they want rather than getting in line with competitors to respond to RFPs? That’s the question posed by a recent thought-provoking article.
| Mar 19, 2014
How to develop a healthcare capital project using a 'true north charter'
Because healthcare projects take years to implement, developing a true north charter is essential for keeping the entire team on track and moving in the right direction.
| Mar 18, 2014
6 keys to better healthcare design
Healthcare facility planning and design experts cite six factors that Building Teams need to keep in mind on their next healthcare project.
| Mar 18, 2014
How your AEC firm can win more healthcare projects
Cutthroat competition and the vagaries of the Affordable Healthcare Act are making capital planning a more daunting task than ever. Our experts provide inside advice on how AEC firms can secure more work from hospital systems.
| Mar 18, 2014
Charles Dalluge joins DLR Group as president, COO
CEO Griff Davenport announces addition of Dalluge to executive leadership team
| Mar 17, 2014
Rem Koolhaas explains China's plans for its 'ghost cities'
China's goal, according to Koolhaas, is to de-incentivize migration into already overcrowded cities.
| Mar 13, 2014
Do you really 'always turn right'?
The first visitor center we designed was the Ernest F. Coe Visitor Center for the Everglades National Park in 1993. I remember it well for a variety of reasons, not the least of which was the ongoing dialogue we had with our retail consultant. He insisted that the gift shop be located on the right as one exited the visitor center because people “always turn right.”
| Mar 13, 2014
Austria's tallest tower shimmers with striking 'folded façade' [slideshow]
The 58-story DC Tower 1 is the first of two high-rises designed by Dominique Perrault Architecture for Vienna's skyline.
| Mar 13, 2014
Simon Perkowitz to join KTGY Group
Perkowitz, the founder of Perkowitz + Ruth, will assist KTGY in responding to the demands and further development of its growing retail/commercial division.
| Mar 12, 2014
London grows up: 236 tall buildings to be added to skyline in coming decade, says think tank
The vast majority of high-rise projects in the works are residential towers, which could help tackle the city's housing crisis, according to a new report by New London Architecture.