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
| Feb 14, 2014
Must see: Developer stacks shipping containers atop grain silos to create student housing tower
Mill Junction will house up to 370 students and is supported by 50-year-old grain silos.
| Feb 14, 2014
The Technology Report 2014: Top tech tools and trends for AEC professionals
In this special five-part report, Building Design+Construction explores how Building Teams throughout the world are utilizing advanced robotics, 3D printers, drones, data-driven design, and breakthroughs in building information modeling to gain efficiencies and create better buildings.
| Feb 14, 2014
Crowdsourced Placemaking: How people will help shape architecture
The rise of mobile devices and social media, coupled with the use of advanced survey tools and interactive mapping apps, has created a powerful conduit through which Building Teams can capture real-time data on the public. For the first time, the masses can have a real say in how the built environment around them is formed—that is, if Building Teams are willing to listen.
| Feb 13, 2014
University officials sound off on net zero energy buildings
As part of its ongoing ZNE buildings research project, Sasaki Associates, in collaboration with Buro Happold, surveyed some 500 campus designers and representatives on the top challenges and opportunities for achieving net-zero energy performance on university and college campuses.
| Feb 13, 2014
3 keys to designing freestanding emergency departments
Having physically disassociated from a central hospital, FEDs must overcome the particular challenges associated with a satellite location, namely a lack of awareness, appeal, and credibility. Gresham, Smith & Partners' Kristin Herman-Druc offers three keys to success.
| Feb 13, 2014
Why you should start with a builder
They say the best way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. Expanding your building or constructing a new structure for your business, church, or school isn’t all that different. Attacking it is best done in small, deliberate pieces.
| Feb 13, 2014
Related Companies, LargaVista partner to develop mixed-use tower in SoHo
The site is located at the gateway to the booming SoHo retail market, where Class A office space is scarce yet highly in demand.
| Feb 12, 2014
First Look: Futuristic Silicon Valley campus designed to draw tech startups
The curved campus will consist of four different buildings, one exclusively for amenities like a coffee bar, bike shop, and bank.
| Feb 12, 2014
IIT's College of Architecture launches the Mies Crown Hall Americas Prize
Awarded biennially with a $50,000 prize, the program will recognize the most distinguished architectural works built on the North and South American continents in the preceding two years.
| Feb 11, 2014
Adobe Photoshop update features new 3D printing capabilities
Available as part of an update to Photoshop Creative Cloud, the tool enables users to easily and reliably build, refine, preview, prepare, and print 3D designs.
