Co-Living High-Rise Going Up On Slave Theater Lot, Records Show

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — A co-living high-rise will be on the former site of the site of the historic Slave Theatre, an epicenter of African-focused performance art and activism which was torn down in 2017, city records show.

The Collective, the London company that bought 1215 Fulton St. for $32.5 million, filed plans last week that provide more detail on the 10-story co-living building it plans to build on the site, Department of Buildings records show.

Ismael Leyva Architects — a Brooklyn firm with developments in Manhattan, Seattle and Qatar — is the architect on record, but a company spokesperson told Patch a design architect will be announced later this week.

Those architects will create a 150-foot-tall high-rise with 150 units, 95 parking spaces and a 30-foot backyard, records show.

There will be a total of 67,718 square feet designated for residential space and 93,630 square feet of commercial space, the filings show.

The Collective's co-living buildings provide tenants with tech company campus amenities such as fully furnished apartments come with cleaning services, wifi, access to a gym, concierge, laundry room, as well as work and event spaces, according to its website.

When developers announced plans in March to build the co-living high-rise, a spokesperson promised to develop programming in line with the vision of the Slave Theater's founder, Judge John L. Phillips, who quickly earned a reputation for hosting politically-charged performances and rallies led by some of the nations most powerful political activists.

"We acknowledge and do not take lightly the immense significance the site has to the Bedford-Stuyvesant community and beyond," The Collective said in a statement.

"We will develop our proposals with open eyes and ears, and a commitment to ensuring a positive impact for the neighborhood and the people living in it."

Phillips died in 2008 and the theater became the center of a legal battle between his estate's administrator, Samuel Boykin, and Phillips' former co-worker who fought to preserve the space, the New York Times reported at the time.

But Phillips' estate administrators eventually won control in 2013, and sold the soon-to-be demolished theater.

The Collective development that rises on Fulton Street and Bedford Avenue will include space for "publicly accessible program of events, classes, amenities and experiences focused on culture and the arts," developers stated.

"We are committed to honoring the rich history of the Slave Theater and the legacy of Judge John L. Philipps," The Collective wrote. "We are long-term operators of our projects and will be a part of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community for decades to come."