Plans To Demolish Landmarked Bed-Stuy Garage Gets CB's OK

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN -- Plans to knock down a historically landmarked garage for a modern residential complex can move forward after the Bed-Stuy community board approved developers' plans Monday night.

Community Board 3 members voted unanimously to support plans to demolish a landmarked one-story garage at 524 Halsey St. into a four-story apartment building during its monthly meeting on Dec. 3.

The Brooklyn Home Company and architect Ilya Vilnits presented renderings that call for tearing down the utilitarian garage, once known as the Brown & Brown Taxis & Limousine Service Building, the Landmarks Committee in November, according to the Community Board.

The garage and its neighbor, a three-story Queen Anne style garage designed by Alex S. Hedmen in 1904, both situated in the Expanded Stuyvesant Heights Historic District.

Developers plan to expand the larger garage on the site of the smaller and convert the structure into a 35-apartment building, according to plans.

Developers from Brookland Capital first submitted renovation plans to the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2017 but were told to go back to the drawing board, New York YIMBY reported at the time.

The design, which called for vertically expanding the garage and demolishing a smaller building next door, "could certainly benefit from further finesse," the committee reportedly said.

Plans approved by CB3 on Monday include a list of new "finesses," such as restoring the building's original doors and brick, removing balconies, planting seven street trees and restructuring the fencing, members said.

The vote went through with 36 votes and a recommendation from the community board's Landmarks Committee.

Navon Somekh bought the Queen Anne-style garage, which was designed by Axel Hedman in 1904, for $8.2 million in December 2015, city records show.

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps