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
Building Technology | Jun 18, 2024
Could ‘smart’ building facades heat and cool buildings?
A promising research project looks at the possibilities for thermoelectric systems to thermally condition buildings, writes Mahsa Farid Mohajer, Sustainable Building Analyst with Stantec.
University Buildings | Jun 18, 2024
UC Riverside’s new School of Medicine building supports team-based learning, showcases passive design strategies
The University of California, Riverside, School of Medicine has opened the 94,576-sf, five-floor Education Building II (EDII). Created by the design-build team of CO Architects and Hensel Phelps, the medical school’s new home supports team-based student learning, offers social spaces, and provides departmental offices for faculty and staff.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 18, 2024
A healthcare simulation technology consultant can save time, money, and headaches
As the demand for skilled healthcare professionals continues to rise, healthcare simulation is playing an increasingly vital role in the skill development, compliance, and continuing education of the clinical workforce.
Mass Timber | Jun 17, 2024
British Columbia hospital features mass timber community hall
The Cowichan District Hospital Replacement Project in Duncan, British Columbia, features an expansive community hall featuring mass timber construction. The hall, designed to promote social interaction and connection to give patients, families, and staff a warm and welcoming environment, connects a Diagnostic and Treatment (“D&T”) Block and Inpatient Tower.
Concrete Technology | Jun 17, 2024
MIT researchers are working on a way to use concrete as an electric battery
Researchers at MIT have developed a concrete mixture that can store electrical energy. The researchers say the mixture of water, cement, and carbon black could be used for building foundations and street paving.
Codes and Standards | Jun 17, 2024
Federal government releases national definition of a zero emissions building
The U.S. Department of Energy has released a new national definition of a zero emissions building. The definition is intended to provide industry guidance to support new and existing commercial and residential buildings to move towards zero emissions across the entire building sector, DOE says.
Multifamily Housing | Jun 14, 2024
AEC inspections are the key to financially viable office to residential adaptive reuse projects
About a year ago our industry was abuzz with an idea that seemed like a one-shot miracle cure for both the shockingly high rate of office vacancies and the worsening housing shortage. The seemingly simple idea of converting empty office buildings to multifamily residential seemed like an easy and elegant solution. However, in the intervening months we’ve seen only a handful of these conversions, despite near universal enthusiasm for the concept.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 13, 2024
Top 10 trends in the hospital facilities market
BD+C evaluated more than a dozen of the nation's most prominent hospital construction projects to identify trends that are driving hospital design and construction in the $67 billion healthcare sector. Here’s what we found.
Adaptive Reuse | Jun 13, 2024
4 ways to transform old buildings into modern assets
As cities grow, their office inventories remain largely stagnant. Yet despite changes to the market—including the impact of hybrid work—opportunities still exist. Enter: “Midlife Metamorphosis.”
Affordable Housing | Jun 12, 2024
Studio Libeskind designs 190 affordable housing apartments for seniors
In Brooklyn, New York, the recently opened Atrium at Sumner offers 132,418 sf of affordable housing for seniors. The $132 million project includes 190 apartments—132 of them available to senior households earning below or at 50% of the area median income and 57 units available to formerly homeless seniors.
