1 Clinton Street

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1 Clinton Street
1 Clinton Street is located in New York City
1 Clinton Street
General information
StatusUnder construction
TypeMixed use
LocationBrooklyn, New York
Coordinates40°41′44″N 73°59′29″W / 40.695688°N 73.991369°W / 40.695688; -73.991369Coordinates: 40°41′44″N 73°59′29″W / 40.695688°N 73.991369°W / 40.695688; -73.991369
Design and construction
ArchitectMarvel Architects

1 Clinton Street (previously known as 280 Cadman Plaza West) is a primarily residential building under development in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Brooklyn Heights. The building will replace a preexisting branch of the Brooklyn Public Library. It is being developed by Hudson Companies and designed by Marvel Architects.

History[edit]

Revised renderings of the structure were released in June 2015. In addition, as part of the project, 114 units of affordable housing will be built on two privately-owned sites in Community Board 2. The affordable housing will not utilize any public subsidy.15 [1]

This project comes at a time when NYC’s three public library systems have seen tremendous increases in utilization rates while public funding has remained well below what’s needed to fund repair and capital costs. The partnership behind 280 Cadman Plaza West speaks to the general public’s recommendation to utilize creative partnerships and reduce libraries’ dependence on public funding. The redevelopment of 280 Cadman Plaza West is a unique opportunity to raise much needed capital to pay for deferred maintenance for other branches and to build an efficient and inspiring state-of-the-art library. The new Brooklyn Heights Branch will be the largest branch in the BPL system. The Brooklyn Heights branch library has been relocated to 109 Remsen Street, five blocks from the current location, to a renovated space at Our Lady of Lebanon Church. The interim library opened to the public in July 2016.[2]

Architecture[edit]

The Brooklyn Public Library at 280 Cadman Plaza was built in 1962. The library was originally designed to serve as a library, as well as a fallout shelter. The two-story building had been open for half a century, when it was decided that the land would be redeveloped. Over that time the building had accrued much overdue maintenance. The Department of Design and Construction and a third party consultant separately assessed the property and agreed that the building had roughly $9 million worth of overdue capital needs. The building needed $3.6 million for a new heating, ventilation, and air cooling system. $4.2 million were needed for upgrades to the boiler, lighting, roof, and site drainage. $1 million would be required for new elevators. Lastly, $500 thousand were needed for fire safety and security enhancements, which are held to a higher standard since the building was built.[3]

These large outstanding costs were big contributing factors in the decision to redevelop the location. Demolition plans for the site were filed and approved in March 2017, and demolition proceeded as planned.[4] Hudson Companies, the developer of the project, is looking to turn the public library into a 36-story condominium building with a new high-tech public library at the base. The new building will be 409 feet tall, with as much as 294,773 square feet total. The new designs have a total of 134 total units. 8 apartments will be placed on the second floor of the building, twelve units will be on the third floor, and eight on the fourth. All of the floors above that will have fewer, larger, units. The average size of the units will be 2,064 square feet, with a total of 276,662 square feet which will be allocated to residential space. The lower three floors which will replace the old Brooklyn Library, and should span 26,624 square feet. The main entrance to the library will be on Cadman Plaza West. The building will also include a 9,000 square foot STEM Lab which will be made available to students in school district 13. Finally, a 930 square foot retail space will take up the remainder of the first floor.[5]

The architects of record for the new library and condominium (Marvel Architects) have gone with a contemporary design that should be practical while incorporating minimalism which will reduce how dated the building looks as it ages. As Marvel Architects states, “a minimalist, highly repetitive, gridded facade clad in limestone gives the building an elegant presence within the varied urban context. The building’s distinct shape comes from its triangular footprint, creating three façades that address different parts of the city: the harbor to the southwest, Manhattan’s Midtown to the north, and the carpet of brownstone Brooklyn to the east.” [6]

There is some controversy regarding the two bas-reliefs which were made by Clemente Spampinato, which had to be removed before demolition could commence. Deputy Director of the PDC Keri Butler said of the bas-reliefs, “The Public Design Commission has reviewed the methods and materials for removing the artworks from the facade of the library and temporarily storing them, and has found these methods to be appropriate with the understanding that a proposal for relocating the artworks within the new development at 280 Cadman Plaza West will be submitted by September 2017.” [7]

Controversy[edit]

The sale of the building caused controversy. The site previously held a branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, and initial proposals involving the sale of the site were opposed by two organizations: Citizens Defending Libraries and Love Brooklyn Libraries. Concerns included increased traffic, overpopulation of the local schools, the decrease of the library's space, and worries over the developer's pledge to provide affordable housing. The Brooklyn Public Library provided a defense of the sale, stating in front of city council that it receives insufficient funds from the city. However, a complaint sent to the city and state attorney general alleges that the Public Library has over $100 million in unspent funds.

Usage[edit]

The building will be residential, with the exception of a small retail space and first floor library branch.[8] As part of the deal through which Hudson was given development rights,[9] 114 units of affordable housing will be built in Clinton Hill. The project also includes a dedicated science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education lab for the local school district and a small library branch in DUMBO, amenities negotiated by Councilmember Stephen Levin during the ULURP process.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kramer’s, David (23 September 2015). "David Kramer's Hudson Companies Is Making Waves in Brooklyn—Starting With a New Library". Hudson.
  2. ^ "280 Cadman Plaza West Brooklyn, NY". Hudson.
  3. ^ "280 Cadman Plaza West". Hudson Incorporated. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  4. ^ Warerkar, Tanay (19 June 2017). "Brooklyn Heights Library demolished ahead of its condo-filled future". Curbed New York. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  5. ^ Baird Remba, Rebecca (21 January 2016). "Hudson Files For Brooklyn Heights Library Redevelopment, 1 Clinton Street". New York Yimby. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  6. ^ "1 Clinton | 280 Cadman Plaza West". Marvel Architects. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  7. ^ Wachs, Audrey (9 March 2017). "Here's where art on the facade of the Brooklyn Heights library will go". The Architects Newspaper. Retrieved 19 October 2017.
  8. ^ Rosenberg, Zoe (16 December 2015). "Controversial Brooklyn Library Plan Gets City Council Approval". Curbed. Retrieved 7 May 2016.
  9. ^ http://www.brooklyneagle.com/articles/2016/10/31/developer-to-demolish-brooklyn-heights-library