Contested Downtown Brooklyn Tower Wins Landmark Approval

A proposal to build a 420-foot residential tower behind four landmarked row houses on Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn received approval from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission on June 9, despite opposition from preservation advocates and residents, according to Brownstoner.

The commission voted 8-1 to approve the project after reviewing several revisions over the past eight months. Developer Watermark Capital and its design team, including Acheson Doyle Partners Architects and Hill West Architects, returned with a modified proposal after commissioners previously raised concerns about the tower's relationship to the historic buildings at 182-188 Duffield St., the news site said.

The latest design reduces the tower's height by 30 feet and reworks its facade with light-orange brick, vertically organized bays and a stepped crown intended to reference architectural features of the adjacent row houses. Plans also expand the courtyard separating the tower from the historic structures and incorporate 188 Duffield St. as the primary entrance to the building, Brownstoner reported.

The project calls for restoring all four landmarked houses, with three returning to single-family residential use. The site would also include a 98-unit apartment building, with 20% of the apartments designated as affordable housing, according to Brownstoner.

Supporters of the proposal pointed to the restoration of the long-vacant houses and the revised tower design. Opponents argued that construction in the rear yard would compromise the historic character of the individual landmarks and diminish the significance of the open space behind them.

Preservation organizations, including the Victorian Society of New York, the Historic Districts Council, the New York Landmarks Conservancy and the Brooklyn Heights Association, urged the commission to reject the proposal. More than 550 people signed a petition opposing the project.

The four houses, built between the 1830s and 1847, were moved from nearby Johnson Street in 1990 during construction of the MetroTech complex. They were designated individual landmarks in 2001 as rare surviving examples of Downtown Brooklyn's early residential development.

Watermark Capital purchased the property in 2022 for $10 million.