The redesign of the long-vacant Polonaise Terrace (150 Greenpoint Avenue) has now been approved by the city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission, according to Brownstoner.
The space, which was originally built way back in 1898, will be modified “into a modern four-story gray brick office and retail building, which some community members had complained lacked originality.”
Though hardly any of the historical structure or detailing remains intact, the team of architects working with the developer, 144 Point Break LLC, expressed interest in keeping some of the existing structure. After a CB1 meeting in November, the team made minor changes to the overall design.
Brownstoner notes that some residents feel that the design is too generic and boring for a building that has long existed in the Greenpoint firmament (you can check out the link above to see the photos of the redesign). It does seem to adhere to the corporate, millennial gray design aesthetic that our neighbors, n+1 magazine, elucidated in their recent treatise called “Why Is Everything So Ugly?”
In the “condo is king” age in which we currently find ourselves, maybe that’s the best we can do. We take solace in the fact that the building’s location in the Greenpoint Historic District caps its development at four stories, instead of another sterile high-rise crowding up the neighborhood.
Yes, god forbid we build more housing for a more diverse Greenpoint to emerge. I really, really dislike the nativist tone Greenpointers adheres to. More housing would be great here!
It’s a retail and office building. I would also love for more (actually affordable) housing, but they’re not building that in this space.