A 99-unit residential building is coming to 72 West Street, on the corner of Milton Street. 

Crain’s New York Business first reported the story last week, sharing that “developer Yossel Lichtman is hoping to put up the apartment building at 72 West St., a parking lot he purchased Wednesday for $25.5 million.”

Jack Guttman’s Pearl Realty Management, West Street’s major landlord, sold the lot to Lichtman. Aside from a parking lot, the parcel of land also contains the iconic but obsolete Greenpoint water tower.

The sale has not yet hit public records, so details are limited, but we can only presume that the water tower has to come down. The article also reveals that the warehouses next door at 60 West Street will be converted to offices. 

As for the proposed building, Crain’s says that Lichtman could build up to a 71,000-square-foot development if he were to include affordable units under the city’s 485-x tax abatement program. However, Lichtman’s 99-unit project intentionally falls short of the 100-unit threshold that would require paying contractors at least $40 per hour. 

Losing the water tower would mark a huge architectural shift for Greenpoint, as it’s been a fixture for decades, a remnant of the area’s once-bustling industrial past. 

“The water tower once served the historic Greenpoint Terminal Market at 42, 60, & 67 West Street, a 19th-century collection of warehouses that was abandoned by the end of the 20th century and saw a massive fire in 2006,” we wrote in 2014. 

The West Street waterfront is poised for massive changes, as Pearl Realty Management has moved to sell off several parcels of land. Residential buildings are in the works at both 57 and 97 West Street (the latter of which prompted Pearl to end the leases of dozens of local business, with very short notice). Speculation continues to mount that 67 West could be next; we will share any news as soon as we find out.

We were unable to find contact info for Lichtman as of press time.