PRESS | CITYREALTY
MOROZOV PROJECT | 144 WEST ST, GREENPOINT
As we begin a new decade, it's interesting to watch the city's renaissance of masonry architecture. While the original Blade Runner, set in 2019, predicted a future of dehumanizing metal, glass, and LED-screened buildings, it appears our earthly souls stubbornly savor substance. Among the innumerable brick and/or stone projects going up across the city is 144 West Street, a modest-in-scale 25-unit development coming together near Greenpoint's East River shore. The still-abuzz construction site is found at the corner of India Street, an earshot from the foghorn's of the NYC Ferry and across from the megaprojects of 53 Huron Street and The Greenpoint.
The structure topped out in recent weeks. Though well behind its original 2017 completion date, 144 West will likely debut its 'luxury' collection of rental apartments by year-end. The venture is being brought forward by Barone Management, Matt Development, and Caspi; the firm GF55 Partners is leading the bricky design. Back in 2015, David Gross, a partner at GF55, told YIMBY, "Our idea was to capture that feeling of factories with dark brick and lots of mullions on the windows.”
There will be 13 studios, 10 one-bedrooms, and a pair of two-bedroom units. Utilizing an incentive that provides for a slightly larger building, the developers will set aside five apartments at below-market-rate rents. Interiors will don vaulted ceilings, reclaimed woods and several units will be provided a private outdoor space. According to Morozov, the MEP engineers, the building will be cooled and heated with a variable-refrigerant flow system instead of less efficient gas-fired boilers. Additionally, hot water provided to apartments will be generated via refrigerant-based heat pump water heaters. "Not relying on gas for heating will save 150 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions," explains Morozov.
Shared amenities are to include a lounge and a wet bar on the first floor, a bike room, and 9 parking spaces on the first floor (silly). Though dragging his feet on waiving parking requirements in transit-rich areas, Mayor Bill de Blasio adamantly wants us to believe he is a climate change warrior.
