Handsome, red-brick commercial building at 372 Broome Street being converted

The very handsome, 6-story building at 372 Broome Street at Mott Street is being converted to 14 residential condominiums by Little Red House, LLC, of which Ross Morgan is a principal.

Randall Collins is the architect for the conversion.

The nicely proportioned building formerly housed Brewster & Co., and Flandrau & Co., horse carriage makers.

According to an article today by Pete at curbed.com, "the renovation required restructuring below grade, necessitated by water damage around the old basement supports." The article described the building as "a grand old stack of bricks" and indicated that "by the mid-1900s the building was home to DeMartini Globe Canvas, the "undisputed original" creator of the NYC bike messenger bag."

"The cornice atop the articulated red-brick facade has been restored, newly installed brownstone arches now frame doorways on Mott, and the cast iron storefront along Broome, bold in black, looks as good as new," the article continued.

Many of the building's windows are multipaned.

Because the building is located in the Special Little Italy District, it applied for a special permit and Community Board 2 voted unanimously November 20, 2008 to recommend that the permit be granted.

The Borough President also recommending that the permit be granted but expressed concern that the applicant contended that there was no readily available data about the neighborhood's industrial vacancy rate, claiming that such a rate "is no longer a viable indicator proving the availability of alternative space, because most nearby industrial buildings have already been converted to residential space and there remains little demand in the area for more commercial space." The Borough President argued that if the City Planning Commission agrees that the vacancy rate is not a relevant factor it should consider amending the Zoning Resolution to eliminate its requirement.

The commission found the granting of a special permit appropriate because of the extensive efforts of the applicant to market the upper floor spaces for commercial usage and it found that the proposed residential uses "will not burden the surrounding neighborhood."