125 North 10th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 125 North 10th Street by Carter Horsley

The 86-unit residential condominium project at 125 North 10th Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn consists of two 6-story buildings connected by a large courtyard.

Robert M. Scarano Jr., one of the most prolific architects in Brooklyn, designed the building for Savanna, which also converted the former office building at 141 Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, and Investcorp, the developers. Andres Escobar and Associates handled the project's interior design.

The building is quite boldly sculptural and monumental in its exterior design, which is somewhat modified by its pale pink and beige façade palette and further modulated by its asymmetrical plan.

The sculpture courtyard garden is curated by David Alhadeff, the owner of Future Perfect, a design store on North 6th Street, which provided the furnishings and design elements in all of the project's amenity areas.

The project has 55 different floor plans and all apartments have 10-foot-plus ceilings, sustainably harvested Brazilian ipe hardwood flooring and Icestone kitchen countertops made from 100 percent recycled glass and concrete. Icestone, one of the leading "green" durable surfaces in the world, is locally manufactured in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The building also features two fully furnished rooftop decks with Manhattan skyline views, a double-height state-of-the-art fitness space with a children's playroom and yoga studio, a media room with a wet bar, a billiards lounge, refrigerated Fresh Direct storage and a large common bike storage room.

The building, which is also known as 61-63 Berry Street, was topped out in May, 2008 and in the spring of 2010, one-bedroom apartments at the project had prices starting at about $595,000 and 80 percent of the units had been sold. Prices had been reduced in early 2010.

Secure covered parking; private rooftop cabanas outfitted with gas, water and electric hookups, along with Weber gas grills; and individual storage units are also available for purchase.

The 24-hour concierge, full-time superintendent and a porter for the property are all managed by Penmark Realty Corp., one of New York's most respected building management companies.

The building is two blocks to the northeast of McCarren Park and the East River State Park is two blocks to the west. It is also 3 short blocks from the 1st Brooklyn stop on the "L" train at Bedford Avenue.

McCarren Park is bordered by Bayard, North 12th and Lorimer Streets and Nassau Avenue. It was originally called Greenpoint Park but was renamed in 1909 McCarren Park after Patrick Henry McCarren (1847-1909), a former New York State Senator.

McCarren Park is a 35-acre public park in New York City, USA. It is located in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn, and is bordered by Nassau Avenue, Bayard Street, Lorimer Street and North 12th Street. It is operated by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation.

The park is used for softball, volleyball, soccer, handball, and other games as well as running and sunbathing and dog-walking.

It has hosted craft fairs and rock concerts.

The McCarren Pool was the eighth of eleven giant pools built by the Works Progress Administration to open during the summer of 1936. With an original capacity for 6800 swimmers, the pool served as the summertime social hub for Greenpoint and Williamsburg. Wikipedia's entry for the park correctly observes that pool's "building's vast scale and dramatic arches, designed by Aymar Embury II, typify the generous and heroic spirit of New Deal architecture."

The pool, however, was closed in 1984. "The reuse and reconstruction of the pool remained a contentious community issue for many years, until the community came to a consensus plan in 2001. The community sought to reconstruct the facility to encompass a skate park, an indoor recreation/performance center, and a smaller pool that could be converted to a seasonal ice rink. The plan was estimated to cost $26 million and had a good chance of receiving public funding, but unfortunately, the budgetary constraints of the City post-9/11 shelved the plan and the pool remained abandoned for the next few years," according to the Wikipedia entry.

As part of the 2005 rezoning of Greenpoint and Williamsburg the City appropriated $1 million in capital budget funds for restoration of the pool as a performance space, and the next year the City Council allocated $300,000 to support the construction of a season rink.

In April, 2007, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that a $50 million reconstruction of the pool was being funded as part of the City's PlaNYC long-term planning initiative. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission approved of the pool's renovation plan on September 9, 2008. Final design renderings were completed in February 2009, and renovation work began in December 2009.