Bayard Street fronting on McCarren Park in the Greenpoint section of Brooklyn is one of the city's most remarkable real estate development stories in recent years.

Five different parcels have been built with four completely different architectural styles. Three of them were designed by Karl Fischer, who has become one of the most prolific architects active in Brooklyn, for developer Issac Hager.

The fourth building and probably the most interesting for its very bold but rather bizarre design is known as the Lotus and its address is 2 Bayard Street and it is also known as 610 Union Avenue. It was designed by Abraham Hertzberg of Hertzberg & Sanchez.

This 17-story, 64-unit building at 20 Bayard, which is also known as 17 and 27-35 Richardson Street, is the tallest on the block and has the most impressive entrance with a "grand double staircase."

In June, 2010, a New York State Supreme Court judge awarded an $8.7 million judgment against its developers who were unable to refinance their mortgage loan after the building when into Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2009.

W Financial and BRT Realty Trust were awarded the judgment after the developers withdrew their motion to oppose the action.

Isaac Hager, president of North Development Group, Moshe Lax, president of Dynamic Diamond, and the estate of the late Chaim Lax, had personally guaranteed the funds, which represented half of the existing $17.4 million mortgage remaining on the property, according to June 18, 2010 article by David Jones at therealdeal.com.

Mr. Hager had put the residential condominium building into bankruptcy in December, 2009, after he was unable to refinance the mortgage, the article maintained, adding that the developers remain in charge of the building and "further court hearings are scheduled on whether the court will enforce the proposed reorganization plan.

According to an article at brownstoner.com, "the developers managed to sell about half the units at 20 Bayard before throwing in the towel and deciding to rent the rest of them.

The red-brick building has some setbacks and some curved balconies and double-height angled windows on the top floor. It has many large bay windows at the sides of its frontage on Bayard Street and a very dramatic, multi-step-up entrance.

The mid-block building's facade is symmetrical except for large curved windows in its center on the 11th and 12th floors.

The building has a doorman, a fitness center, a garage, a children's playroom, a roof deck, a pet spa, a garden and cold storage.

Apartments have maple plank floors, 9-foot-5-inch ceilings and floor-to-ceiling windows and kitchens have Sub-Zero refrigerators.

Andres Escobar & Associates were in charge of interior design.

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.