EWEN, 245 Manhattan Avenue: Review and Ratings

Review of 245 Manhattan Avenue by Carter Horsley

This very elegant, 5-story condominium apartment building at 245 Manhattan Avenue near Powers Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, was erected in 2016 by the East River Capital Group and boasts a very robust and modern Japanese-style façade designed by Mortar Architecture and Development.

It is known as The Ewen and has 10 apartments.  The building is on a street known until 1866 as Ewen for Daniel Ewen, a city surveyor.

Bottom Line

This very attractive, low-rise development has no samurai warriors at its entrance, but reeks with the Japanese tradition of restrained and impressive design, in this case, Shou-Sugi Ban.

Description

The building is distinguished by its building-wide marquee of charred cypress wood and long spandrels of a darker cypress wood between black metal piers and glass recessed terrace railings.

The cypress wood is also showcased in the building’s lobby and elevator bank.

Many of the façade’s windows are multi-paned and some of the show enclosures in the apartments are also black metal multi-paned.

The top floor is setback.

According to the architect, the façade is a “carefully composed relationship of sustainably sourced Japanese inspired Shou-Sugi Ban – charred wood cladding” with metal and glass.

The building has two duplex townhomes with private street-level parking.

Apartments

Apartments feature direct elevator access, open kitchens and modern custom baths.

Penthouse B is a two-bedroom duplex with 1,001 square feet of interior space and 933 square feet external space with a 16-foot-wide living/dining room with an open kitchen with an island opening onto a large terrace and a bedroom with a balcony on the lower level and another bedroom on the upper level with a large private terrace.