110 Livingston Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 110 Livingston Street by Carter Horsley

The impressive office building at 110 Livingston Street in Downtown Brooklyn was significantly enlarged by Two Trees Management in a major residential conversion and addition that opened in 2008. 

The handsome original Renaissance Revival-style building was designed by McKim Mead & White and is an official city landmark. The conversion, which included a very large, “modern,” setback addition, was designed by Ismael Leyva Architects PPC. 

The 12-story building has 299 condominium apartments and is also known a 22-38 Boerum Place and 81-95 Schermerhorn Street. 

The building was erected in 1925 to house the Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks and in 1940 it became the headquarters for the New York City Board of Education. 

Two Trees acquired 110 Livingston Street in 2003 and commissioned photorealist painter Richard Haas to design a large mural for the courtyard. 

The lobby has been restored by Beyer Blinder Belle and a local arts organization is using the building’s former hall on the ground floor as theater space. 

Bottom Line

A large Beaux-Arts office building by McKim, Mead & White was converted to apartments in 2008 by Two Tress and now sports a handsome and not very discrete but quite attractive, set-back, blue-metallic roof addition and a large courtyard mural by Richard Haas. 

Description

The Beaux-Arts building has a two-story, rusticated limestone base with large arched windows at the second story and a balustrade at the third floor. 

The third through the fifth floors have rusticated stone piers with a beige masonry façade with a bandcourse above the fifth floor. 

The sixth through the 11^th floors have beige masonry façades from piers between every second bay and a bandcourse above the 11^th floor and a cornice about the 12^th floor.  

The four top floors are recessed and have protruding rectangular bay windows in a pale-blue metallic façade that has nothing to do with the base of the building but is cool enough in tone to almost recede into the sky and articulated enough to pay proper homage to the detailing of the base. 

Amenities

It has a concierge, a doorman, a fitness center, a roof deck with cabanas, a bicycle room, a live-in superintendent, a laundry, and a garage.

Apartments

Apartments have bamboo floors, marble baths, Sub-Zero, Viking, Bosch and Thermador kitchen appliances. 

Apartment 16C is a three-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to an open, windowed kitchen with an island and a 35-foot-long living/dining room. 

Penthouse A is a two-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past a 10-foot-long, pass-through kitchen to a 21-foot-long, living/dining room with a spiral staircase to a 30-foot-long roof terrace. 

Apartment 17E is a three-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads to a 36-foot-long living/dining room with corner windows and an open, pass-through kitchen. 

Apartment 10G is a three-bedroom unit with a long entry foyer that leads to a hallway that leads past an open, pass-through kitchen and a 24-foot-long, living/dining. 

Apartment 4J is a two-bedroom unit with a 17-foot-long living/dining area with a pass-through kitchen and a 33-foot-wide terrace.

Apartment 3I is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that leads past a 9-foot-long home office to a 23-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen with an island.

History

An October 19, 2006 article by Matthew Chayes in The New York Sun said that “Mayor Bloomberg called the building a ‘notorious Kremlin’ and ‘a rinkydink candy store,” adding that “The current schools chancellor called it the ‘catacombs,’ a former chancellor called it a ‘puzzle palace,’ and a former board member called it ‘dour and unpleasant.’”

After Mayor Bloomberg wrested control of the city schools and neutered the Board of Education, the 335,000-square-foot building was sold by the city to Two Trees for $45 million. 

“Its comprehensive and forward-thinking redevelopment plan for 110 Livingston,” the mayor’s statement said, “will add momentum to that exciting renaissance, and, in the process, generate millions of dollars of much-needed revenue for the city. Brooklyn residents, and all New Yorkers, will also be able to enjoy a new theater being created through the renovation of the building's 6,000-square-foot main floor. The theater will be used by a local arts group for a nominal fee, and will be one more star in Brooklyn's glittering cultural constellation. In addition, the plan for 110 Livingston addresses one of the major concerns in Downtown Brooklyn: parking. 225 below-grade parking spaces will be constructed in the building's basement and sub-basement.”

“The sale of 110 Livingston,” the statement continued, “will help us accomplish one of the most important goals of our administration: creating 65,000 units of housing in all five boroughs over the next five years, the largest affordable housing program in a generation. $4.5 million, or 10% of the proceeds generated by the sale of 110 Livingston, will be dedicated to build or renovate affordable housing in Brooklyn. New Yorkers deserve the security that only good homes in safe and stable neighborhoods can provide, and this project will help make that happen. Selling this property also fits in perfectly with our plan for the overall growth of Downtown Brooklyn. We want to capitalize on this community's remarkable assets: its great transit network; vibrant academic and cultural resources; strong corporate presence; and attractive residential neighborhoods.”

Location

An October 19, 2006 article by Matthew Chayes in The New York Sun said that “Mayor Bloomberg called the building a ‘notorious Kremlin’ and ‘a rinkydink candy store,” adding that “The current schools chancellor called it the ‘catacombs,’ a former chancellor called it a ‘puzzle palace,’ and a former board member called it ‘dour and unpleasant.’”

After Mayor Bloomberg wrested control of the city schools and neutered the Board of Education, the 335,000-square-foot building was sold by the city to Two Trees for $45 million. 

“Its comprehensive and forward-thinking redevelopment plan for 110 Livingston,” the mayor’s statement said, “will add momentum to that exciting renaissance, and, in the process, generate millions of dollars of much-needed revenue for the city. Brooklyn residents, and all New Yorkers, will also be able to enjoy a new theater being created through the renovation of the building's 6,000-square-foot main floor. The theater will be used by a local arts group for a nominal fee, and will be one more star in Brooklyn's glittering cultural constellation. In addition, the plan for 110 Livingston addresses one of the major concerns in Downtown Brooklyn: parking. 225 below-grade parking spaces will be constructed in the building's basement and sub-basement.”

“The sale of 110 Livingston,” the statement continued, “will help us accomplish one of the most important goals of our administration: creating 65,000 units of housing in all five boroughs over the next five years, the largest affordable housing program in a generation. $4.5 million, or 10% of the proceeds generated by the sale of 110 Livingston, will be dedicated to build or renovate affordable housing in Brooklyn. New Yorkers deserve the security that only good homes in safe and stable neighborhoods can provide, and this project will help make that happen. Selling this property also fits in perfectly with our plan for the overall growth of Downtown Brooklyn. We want to capitalize on this community's remarkable assets: its great transit network; vibrant academic and cultural resources; strong corporate presence; and attractive residential neighborhoods.”