The Red Hook Lofts, 160 Imlay Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 160 Imlay Street by Carter Horsley

This huge, 6-story industrial building at 160 Imlay Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn is being converted to 70 residential condominiums by Est4te Four, of which Massimiliano Senise is a principal and which created a fashion district known as Zona Tortona in Milan, Italy, with offices and showrooms for fashion designers.

Future Green Studios was the landscape architect and Aldo Andreoli of AA Studio and Morris Adjmi Architects were responsible for the design of the conversion.

The structure was one of twin loft buildings erected in 1911-3 by The New York Dock Company.  The other building at 62 Imlay Street was converted a few years ago as an art warehouse by Christie’s, the auction house.

According to April 30, 2012 article by Will Ellis at AbandonedNYC.com, “they made up a small part of a ‘globe-encircling commercial undertaking,’ which included a sprawling network of 200 warehouses, 39 piers, and three ship-to-rail freight terminals extending over three miles of the Brooklyn Waterfront.”

“Rapidly declining profits and outdated infrastructure resulted in a cessation of operations in 1983,” the article said.

A February 9, 2003 article by Tara Bahrampour in The New York Times reported on a battle over turning the building, a former book warehouse, into loft-style condominiums by added three stories to the 6-story, 220,000-square-foot building and converting it to 140 apartments with a rooftop swimming pool with space for artists and art galleries on the ground floor.

Although John McGettrick, the co-chairman of the Red Hook Civic Organization told the reporter that an influx of new residents would help revitalize “a neighborhood that has lost half its population in the last 40 years as maritime jobs moved to New Jersey,” Community Board 6 voted against the project, the article said.

An August 24, 2009 article in The New York Times by Diane Cardwell said that “the developer Bruce B. Federman…bought them in 2000 and 2002 for about $22 million altogether.”

“One of the largest commercial and industrial landlords in the city, Mr. Federman planned to capitalize on the proximity to Lower Manhattan and spectacular views across New York Harbor by converting the industrial lofts to high-end apartments,” the article continued.

“He moved first on 160 Imlay,” according to the article, “winning a variance in 2003 from the Board of Standards and Appeals to change the use from manufacturing to residential.  His partner is Bruce Batkin.  Construction, however, was delayed by a lawsuit from the Red Hook Gowanus Chamber of Commerce, which sought to preserve the site’s industrial use.  By the time Mr. Federman won the right to proceed in 2007, he said, the residential market was already questionable, so he postponed the project and turned his attention to 62 Imlay, deciding a long-term commercial tenant would make more sense.”

Bottom Line

This huge and very attractive 6-story former industrial building in Red Hook with sweeping harbor vistas on its top floors has large apartments with high ceilings.

Description

This handsome concrete building has a very attractive roofline with small arches with slanted bases and the façade piers have decorative tops that extend a bit above the arched balustrades.

The long façades have two large screens extending upwards from the arched roofline and they have “New York Dock Co” incised on their fronts.  There is also an attractive three-story mechanical space setback with narrow arches at the top in the center of the roof.  The “screens” are above a group of four windows that have a common glass-railed balcony on the top five floors.

The multi-paned fenestration is quite attractive.

The entrance has a large marquee.

There are 44 parking spaces.

Amenities

The building will have a landscaped roof deck with a lounge with fireplace, a fitness center, a 24-hour doorman, a superintendent, storage, bicycle room, landscaped rear garden and self-parking under a canopy covered with vegetation.

Apartments

Most apartments will have ceilings of 12 to 16 feet.  Windows are double-glazed with two operable panels.  Kitchens are by Dada Molteni of Italy with white matte lacquer with a pass-through island and Miele appliances.  Floors will be wide-plank white oak.  All units will have washers and dryers and Duravit toilets, bidets and bathtubs.

Apartment 6D1 is a “U”-shaped “white box studio with 3,429 square feet.

Apartment 4B1 is a three-bedroom unit with 2,753 square feet and 274 square feet of outdoor space with a 32-foot-long living/dining room and a 21-foot-wide open kitchen with an island and a 13-foot-long entry foyer.

Apartment 4C2 is a three-bedroom unit with 2,767 square feet and an 8-foot-long entry foyer that leads to a 33-foot-long living/dining room and a 16-foot-wide open kitchen with an island.

Apartment 3A2 is a two-bedroom unit with 1,376 square feet and a 14-foot-long entry foyer leading to a 14-foot-wide open kitchen with an island and a 34-foot-long living/dining room.

Apartment 3D1 is a one-bedroom unit with 1,032 square feet and a 16-foot-square living/dining room adjacent to a 16-foot-wide open kitchen with an island that is next to a 10-foot-wide study.

History

An 83-page history of the New York Dock Company can be found at http://www.trainweb.org/bedt/indloco/nyd/html.