The Lewis Steel Building, 76 North 4th Street: Review and Ratings

Review of 76 North 4th Street by Carter Horsley

This attractive, 5-story building at 76^th North 4^th Street between Berry Street and Wythe Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn was erected in the 1930s as the Lewis Steel Products factory.

It was converted to 83 rental apartments in 2014 and is Lewis Steel Building and was formerly known as the Steelworks Lofts when its conversion was initially planned as a condominium.

Fifth Square Partners, of which Jacob Toll and Cayuga Capital Management are the principals, was the converter.  Mr. Toll is the son of Robert Toll, the chairman of Toll Brothers.

Hustvedt Cutler was the architectural firm and it replaced Gene Kaufman when the building’s had been planned as a condominium.

Bottom Line

A brown-brick base with unusual façade textures topped with a white rooftop addition with slanted skylights that is not very contextual but quite attractive and smart in an upside-down “spats” fashion that is just fine for onery Williamsburg.

Description

This building is a brown-brick building with some rusticated masonry with some parts of the façades having horizontally raised bricks and others having vertically raised bricks.

The building has a two-story white rooftop addition with some slanted skylights.

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a live-in superintendent, a garage, a fitness center, gas fireplaces, a communal bocce court, a vegetable garden, a mezzanine lounge and library, and a roof deck with cinema, communal kitchen, fire pits and private cabanas.

Apartments

Some apartments will have high, beamed ceilings.

Apartment 4B is a two-bedroom unit with a 28-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen with a 10-foot-long home-office in an alcove with a lot-line window.  The living room also opens onto a 14-foot-long terrace.

Apartment 3E is a one-bedroom unit with an entry foyer that opens onto a 43-foot-long living rare with an open kitchen and an 11-foot-wide home office and a 15-foot-long bedroom.

Apartment 3B is a studio unit with a 24-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen, and a 10-foot-wide home office.

Apartment 3K is a studio unit with an 18-foot-long living/dining room with an open kitchen with an island and a 10-foot-wide home office.