Carter's Review

This very handsome, landmark building at 248 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn was erected in 1893 and its upper floors were converted to residential use in 2017 by United American Land.  The lower floors are commercial and have Nordstrom Rack and Old Navy as tenants.  United American also has a modern retail building next door, which houses an H&M, according to a January 19, 2017 article in the features section of CityRealty.com.

The 7-story building, which is known as Offerman House, has 121 rental apartments on the top five floors.

Greenberg Farrow Architects designed the conversion.

The CityRealty.com article said that the building was originally designed by Peter J. Lauritzen for Henry Offerman, the president of the Brooklyn Sugar Refinery, and was designed for S. Wechsler & Brother, a dry goods department store.

The article noted that the building’s landmarks designation report said that “when Fulton Street had an elevated train line traversing it, passengers could catch glimpses into its second story sales-floor and admire the building’s elaborate details.”

Bottom Line

A very handsome 1893 department store building with an impressive Italian Renaissance palazzo-style façade and it was partially converted to residential use in 2017. 

Description

The building has a main façade of light-colored brick, terracotta and limestone and large arched windows on its ground-floor, many smaller arched windows on its fifth floor and even smaller arched windows on its sixth floor beneath a decorative cornice line.

A new, setback top floor has apartments with terraces. and the large roof deck above that has a movie screening area, lawns, grilling stations and lounge areas.

The building has a 30-foot-high rotunda with a circular skylight.

Amenities

The building has a doorman, a fitness center, a co-working space, a library, a party room, a bicycle room, storage and multiple laundry rooms. The building also has an entrance marquee and a large roof deck with cabanas, a movie screening area, lawns, grilling stations, a mist station, and lounge areas.

Apartments

Some apartments have 15-foot ceilings and cast-iron columns.

Apartments have washers and dryers, stainless steel Fisher & Paykel kitchen appliances, Scavolini kitchen cabinetry and Caesarstone countertops.  Bathrooms have Waterworks fixtures and deep soaking Kohler tubs.

Apartment 3F is a two-bedroom unit with a long entry hall that leads to a living/dining room with an open kitchen against an angled wall and the bedrooms have also have angled walls.

Apartment 3A is a studio unit with a curved entry foyer with an open kitchen that leads to a living/dining room with a short angled wall.

Apartment 4M is a studio unit with a large alcove that leads to a pass-through open kitchen and a living/dining room.

Apartment 4T is a studio unit with a home office and a living/dining room with an open kitchen.

Apartment 7B is a studio unit with an angled living/dining room with an open kitchen.