Renderings of 550 Clinton Avenue (Credit Hope Street Capital/Morris Adjmi Architects)
A major milestone has been reached for 550 Clinton Avenue, a 29-story, 312-foot-tall tower planned at the intersection of Atlantic and Clinton avenues in Brooklyn. According to the Commercial Observer, Jeffrey Gershon’s Hope Street Capital has secured a $180.3 million loan from Square Mile Capital Management and Pacific Western Bank for the construction of the 280,000-square-foot project, which will include 50,000 square feet of commercial space and 284 apartments.
The Clinton Hill project is a significant example of mutually beneficial collaboration between the developer and the public: in exchange for development rights, the builder will restore the facade of the nearby Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew, an officially-designated landmark.
The Clinton Hill project is a significant example of mutually beneficial collaboration between the developer and the public: in exchange for development rights, the builder will restore the facade of the nearby Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew, an officially-designated landmark.
Church of St. Luke and St. Matthew prepares for a major renovation (CityRealty)
550 Clinton Avenue site as of November 2019 (CityRealty)
The project comes with ground-floor retail and a co-working center, as well as resident amenities such as a fitness center, a game lounge, and an outdoor pool atop the massive four-story podium. Morris Adjmi Architects’ staggered-pattern facade, reminiscent of The Artisan rental tower under construction at Essex Crossing, angles inward at the building base, creating a dramatic cantilever and a distinct skyline profile. Though the gesture opens extra resident space at the podium deck and creates larger floor plates at desirable upper stories, its genesis likely lies in its relation to the Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew, allowing its belfry to remain visible from Atlantic Avenue, a feature that would had been unavailable had the site been built out as-of-right rather than in a tower-on-a-podium scheme.
550 Clinton Avenue. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
550 Clinton Avenue. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
550 Clinton Avenue. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
The tower would stand at the tripoint at the intersection of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Prospect Heights, advancing the eastern vanguard of the greater Downtown Brooklyn skyline. The nearest similarly-sized building is the 17-story, 278-unit condo at 550 Vanderbilt, built two blocks south in 2017 as part of the greater Pacific Park development. 550 Vanderbilt’s currently listed condos, which range from studios to four bedrooms and run from $650K to $5.995 million, give us a general idea of what to expect at 550 Clinton. The 13-story rental rising across the street at 525 Clinton Avenue will further soften the scale transition between the new skyscraper and the surrounding neighborhood.
After a deal with the Landmarks Preservation Commission, the developer will undertake a full facade restoration [PDF link] of the church designed by architect John Welch in an ornate Romanesque style and completed in 1891. The process will involve extensive cleaning and replacement of the building’s brownstone, sandstone, and granite features, as well as new slate shingles and a replacement for the metal cross atop the belfry. The mutually-beneficial exchange, which restores a local landmark while bringing hundreds of apartments to a housing crisis-stricken city, is a positive example of civic-minded development that ought to be emulated where possible.
As 550 Clinton rises over the coming years, the tower may quickly find itself among new company. Across the street from the 551-foot rental currently under construction at 18 Sixth Avenue, several high-rises are set to begin construction next year as part of Pacific Park. Such density is welcome in an area that has some of the city’s best transit access outside of Manhattan, with nearly a dozen subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road converging at or near the proximate Atlantic Terminal, allowing for rapid commute to Manhattan; 550 Clinton sits less than a block away from the Clinton-Washington Avenue station of the C train. The six-lane Atlantic Avenue is a proper promenade for a skyscraper corridor, and new public space planned at Pacific Park will supplement the parks and playgrounds already scattered around the neighborhood.
550 Clinton Avenue. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
Church of St. Luke & St. Matthew. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
View corridor comparison. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
550 Clinton Avenue and Pacific Park. Credit: Morris Adjmi Architects
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