Proposed view looking west. Credit: FXCollaborative
A developer is looking to build an apartment tower on top of a historic Fort Greene church. Strekte presented a proposal to the Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday for a 27-story tower above the landmarked Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church. During the hearing, the commission reviewed plans to restore the facade of the church at 144 St. Felix Street and perform demolitions necessary to construct a 27-story tower above it. After extensive public feedback, including concerns from neighboring One Hanson Place condo residents about blocked views, the LPC asked the development team to return at a later date once it had reviewed the points raised during the testimony.
Developer Strekte, with designers FXCollaborative and ADP Architects, has proposed a tower within the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District, directly next to the landmarked Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower. Designed by architectural firm Halsey, McCormack and Helmer, the bank was converted into the One Hanson Place condominium in 2006, according to CityRealty.
Completed in 1931, the Central United Methodist Church was designed by the same architectural firm in the Neo-Gothic style. While it sits within the BAM Historic District, it is not individually landmarked. Vacant since 2019, the church shows exterior signs of wear, with more substantial interior deterioration caused by water damage.
In early 2024, the congregation sold the property to an LLC backed by Watermark Capital Group for $15 million, citing dwindling membership and rising maintenance costs. According to Brownstoner, the group had already moved to Grace United Methodist Church in Park Slope.
A vacant lot behind the church at 130 St. Felix Street was also slated for a controversial 23-story condo tower, which would have included affordable apartments and space for the Brooklyn Music School. So far, no new city records have been filed for the project, aside from an October 24 permit application for foundation work tied to a parking lot.
First presented to the land use committee of Brooklyn Community Board 2 in November, the plan calls for restoring the church’s facades on St. Felix Street and Hanson Place. Work would include repairing masonry and cast-stone ornamentation, restoring stained glass, preserving religious iconography, replacing windows to meet light and air requirements, and adding new doors, skylights, a roof, and retail and community spaces.
The planned 27-story tower would feature a massing that gradually steps down along Hanson Place and St. Felix Street.
The project would contain 240 apartments, 25 percent of which—60 units—would be permanently affordable.
The community board ultimately voted to disapprove the proposal, telling Brownstoner that although they supported redeveloping the church, the proposed tower “does not fit the character of our historic neighborhood and is inappropriate for the site.”
Before the meeting, the community board reviewed 73 written comments opposing the project, citing blocked views of One Hanson Place, threats to the historic district’s integrity, and concerns about traffic and infrastructure.
During Tuesday’s hearing, attendees echoed these concerns and raised additional issues, providing so much feedback that the LPC ended the session without a decision and asked the applicants to return after reviewing the comments.
A spokesperson for the group Preserve BAMs Historic District, formed to challenge the previous plans for 130 St. Felix Street, spoke on behalf of group member Charles Cohen, opposing the structure in its entirety.
“Back in 2010, BAM Fisher wanted to erect a tower on Ashland Place. Landmarks would not accept its plan and limited its height to seven stories,” she said. “This set a precedent that no structure within the historic district could be built higher than the BAM.”
“Recently, the building at 147 St. Felix Street, directly across from the proposed humongous structure at 144 St. Felix, was also limited to three stories to conform to the height of all the buildings on the street. This precedent has been firmly established in the BAM Historic District. The church site also needs to conform to this standard.”
The spokesperson also noted that Halsey, McCormack, and Helmer, who designed both the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and the church, intentionally kept the church’s height low to preserve “the magnificent view of the bank tower.”
“The proposed project at 144 would totally block out the original, unobstructed, grand design of the bank building from the east,” she said. “This building has received two separate protections from LPC—these designations must be respected.”
Supporters say the project will provide much-needed housing to the area, raise property values, and restore the long-vacant site, which many consider an eyesore.
At the hearing, Mark Landolina, senior director of real estate and economic development at the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, spoke on behalf of President Regina Myer, expressing the group’s “strong support” for the project.
“We believe the proposal represents the kind of thoughtful, forward-looking development that keeps Downtown Brooklyn growing in the right way,” Landolina said. “The church building on this site has been vacant and behind scaffolding for years. It’s an important part of the BAM Historic District, but it has been steadily deteriorating for decades, to the point where the roof and interior are far beyond saving.”
He added, “This project finally provides a realistic path to restore and preserve a portion of the church and its exterior facade, bringing new life to a building that has been a blight on the neighborhood for far too long.”
After public testimony concluded, an LPC spokesperson said the commission received approval letters from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce and 65 individual supporters, alongside numerous letters of opposition from local neighborhood associations and 95 individuals.
Closing the meeting, LPC Vice Chair Angie Master thanked respondents for their extensive feedback and said the applicants would return at a later date.
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