Landmarks Board Wants New Design For Crown Heights Hebron Project

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The Landmarks Preservation Commission have asked developers of a controversial apartment building on the Hebron School campus to come back with a new design for the development.

Commission members agreed Tuesday that they would not vote on the Sterling Place proposal until developers come back with a revised architectural design for the project, which has sparked opposition from hundreds of neighbors given its plan to takeover a portion of the Hebron Seventh Day Adventist School campus.

The landmarks board — whose approval is needed given the landmarked designation of the Crown Heights site — were open to the idea of building something on the Hebron campus, but said the "mega-block" building proposed by architects wasn't the right way to do so.

"Certainly this site can sustain a substantial amount of development, but this is not it in terms of height, in terms of massing," Commissioner John Gustafsson said. "This is not it."

The project, led by developers Hope Street Capital, would demolish an addition to the school to make room for a seven-story apartment building planned for the open space in back of the building.

Church leaders say the project is necessary given that $21.5 million included in the agreement with the developers will fund restoration of the Hebron school. But residents contend the massive apartment building would be a "tragedy" for the surrounding low-level brownstones and the historic school.

The size of the building, or at least its appearance as a behemoth on the block, was also an issue for the commissioners.

The board suggested either breaking up the development into multiple buildings, creating more distinction between its sections or reducing its length so there is space on either side of the block.

"If in fact the corners could be maintained and allowed for that campus to read, I could imagine a slightly taller building in sort of the middle of the block," Commissioner Adi Shamir-Baron said. "For me the issue of the campus is most important here."

The Sterling Place application will face the commission again once developers revise the design, Chair Sarah Carroll said.

"We’re not prepared to vote on today," Carroll said. "We’ll ask the applicants to think about all the comments they’ve heard today and to re-study their proposal and we’ll have them back when they have a revised proposal."