149-bergen-street-031413There is more than meets the eye to this sales listing for a three-story, two-family brick house at 149 Bergen Street in Boerum Hill. An extension — nearly 21 feet deep — that broker and owner Pietro Costa proposed adding a few years ago was highly controversial and spawned a story in the New York Times. The Boerum Hill Association initiated a study by local architects who proposed altering zoning or landmarking rules to prevent intrusions into the “green donut,” as the yard space behind the houses came to be called. Ultimately, nothing came of it, and the owner built his extension. The listing looks nice; there’s no sign of a floor plan or, as far as we can tell, the infamous extension. But the 4,220-square-foot house exceeds its FAR by 219 square feet, according to PropertyShark. The ask is $4,567,000.
Photo by Scott Bintner for PropertyShark


What's Your Take? Leave a Comment

  1. How could they have built an extension recently that exceeded FAR? It sounds like the property shark info must be off. Arguing about the “green donut” is a hard and subjective case to sell to landmarks, but whether proposed construction meets zoning requirements is pretty black & white.

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