Developer Watermark Capital Plans 30-Story Tower for Landmarked Duffield Street Houses

Brooklyn developer Watermark Capital intends to construct a 30-story apartment tower on the site of the landmarked Duffield Street houses in Downtown Brooklyn, public records show. Potentially the tower could cantilever over the historic houses, which could serve as entrances — if the project meets with approval of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

New York YIMBY was the first to write about the filing. No applications for demolition permits or for LPC approval for the proposal appear to have been filed. Typically, a developer will go through the LPC permit process before filing plans.

In 2023, well-known developer David Tabak of Watermark Capital filed a staff-level application with the LPC to repair and paint the exterior of two of the houses in the group of four located at 182-188 Duffield Street, so it appears Tabak is the developer. The LLC on the application is 182 Duffield LLC. The permit notes criminal penalties could apply if the owner does any work other than specified in the permit, and says the deadline to complete the work was May 2024.

A visit to the site last week showed a green construction fence has gone up around the two white wood-frame houses. The permit for repair work was displayed.

A permit application for a new mixed-use building filed with the Department of Buildings on Wednesday, July 10 says it will have 115 apartments and cover 50 percent of the site. It will be set back 36 feet — approximately the depth of some of the landmarked houses, which could potentially be moved slightly closer to the street — and measure 323.32 tall and 30 stories, with a footprint of 9,854 square feet.

It will include a healthcare facility in the cellar and on the first and second floor, but no parking. The square footage of the building will total 102,224.7, with 546.8 square feet of commercial, 3,658.2 community space, and 98,019.7 for residential. (Elsewhere the application says total square footage will be 136,842.)

No renderings of the project have been published, and the permit filings do not show any massing drawings.

In 2022, the site was sold to 188 Duffield LLC for $10 million, as Brownstoner reported at the time. The broker for the sale told Brownstoner the buyer intended to preserve the houses and give them “functional utility.”

The site previously belonged to Forest City Ratner, which moved the early 19th century houses from their original sites nearby and promised to maintain them as part of a deal to develop MetroTech.

There is no shortage of examples of new construction on landmarked sites in Brooklyn. Brooklyn’s first supertall is attached to the Dime Savings Bank in Downtown Brooklyn. At the Domino Sugar Refinery in Williamsburg, the 1880s red brick factory has been turned into a shell with a glassy office building inside. At the Hebron School in Crown Heights, developers are building a luxury apartment complex that envelops the existing 19th century building. The list goes on.

Not unrelated, demolition of landmarked structures is on the rise throughout New York City, typically because of neglect and construction mishaps. Preservationists have called for better oversight to save New York City’s heritage.

Watermark Capital is working on a variety of interesting development sites around the borough. They include a church in Fort Greene in the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District next to the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower and an ambitious apartment complex development over a rail line that might be used for the IBX in Borough Park.

Brownstoner has reached out to Watermark Capital and the LPC for comment.

[Photos by Susan De Vries | Published 11:06 a.m. on 07/15/24]

Related Stories

• Landmarked Duffield Street Houses Unexpectedly Sold as DoBro Development Site for $10 Million
• The Deteriorating Details of the Empty Little Landmarks of Downtown Brooklyn
• Preservationists Protest Demolition of Landmarked Buildings Across City

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