As Bed Stuy Booms, Big Apartment Building Reaches Six Stories on East Side

The walls are rising high at the large apartment building going up at 75 Ralph Avenue in east Bed Stuy. The structure has reached its total height of six stories on one side and five stories on the other.

The 57-unit apartment house is designed by architect Charles Mallea and replaced a strip-mall-style laundromat with a large parking lot. The building, located between Madison and Putnam, is one of the largest new buildings under way on this side of the neighborhood.

Most projects are smaller infill. The development is part of a building boom under way in Bed Stuy and, more generally, in Brooklyn, as housing prices rise here.

The apartments here will average 670 square feet each, over a total of 38,240 square feet. The small size likely indicates rentals.

Unfortunately for the pedestrians passing by, there will be no stores at the ground level, but there will be parking for 29 cars.

Small developer Solomon Feder bought the site for $4,300,000, as we reported at the time.

The development will bring more density and units of housing to the underused lot and to this part of Bed Stuy, but a neighbor told Brownstoner he regretted the closing of the laundromat.

“It’s kind of a major loss since it was by far the biggest and nicest laundromat around,” he said at the time of the sale.

The building is one of the more conservative designs from architect Charles Mallea. It features contrasting red brick and a dark gray material, with well-camouflaged air conditioning units under the multi-paned windows.

75 Ralph Avenue Coverage [Brownstoner]
Charles Mallea Coverage [Brownstoner]
Rendering by Charles Mallea

A previously published rendering.