Big But Elegant Apartment Building Will Replace Church Parking Lot on Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill

A brick apartment building with a fresh design will replace a church parking lot at 445 Grand Avenue in Clinton Hill, a new rendering posted on the construction fence shows.

The large brick building — it will rise nine stories and contain 112 apartments — has elegant and subtle asymmetrical curves and large windows. Shops will fill the ground floor facing Fulton Street, right at a bus stop and across from Putnam Triangle.

At 95 feet high, it will tower over nearby four-story buildings, including the church next door, but its brick material, tall window openings and ground floor shops gracefully relate to its surroundings.

Fogarty Finger, known for mid-sized masonry apartment buildings, is the architect. They also designed the tower rising behind the landmarked Dime Savings Bank at 227 South 5th Street in Williamsburg.

The site’s developer, Ranger Properties, is behind an apartment building under construction at 167 Willoughby Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Other projects include hotels and apartments in D.C. and Philadelphia.

In January, Ranger Properties struck a $2.1 million deal for a 99-year ground lease with the owner of the property, the Northeast Conference CORP of Seventh Day Adventists, which owns the church next door at 457 Grand Avenue, Bethel Seventh Day Adventist Church, public records reveal.

The new building will take up four lots at 982, 994, 996, and 998 Fulton Street. The construction fence is up and digging has begun, a visit by a Brownstoner reader this week revealed. When we stopped by in August, posts were being sunk into the sidewalk bordering the site.

The new structure will have underground parking for 86 cars and, on the first floor, a community facility with a church multipurpose room, dining, office and kitchen, DOB permits show. The floors above will contain apartments, indoor and outdoor lounges with a bar, a media room and, on the roof, a swimming pool.

The construction is part of a wave of development all over Brooklyn replacing churches, parking lots, wood frame houses on oversize lots, libraries, restaurants, groceries, gas stations, laundromats, and many other businesses, as land has become so valuable and churches, in particular, struggle to pay repair bills.

Thanks to a Brownstoner tipster for the photos.

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