"The Landmarks Preservation Commission has expressed conditional support for the conversion of Fort Greene's Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church into the base of a 27-story residential tower, with most commissioners backing the overall concept while calling for revisions to better preserve the church's identity. At a Jan. 13 meeting, some of the commissioners agreed the adaptive reuse of the deteriorating church at 144 St. Felix Street was appropriate, but said the current design needs refinement in how the new tower relates to the historic structure and the surrounding Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District."
"The meeting followed a contentious public hearing in December, when more than 80 people testified for and against the project. Forty-six speakers supported the proposal, largely citing the need for new housing and arguing the design respected the church, the neighboring Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, and the historic district. Thirty-three speakers opposed it, saying the tower was out of scale, obstructed views of the iconic clock tower, diminished the church's architecture, and amounted to facadism."
The Landmarks Preservation Commission conditionally supported converting Fort Greene's Hanson Place Central United Methodist Church into the base of a 27-story residential tower while urging design changes to preserve the church's identity and improve contextual relationships with the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District. A December public hearing drew more than 80 testimonies split between housing proponents and preservation opponents who called the tower out of scale and facadism. Developers argued the church is deteriorating and that standalone restoration would be financially unfeasible without major enlargement, citing high stabilization and restoration costs and low unit yields, and stressed the proposal is separate from an unrelated Duffield Street project.
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