Page 79 - Demo

PHOENIX FALL HOME SPECIALDetail on the houses includes stuccoing the back wall where terraces are partially shaded by large trees. (Phoenix/Koch Photo) The architecture of the buildings serves as a highlight for the neighborhood but strivesto preserve historic elem ents in its structure. (Phoenix/Koch Photo)From The Rubble Of Decayand they h av e a lot of p rid e in it,%u201d H yde say s. %u201c The lite ra lly look a fte r the p ro p erty an d call the police a n d us sim ultaneously if an ything h ap p en s,%u201d S akli adds.NEAR THE CEMETERYG reenw ood T e rra c e sta n d s p ra c tic a lly in th e shade of the G reenw ood C em etery ju st dow n the stre e t. The neighborhood is q u iet an d rep etitiv e, but th e new construction is considered som ew hat of a wonder. P a sse rsb y on the stre e t tu rn th e ir h e ad s to study the stra n g e com bination of c lassical an d m o d em th a t h as joined the neighborhood, and, not uncom m only, th ey pause, and quizzically a sk questions about th e buildings. F o r S unset P a rk an d even the fu rth e r rea c h e s of N ew York, the p ro ject, w ith its graciousness an d detail, is an anom aly.Costs for th e G reenw ood T e rrace hom es ran g e from $190,000 for single fam ily hom es to $350,000 for the tw o fam ily hom es. F o r inform ation on the houses, call the F ilm o re R eal E sta te Ltd., 643-0040 and ask for Sal Cappi.BY LIZ KOCHM ost of the houses on 22nd St. n e a r the G reenw ood C em etery a re of ra m sh ack le ty p e spruced up w ith a new skin of alum inum siding. The a re a of S unset P a rk h as not yet cau g h t th e fever of B rooklyn%u2019s re a l e state boom although P a rk Slope h a s g rad u ally been m oving southw ard. B ut th e process has not rea c h e d this far, w here th e neighborhood re m a in s predom inantly Ita lia n and Polish, a fam ily-oriented neighborhood.D uring the p a st y ear, how ever, the ra th e r nondescript houses th a t populate the s tre e t have been joined by a housing developm ent, sm all in scale, m o d e m in design, and still representing a stro n g throw back to 19th cen tu ry a rc h ite c tu re . G reenw ood T errace, com prised of seven housing units th a t w rap around the c o m e r of 22nd St. and Sixth Avenue, stan d s in d istin ct c o n tra st to the re s t of the neighborhood. W alking down the s tre e t one confronts a solid, s ta rk w hite stru c tu re , trim m e d w ith an eleg an t com ice, a stuccoed facad e handsom ely etched w ith subtle peaks an d strongly p unctuated by window configurations th a t defy the sta n %u00add a rd conceptions of window p lacem en t in resid en tial housing. F lanking it is a sm a lle r 2-unit building, a so rt of sidekick to the pro %u00adje c t alread y com pleted and w ith one unit sold.W hen developing p a rtn e rs G e rrit L ansing, A dnan Sakli and J a m e s Hyde launched into the tw o-part p ro ject a y e a r and a half ago, the corner w as nothing but a collection of decaying buildings. Today, it is unquestionably the a rc h ite c tu ra l highlight of the neighborhood and by sta n d a rd s of new construction fa r exceeds in detail and w orkm anship m uch of the quality of housing produced in th is day. It re p resen ts an attention to detail often only seen in p riv ate hom e developm ent an d ra re ly in m ultiple dw elling units, a fact th e developers point out with pride.BACKGROUND IN ARTLansing, m using on the striking a p %u00adpearan ce of the building, points to his own background in a r t history, an d to his a b stra c t p ain ter p a rtn e r H yde a s well a s the collaborative effort of the th ree developers a s creatin g a p ro ject th a t w ent beyond the norm al design sta n d a rd s of to %u00adday. The th ree w orked in close collaboration with their a rc h ite c t W illiam M oorhead.%u201c With our aesth etic feelings and sensibilities, we w ouldn%u2019t have been able to build som ething th a t didn%u2019t look handsom e and a ttra c tiv e ,%u201d L ansing says. %u201c We w anted to create som ething th a t everyone would be proud of and neighborhood too,%u201d he explains.The project, they say, is unique. %u201c We hav en %u2019t seen anyone else put the sa m e so rt of detailing into houses built on speculation, Hyde says, in is so il uf w uik w as done from 1890 to 1910 an d then it ju st stopped. It%u2019s taking into consideration how a door looks and feels and how you m ove around a p lace,%u201d he explains. The seven housing units created in the developm enta re individualized w ith v a ria tio n s in p ra c %u00adtically each unit. The original buildings w ere in such poor conditions th a t little re %u00adm a in s of them . W alls w ere rem oved, th e roof rep laced a n d the layout of the room s redesigned to acco m m o d ate th e creatio n of tw o-bedroom fa m ily houses.S everal of th e units will c a rry firep laces and, depending on th eir own idiosyncracies, detail w as add ed to the units to enhance th e living environm ent. B ack te rra c e s th a t re s t in th e shade of tw o giant sh ad e tre e s a re rem in iscen t of M e d ite rra n e an living, w hile skylights bring in e x tra lighting for the d eep er a p a rtm e n ts. A few c a rry roof decks and one second floor living room even includes a balcony th a t overlooks the c a th e d ra l window s facing out to the fro n t of th e building. T he b a sem en ts a re also finished.UNITS ARE UNIQUE%u201c The units a re m ostly unique,%u201d L ansing says. %u201c We%u2019re not putting up a box and sliding a p a rtm e n ts into it. W e%u2019re getting aw ay from sta n d a rd iz a tio n ,%u201d he adds.%u201c We could h a v e built th e p ro ject m o reAttention to detail extends both insidethe building, where fireplaces and modernbathrooms are present, and to the outside,where work continues on the facade.(Phoenix/Koch Photo)We could have made moremoney doing co-ops. But weare producing somethingbetter. It keeps theneighborhood better becauseit rnntrnts thp number o fpeople coming in. We didn 7build studios, we built afamily oriented project.cheaply,%u201d L ansing sa y s about the buildings, w hich are estim a te d to c a rry a to tal construction cost of $1.1 m illion. %u201c B ut we opted w ith the solid construction and solid d e ta il,%u201d he says.C onfronted w ith the choice of building coops or condos an d the single fam ily and tw o-fam ily hom es th ey chose to build, Sakli points out th e project is m uch m o re in keeping w ith the c h a ra c te r of the neighborhood. %u201c We could h av e m ad e m u ch m ore m oney if w e did co-ops,%u201d Sakli points out. %u201c B ut w e%u2019re producing som ething b e tter. It keeps the neighborhood b e tte r b ecau se it controls the n u m b er of people com ing in. We didn%u2019t build studios, we built a fam ily-oriented p ro ject in w hat is a fam ily-oriented neighborhood,%u201d he says.A ccording to the th re e , neighborhood supp o rt for the p ro ject h as been strong. The p ro ject a rc h ite c t, W illiam M oorhead, sought a design th a t would se rv e as both the highlight of th e neighborhood, but serv e as a highlight w ithout being arch itectu rally ja rrin g . %u201c T he neighborhood feels it%u2019s som ething th e y %u2019ve seen s ta rt from sc ra tc hOctober 9, 1985, PHO ENIX, Section II, Page 19 mmms&s