Landmarks OKs, With Tweaks, New Build for Bed Stuy Block

"The site at 164 Hancock Street is one of two adjacent parcels being redeveloped by 164 Hancock Development LLC. Together, the pair of similar looking 50-foot-tall brick and brownstone buildings will occupy what was once the private garden of 168 Hancock Street, a grand 1880s Neo-Grec townhouse with a mansard roof and side bays. The developer purchased the landmarked property and its large garden in 2021 for $4.55 million, later dividing it into separate tax lots, city records show."

"In October 2024, commissioners reviewed the plans for 164 Hancock and signaled support for the front facade design, but flagged concerns about its rear massing. They said the building's depth was out of scale with the typical row house footprints on the block and encroached too heavily into the green space at the center of the block's "donut." Community members at the meeting expressed similar concerns."

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a five-story infill at 164 Hancock Street in Bedford Stuyvesant with unanimous support and required modifications. The development converts the former private garden of landmarked 168 Hancock Street into two similar 50-foot brick-and-brownstone buildings developed by 164 Hancock Development LLC. Commissioners and neighbors raised concerns that the original rear massing exceeded typical row-house depths and intruded on the block's central green space. Revised plans retain cellar and basement footprints but reduce middle floors by 14 feet, set the third floor back 28 feet, and align the top floor and penthouse more closely with 168 Hancock's rear wall. The front facade was approved and the rear facade and window treatments were altered to better match the block's scale.

Read at Brownstoner