By Linda Collins
Brooklyn Daily Eagle

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS — The rendering of the North Heights’ newest building, at 73 Pineapple St. near Henry Street, has been released.

It will be “a good neighbor building,� according to its architect, Sherida Paulsen of Pasanella + Klein Stolzman + Berg (PKSB) Architects in Manhattan.

For one thing, its color will be orangy-reddish brick to blend with its neighbors. For another it will have bay windows.

“The building sits between two other buildings where the one is a buff color and the other is pinkish-red, so we chose something in the middle,� Paulsen said. “Also the building closer to Henry Street has bay windows and we took that as the model for this one’s design.�

It will also be an improvement for the street itself and neigbors support it.

As previously reported, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, in approving its design last fall, said the building, “set at the property line, strengthens the streetwall on this block� and its height and scale “relates to the height and scale of the block.�

Commissioners also said the materials are in keeping with the materials found on adjacent buildings and the “fenestration relates to both the bay arrangements and punched openings seen on the block.� In testimony given before the LPC, Tom van den Bout, president of the Brooklyn Heights Association and chair of its Landmarks Committee, said, “We support the sensitivity of this design in relation to its immediate context — in terms of scale, material palette and fenestration. The applicant has integrated the incremental units of the HVAC system into the façade in a way that successfully blends into the architectural features of the façade.�

The BHA also recommended a planting area in front of the building — “to substantially soften the base of the building and help maintain the residential character and scale of the streetscape� — as well as “a simple, yet robust, pipe railing ... based upon precedent elsewhere in the district.� Both were incorporated.

Commented Paulsen, “It’s been such a hole there for a long time; this is an improvement for the street itself.�

Paulsen added that in her research she found there had been a building on the site at one time. “There’s an old demolition permit to take it down along with a permit for a new building, but it never went forward,� she said.

The new five-story building will have nine units. It sits on a deep but very narrow lot that measures 25 feet wide by 76 feet deep.

Of the nine units, there will be one one-bedroom apartment and eight two-bedroom apartments, including two duplexes. All will be rentals, according to Paulsen.

Also as previously reported, a single owner purchased a trio of properties, including this one. Identified as 71-75 Pineapple LLC, with principal Neera Raj of Princeton, the firm is currently renovating the interiors of the two existing buildings on either side of the new one.

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