Bushwick Building Brings Blank Walls To Broadway

Paul Stremple -
A rendering shows the blank walls of the building that will envelop the buildings on the corner (Rendering via Diego B Aguilera Architects)

BUSHWICK – A seven-story building slated for the corner of Broadway and Halsey will tower above a closed chicken joint in Bushwick, enveloping the small corner property with towering bare walls on both sides, renderings reveal.

The project at 1595 Broadway will replace two recently demolished buildings: a storefront church on Broadway and a brick townhouse on Halsey, city filings show. Developers Babweh United, LLC and Diego B Aguilera Architects are responsible for the development. Owner Martin Joseph of Metropolitan Realty Exemptions bough the property for the surprisingly low price of $500,000 in May 2017, Brownstoner reports.

Permits were filed for construction of a seven-story mixed-use development with ground floor retail space in February of 2018. Despite the noisy tracks of the JMZ running down Broadway directly in front of the building, renderings show that the units, which average 600 square feet, will have balconies—an indicator of market-rate apartments if ever there was one.

Plans also call for parking and bike storage, along with a daycare and community facilities, as well as a backyard recreation space.

The defunct Crown Fried Chicken and medical supply building may soon give way to a development of their own (Screenshot via Google Maps)

Still, the dominant image of the development is the odd design, encompassing the shuttered businesses at 1591 Broadway. The massive blank walls facing the corner are certainly striking, but they might not be visible forever. The former Crown Fried Chicken may be demolished and replaced by a mid-rise building—four stories and eight units—courtesy of owners Broadway Halsey Lofts. The company bought the property in 2015 for $2 million and filed construction permits in 2017, but they’ve yet to be approved.

For now, construction is underway on 1595 Broadway’s foundations, but the big blank space won’t rise above Broadway for a while yet. Here’s to hoping they hire a local artist to work with the massive canvas—even if it too may soon disappear!