Does Preservation = Affordable Housing?

People occasionally blame Historic Preservation for accelerating gentrification and the loss of affordable housing. It is sometimes charged that historic preservation "pushes people out" by making neighborhoods unaffordable for long-time residents, resulting in less economic diversity etc.

We're not sure we buy this critique. It seems to us that in Park Slope, at any rate, historic preservation can help preserve affordable housing (relative to Park Slope at any rate).

Consider the two buildings in the photograph below:


The building on the left is one of a row of 12 8-family flats built in 1893 by Charles Hagedorn on the north side of 3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues. The lot size is 27', which makes for two 13'-wide apartments per floor. It lacks an elevator, and the apartment layouts are probably somewhat quirky. Perhaps most shocking (at least to cranky Brownstoner commenters), the residents must keep their rubbish in exposed bins in the front areaway.

The new building on the right, by contrast, yields two spacious 20'-wide apartments per floor. The apartments feature large windows admitting lots of light, elevator access to all floors, a discreet place to hide the rubbish bins.

But all these amenities offered by the new, "luxury" building come at a price. In which building do you think it costs more to rent or buy an apartment? In which building would you expect to find more economically diverse residents?

We suspect there's a lot more folks who could afford to live in the old building on the left, than in the new building on the right.

We're not saying that a 4th-floor walkup is the right housing for everyone. But for many people, at some point in their lives, a 4th floor walkup may be their only affordable choice in Park Slope, that will allow them to live here rather than elsewhere.

3rd Street - Back from the Brink

This week the Brooklyn Paper celebrates its 30th anniversary with short portraits of Brooklyn's neighborhoods describing how they've changed over the past 30 years. The Park Slope feature is accompanied by a photograph from the north side of 3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues, showing buildings in a frightful state of abandonment:

3rd Street between 4th & 5th Avenues (Brooklyn Paper photograph)

The article notes that the block, which looks out upon Washington Park and the Old Stone House, "is now one of the most delightful blocks in Park Slope." We certainly agree with that assessment.

The buildings that were in such terrible shape 30 years ago are four story "double flats", i.e. two apartments per floor, perhaps built to house the families of workers employed in the industries ranged along the nearby Gowanus Canal. The buildings are apparently part of a row constructed in 1893 by local builder Charles Hagedorn (whose last name sometimes appears in variants including Hagedon, Hagadon, and Hagadorn).

"Building Intelligence; Houses; Brooklyn, N.Y., AABN vol. 40, no. 905 (April 29, 1893): p. xvii.

- Third St., n s, 175' w Fifth Ave., 12 four st'y brick dwells., tin roofs; cost, $7,500 each; owner, Chas. Hagadorn, 227 Thirteenth St.

American Architect and Building News, April 29, 1893, p. xvii.

The 1897 Lain's Brooklyn Directory lists Charles Hagedorn, lawyer, in residence at 227 13th Street, the same address as in the above AABN listing:

HAGEDORN Chas. lawyer h 227 13th

According to Brooklyn Eagle accounts, Charles Hagedorn was a substantial property owner along the 5th Avenue corridor, and was also president of the Fifth Avenue Property Holders' Rapid Transit Association, which was "anxious to see rapid transit along Fifth Avenue":

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, April 21, 1888, p. 1 ("Fifth Avenue Property Holders")

The campaign was successful and service along the new 5th Avenue line of the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad commenced in 1889.

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1903 carried a photograph of one of the 3rd Street buildings when it was resold to a new investor. Note the awnings on the building to the left:

Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 13, 1903, p. 11

The entire row comprises twelve identical double flats, all now restored to near original condition.

315-345 3rd Street - unprotected

341 3rd Street - unprotected

341 3rd Street - detail

341 3rd Street - detail

Perhaps even more remarkable than the individual buildings themselves is the fact that all twelve still survive. It remains to be seen whether the buildings will still be standing when our multi-phase, multi-year project to expand the Park Slope Historic District progresses this far downhill.