A long-neglected building just a stone’s throw away from Journal Square’s building boom is finally getting some much-needed TLC, perhaps a small sign that some of the neighborhood’s older properties might soon see a piece of the area’s revitalization.
Tucked away in the shadow of the Brennan Courthouse, a historic 4-story brick building at 267 Baldwin Avenue was abandoned by a former owner sometime around 2002. A decade of inattention finally ended in 2012, when Clifton-based Orca Capital Partners Construction purchased the property for just over $400,000.
Orca then brought plans forth to renovate the property into residential units and won approval for the revitalization from the Planning Board back in September 2013. But scaffolding has been up at the site for over three years with very little visible progress, fueling fears that the project had stalled.
But this summer, local developer The Weingarten Group purchased the property from Orca in a sale that was brokered by Niko Nicolaou of Gebroe Hammer Associates. The project will still sport eight units, but is now slated to be condominiums each with two bedrooms and one and a half baths. The interiors of the condos will be designed renowned New York-based designer Craig Wroe.
Work is now full speed ahead at the property, which just underwent an exterior cleaning that significantly restored the outer brick on the building. The property falls just barely within the boundaries of the Journal Square 2060 Redevelopment Plan, although its location is usually described as the Hilltop neighborhood.
The area’s future should be interesting to watch; with all the new projects in Journal Square, Hilltop could be poised for a similar revitalization albeit on a smaller scale, especially given the plethora of transit options. The PATH and several bus lines service the neighborhood, and a Citibike station is directly across the street from 267 Baldwin, which should wrap up its renovation sometime late next year.
