Williamsburgh Trust Company Building gets landmark status

The Williamsburgh Trust Company Building, a Williamsburg property built as a bank 110 years ago, is now officially a city landmark.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday designated the Neoclassical gem — which now operates as a church — as a city landmark, Brownstoner reported. In February, Landmarks prioritized the building, which was one of seven buildings in Brooklyn on Landmarks’ backlog list of 96 sites.

“This is one of the neighborhood’s most beautiful and prominent buildings,” Landmarks Chair Meenakshi Srinavasan said in a statement.

The commission’s decision was a somewhat unusual move, given that the owner opposed granting the building landmark status. Reverend Wolodymyr Wronskyj had spoken out against landmarking the building at a public hearing. Parishioners were concerned that the status would prove to be a financial hardship, DNAinfo reported.

The building was designed by Helme, Huberty & Hudswell. It operated as a bank until 1910, then functioned as a courthouse from 1916 to 1958. The current owner, the Ukrainian Church in Exile, Holy Trinity Cathedral, bought the building in 1961. The city council must sign off on the landmark designation before it becomes official. [Brownstoner] — Kathryn Brenzel