Greenpoint churches to give way to residential apartments

Sale of Monitor Street properties put on hold during recession; slated to hold 84 units

From left: 17 Monitor StreetAnd 21 Monitor Street in Greenpoint
From left: 17 Monitor StreetAnd 21 Monitor Street in Greenpoint

Two vacant brick Greenpoint buildings, formerly home to Catholic church schools, will soon reemerge as residential apartment buildings.

The properties at 17and 21 Monitor Street, which are being developed by Malky Landau and Meir David Tabak, span 49,000 square feet and 10,000 square feet respectively. The building at 17 Monitor Street will ultimately hold 69 apartment units, while the smaller 21 Monitor will be home to 15 units, according to filings with the Department of Buildings cited by the Brooklyn Eagle.

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Landau and Tabak took control of the properties last year, renting the pair for a 49-year term from St. Cecilia’s school, according to a memorandum of lease filed with the city Finance Department cited by the paper. Landau and the Reverend Thomas Vassalotti, St. Cecilia’s administrator and secretary, signed the memorandum, while Tabak signed a mortgage for an LLC in his and Tabak’s name.

The church school at the helm of the two properties closed in 2008, and held off on selling the buildings during the recession. Father James Krische, who was pastor at the time, invited artists to use the spaces for films and video shoots, drawing donations to pay for building maintenance. St. Cecilia’s merged with two other parishes two years later, at which time the artist arrangement came to an end. [Brooklyn Eagle]Julie Strickland