From left: Architect Robert Scarano and DOB Commissioner
Robert LiMandri

[Updated at 5.30 p.m. with a statement from Robert Scarano] A state appeals court today has rejected architect Robert Scarano’s appeal of a decision forbidding him from filing any building documents, including permit applications and construction plans, with the Department of Buildings.

“New Yorkers depend on licensed professionals to follow the law and ensure the quality of life of our neighborhoods is protected. Mr. Scarano betrayed that trust, and this decision sends a clear message that there are serious consequences for filing false documents in New York City,” DOB Commissioner Robert LiMandri said in a statement. Sacarano said in a statement: “We are extremely disappointed in today’s ruling and we are going to examine all legal options available to us. Despite this decision, we plan to continue working hard to serve our clients and to maintain the high quality of architecture for which our firm is known.”

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Robert Scarano and renderings of the Modern at 205 North 7th Street

The slick residential building known as the Modern, originally designed by
controversial architect Robert Scarano and located at 205 North 7th Street in
Williamsburg sold Monday for $2.9 million to a group of investors.

The buying entity called North 7 Acquisition LLC paid $2.35 million for the
note held by Hudson Valley Bank, that had a $3.3 million face value, and paid
$575,000 for the property, Jonathan Wachtel, managing member of the seller
Lucky Boy Development, said. There was no broker on the deal. Comments

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The rooftop addition atop Carroll Gardens’ notorious “Hell House” is finally coming down after the city agreed to rezone the neighborhood to prevent out-of-scale development, according to the Brooklyn Paper. The “Hell House,” a 19th-century building, at 333 Carroll Street between Hoyt and Bond streets, belongs to developer Isaac Fischman, who in 2005 had hired controversial architect Robert Scarano to build the 40-foot steel addition. Neighbors were so outraged at the eyesore that they lobbied successfully against the project — Scarano was fired in 2008 after the city found that he had falsely claimed that the addition was legal under the site’s zoning — and ultimately convinced the city to rezone the entire area. [more]

Developer Isaac Fischman of Borough Park, Brooklyn, will dismantle part of an illegal 40-foot addition atop a 19th century building at 333 Carroll Street, between Hoyt and Bond streets, a controversial project that caused the city to rezone the neighborhood, the Brooklyn Paper reported. Fischman informed the Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association of his decision last night, and said he intends to move ahead with plans to convert the building — which neighbors had dubbed “the Hell House” — into 37 condo units. [more]

From left: Christine Blackburn of Prudential Douglas Elliman, the Edge, Highlyann Krasnow of the Developers Group, Northside Piers

For all the flack it gets, Williamsburg is still a hot place to live — at the right price. But even developers and brokers, perennial optimists even during real estate’s darkest hours, seemed a bit surprised by a recent spike in activity at some new buildings.
Northside Piers, the 450-unit waterfront project that has consistently been a top seller citywide since broadcasting aggressive price cuts early last year, just logged its best month since opening during the boom year of 2007, said Scott Avram, senior project manager for Northside Piers developer Toll Brothers City Living.
Forty contracts were signed in the past four weeks. Avram wondered “if everyone was having the same experience.”
So, The Real Deal made some calls around the neighborhood. While nobody quite scored 40 buyers in one month, it does seem like sales and leasing activity has been strong at projects with some combination of the following three winning characteristics: “location, price and the finishes,” as broker Christine Blackburn of Prudential Douglas Elliman put it. [more]

Bushwick residents are riled over the newly opened halfway house for recovering drug addicts at 979 Willoughby Avenue, claiming that the facility will endanger the community and reverse progress made in the neighborhood. The halfway house has opened in what was supposed to be a luxury eight-unit apartment building designed by Robert Scarano, a noted New York City architect who was recently barred from submitting plans to the Department of Buildings. Compounding the residents’ complaints is the fact that the facility is being run by a former felon who spent time behind bars. Although it’s not immediately clear how many tenants are being housed in the building, reports show that the operator has installed bunk beds into units to maximize capacity.

Retirement was on Robert Scarano’s mind tonight at the 90 North 5th Street condominium party, a mixer for Brooklyn’s real estate-inclined, for a building his firm designed. Just hours after news broke that a judge had blocked Scarano, a Brooklyn architecture mainstay, from filing future construction plans to the Department of Buildings, Scarano was wisecracking about the situation and hinting that he may quit the business. “What should I do? What do you think I should do?” Scarano asked this reporter. “Maybe I’m headed for retirement… it’s good to retire. Plenty of people would be happy.” [more]

Brooklyn architect Robert Scarano may have just lost his ability to work in the city. Scarano, who has long been the target of criticism from community activists alleging that he disregards zoning laws, was blocked from filing construction plans by the Department of Buildings yesterday, according to the New York Times. Although it’s not yet clear how long the mandate will last, the order applies to all current applications and future plans he would want to submit. Judge Joan Salzman, who recommended the cutoff, said that past discrepancies between Scarano’s plans and resulting projects have been too dramatic to have been inadvertent. The judge said some of his past project plans filed to the DOB have been “so deceptive that they call to mind out-and-out fraud.” The ruling comes after approximately four years of investigations from city officials and the DOB. In a past interview with The Real Deal, Scarano responded to the controversies he’s encountered. Among the past charges were claims that Scarano had built apartment buildings at 158 Freeman Street and 1037 Manhattan Avenue in violation of DOB regulations. Another problematic project for Scarano was a building at 145 Snediker Street, where the placement of a lamppost was reportedly askew from how it appeared in official plans. Update: Those three buildings were named in the DOB’s official statement today announcing Scarano’s ban.

Robert Scarano and Olive Park

Scarano redesigns Williamsburg condo: Scarano
Architects has helped bring the condominium Olive Park, at 100 Maspeth
Avenue in Williamsburg, up to code and ready for sales, according to a release from the architectural firm. The firm
designed colonnades along the perimeters of the building to create the
15-foot setback required by the New York City Planning Commission. The
original design by another architect called for a straight wall
parallel to the sidewalk with no setback. “We were brought in as
trouble shooters, shortly after the building had been framed out and
City Planning had made its decision to halt construction,” said Robert Scarano. “Our goal was to help the
developer complete the project without having to start from the very
beginning, which would have been cost prohibitive.” TRD [more]

Robert Scarano designed 264 Cumberland

Controversial architect Robert Scarano is fighting back against the city Department of Buildings’ attempt to block him from filing building plans, a move the designer said could ruin his business, court papers said. Scarano asked a Manhattan State Supreme Court judge to rule as unconstitutional a 2007 city construction statute that can be used to bar an architect from filing for permits, as well as halt the administrative proceeding against him that is trying to do just that, according to a lawsuit he filed against the building’s department April 17. The buildings department and the city Department of Investigation announced in June 2008 that they were investigating Scarano for allegedly knowingly or negligently filing false or misleading documents, among other charges. If found guilty, the prolific Brooklyn developer could be barred from filing plans in the city, where he says he conducts 95 percent of his business.
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