Developer to dismantle controversial addition to Carroll Gardens building

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. Fischman’s decision to trim part of the steel rooftop extension will likely end the impasse over the $15-million renovation, a six-year saga that has taken place in other neighborhoods that are experiencing gentrification. The structure’s original design was conceived by architect Robert Scarano who was hired in 2005 but fired in 2008 after the city stopped work at the site on the grounds that he had falsely claimed that the building was zoned to allow two additional stories. Eventually, residents succeeded in having the area rezoned to thwart out-of-scale construction, and the city ruled that Fischman had not built enough of the building to be grandfathered in under the prior zoning laws. Gravesend-based firm NSC Architecture will design the soon-to-be-converted building. [Brooklyn Paper]

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