The buyer of Brooklyn’s Broken Angel, one of the borough’s most distinctive buildings, made the purchase without knowing the full story, according to a letter from the property’s previous owner.
In a letter to developer Alex Barrett, who purchased the 4-6 Downing Street building from Madison Realty Capital, artist and previous owner Arthur Wood warned Barrett that the foreclosure process hasn’t yet been finalized.
“I am sure Madison did not tell you that,” Wood wrote in the letter, published by Brownstoner. “Be further advised that if you ignore this and go ahead with your renovation, you are taking the risk of the lose [sic] of the property and whatever money you put into it.”
Barrett told Brownstoner that he had not received the letter, and otherwise declined to comment to the news site.
Arthur Wood and his late wife Cynthia purchased the property in 1979, then transformed it with homemade installations and stained-glass windows. In 2006 a fire ravaged the home and revealed that it wasn’t up to code, and the owners attempted to overhaul the property via a condominium conversion with Madison Realty Capital. Madison later filed to foreclose on the building in 2008, and the property was scheduled to hit the auction block in March of 2012. [Brownstoner] — Julie Strickland