Brooklyn, NY
The Imperial
An individually designated New York City landmark, The Imperial Apartments is a Renaissance-style residential building featuring fluted columns, outsized turrets and bold, triple-height brick and terracotta archways that sits at the corner of Pacific Street and Bedford Avenues in Crown Heights.
Role: Developer, Property Manager
Project Type: Affordable, Historic Preservation
Agencies:
Designed in 1892 by architect Montrose Morris for the developer Louis F. Seitz, the Imperial was known for its palatial floor plans and once housed some of the grandest, pre-war private apartments in New York City— with up to seven rooms apiece. Over the years, the property’s 25 original units were subdivided and the building deteriorated until the city took possession of the property in the 1970s over unpaid taxes.
After sitting vacant for years, ELH gained ownership of the building through HPD’s Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Program (NEP) and set about restoring the property to its original splendor. Upwards of $6 million was spent to preserve and repair the building’s landmarked exterior, including the painstaking reproduction of the building’s original copper work and the interior of the building received a full gut-renovation. In line with the goals of NEP, the Imperial reopened in 2006 with 35 affordable homes to serve moderate and lower-income families.
Read more about the restoration of The Imperial in The New York Times: Three Singular Brooklyn Buildings, Each With a Second Chance.
