The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is set to review plans for the adaptive reuse of the landmarked Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower at One Hanson Place in Downtown Brooklyn. Assembled by BSE Global and Acheson Doyle Partners Architects, the proposal would convert portions of the building’s landmarked banking hall and related interior spaces into a Casa Tua Cucina food hall and dining destination while retaining and working around significant historic features of the interior.
One Hanson Place, via onehansonplace.nyc.
One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
The project focuses on the building’s designated interior landmark spaces, including the grand main hall, mezzanine, and cellar levels. Plans show a food hall arrangement on the ground floor with dining areas, coffee, bakery, pasta, pizza, salad, and grab-and-go offerings organized around new freestanding service stations. The proposal also includes back-of-house kitchen facilities and support spaces located primarily below grade.
One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
Current and proposed changes to One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
At the mezzanine level, the application calls for new dining and retail areas overlooking the main banking hall. The design introduces new mezzanine structures, glazing, and support elements while preserving the hall’s defining architectural features, including its marble flooring, monumental columns, teller windows, chandeliers, decorative windows, and mural. Additional work includes limited floor penetrations, mechanical upgrades, new ventilation systems, and exterior signage and louver modifications.
Current and proposed changes to One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
Proposed changes to One Hanson Place, via LPC proposal.
One Hanson Place is located within the Brooklyn Academy of Music Historic District at the intersection of Hanson Place and Ashland Place. The property is directly connected to the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center transit hub, providing access to the 2, 3, 4, 5, B, D, N, Q, and R trains, and is also within walking distance of the C train at Lafayette Avenue and the G train at Fulton Street.
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A regal structure, looks so much better as a stand alone, rather than having some proposed tower squeezed up against it..
A food hall would be far more accessible to the public than a catering hall, as found at several important Manhattan former banks. I used to enjoy dropping in the Bowery Savings Bank opposite Grand Central.
Oh, how I remember the “Cathedral” banks of old or, in my case, “Shuls.” But even I prefer the Cathedrals’ grandeur. As for banks, they gave the illusion of safety and strength, although this was finally crushed in 1932 when the entire banking system crashed at the height of the Great Depression. These historic lobbies must be preserved for uses that are consistent with their quiet dignity.