Brooklyn Space: Unobstructed Views for North8 Condos
Brooklyn Daily Eagle, June 20, 2008
By Linda Collins

WILLIAMSBURG — It’s all about the views at Toll Brothers’ North8 Condominiums in Williamsburg where nearly every unit has a floor-to-ceiling East River view.
 
And yet the low-rise, six-story building is not on the waterfront.
 
Directly across the street from the development, on the waterfront side of Kent Avenue, will be the future East River State Park. And that makes all the difference.
 
“Acquiring this site was a piece of brilliance on Toll Brothers’ part,” said Paul Carr, senior associate architect at GreenbergFarrow, the project’s designer. “The views across Kent will be saved in perpetuity.”
 
As a testament to that brilliance, only two units (both townhouses) of the building’s 40 are still available. And if the view isn’t perfect enough for any of the residents, there are rooftop cabanas offering even more sweeping views of Manhattan, the East River and the park.
 
“Rooftop cabanas are becoming popular,” said Carr. “Anything we do, particularly if it’s a condominium, the rooftop becomes another source of income for the developer. But from a design point of view, it’s a toupee of built form on the rooftop.”
 
The building is on a corner lot, and Carr said the design team “saw an opportunity to provide the views for this one,” and tried to get all it could from the site.
 
This meant putting the lobbies and fitness rooms at street level with apartments above. And minimizing the number of units that face the interior courtyard.
 
Then along North8 the team included mid-rise, multi-level townhouses and thus the courtyard serves as the backyard for the townhouses.
 
As far as the “very glassy” side of the building that faces the East River, Carr said the design team worked with the construction team and “marshaled and manipulated so there’d be close to 100 percent glass.”
 
Navid Maqami, principal and vice president of architecture at GreenbergFarrow, credits the design team’s ability to “think like developers and maximize their return on investment,” while also “creating seamless, gracious residences that stand out to potential buyers.”
 
The development’s 40 units include one-, two- and three-bedroom condos, along with an assortment of townhouses — all with floor-to-ceiling windows.
 
North8 is GreenbergFarrow’s first residential project in Williamsburg. Its second project in the neighborhood is 80 Metropolitan, Steiner Equity’s development of a six-story building with 114 lofts and nine three-story townhouses currently under construction.