Condos To Replace Brooklyn's Beloved Grand Prospect Hall: Report

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — What neighbors who hoped to save the century-old banquet hall feared has come to pass: Grand Prospect Hall will be turned into condos, according to building permits.

Developers have officially filed permits to turn the iconic event venue into a five-story residential building, bringing 147 residences to the site once used for movies, photoshoots and beloved local commercials, New York YIMBY first reported.

The permits come several months after neighbors first mobilized to save the venue, gaining more than 41,000 on a petition and briefly pausing demolition as their request to have the building designated a landmark was considered.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission ultimately denied naming the venue a landmark.

"Our activism community...remains deeply saddened by this," one of the activists, Jim Glaser, said in a statement about the permits on Thursday. The group is still looking into ways to save at least part of the venue, he said.

Glaser, who can see the property from his roof, has watched as developer ramp up demolition in recent weeks, he said.

Developers had already started to gut the interior of the building back when neighbors launched the effort to save it over the summer and have now started taking off the back of the building, Glaser said.

Demolition permits for the entire building were approved in November, records show.

Developers have said since buying the building that they planned to construct a "low-scale residential building with an affordable component" at the site.

The newly-revealed plans propose 147 residences that YIMBY estimates will be condos based on the unit size. The building will also include a cellar, 30-foot yard and 180 enclosed parking spaces, the outlet notes.

Grand Prospect Hall, built in 1892, has been home to thousands of local events and its commercials once spawned an SNL parody.

It was one of 12 properties sold last year to electrical contractor Angelo Rigas in a $30-million deal, the Real Deal and PincusCo first reported.

The sale to Rigas is the first time Grand Prospect Hall has changed owners since the 1980s, when Michael and Alice Halkias bought the four-story venue, according to reports.

The building has been shuttered since Michael Halkias died of coronavirus complications during the pandemic, the Real Deal reported.