Controversial Park Slope Condo Plan Scrapped, Replaced By Retail

PARK SLOPE, NY — A vacant restaurant on Prospect Park West that developers originally planned to demolish for a controversial condo project will instead be renovated and turned into two storefronts.

Hidrock Properties filed plans with the Landmark Preservation Commission to renovate the facade of 192 Prospect Park West — next to the under-construction Nitehawk Cinema — by installing new signage and rooftop equipment for two retail spaces, according to the proposal presented to Community Board 6.

"We’re really trying to preserve this back to quite an historic perspective as it was pretty much in the 30s," said John Field, a partner at Building Studio Architects which is doing the design for the project. "The goal is to really rebuild this building get rid of this eyesore and put some high quality tenants in that space.

The plans call to renovate the facade of the building with a wood one that has large windows and a painted metal cornice, Field said. They will also renovate and replace the building's original brick foundation.

The spot will have about 2,571-square-feet of space for one retail store and about 1,548-square-feet of space for the other, according to the plans.

The space — which sits next to the old Pavilion Theater — used to be occupied by Circles Restaurant but has remained vacant for years after the eatery shut down.

Hidrock bought both properties for $16 million in 2006 and planned to tear down 192 Prospect Park West to build a 24-unit condo building in its place, DNAinfo reported. The proposal would adding a floor to the Pavilion for luxury condos on top of the theater and build a 16-car garage by the spot.

The plans were criticized by local residents who felt it was out of character in the historic district but it was eventually approved by LPC in 2015 after they scaled back the plans, according to DNAinfo.

Hidrock dropped the condo plan last year after they sold the theater to a group of investors for $28 million. They leased it to Nitehawk Cinema who's in the process of turning it into a seven-screen movie house with 650-seats expected to open in the spring.

The new application to renovate 192 Prospect Park West went in front of Community Board 6 at their Wednesday night meeting where members voted to approve their certificate of appropriateness under the condition that the mechanicals on the roof are not visible.

The project will go in front of the LPC for approval at their Tuesday public hearing. Field said developers plan to start construction immediately after it's approved and doesn't expect construction to take very long.

Image: Building Studio Architects