Historic Crown Heights Mansion May Be Razed For New Development

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN -- A historic St. Marks Avenue townhouse and stable could be torn down and replaced with a modern apartment building if developers get their way, city records show.

Developers are seeking permission to demolish the Romanesque Rival-Queen Anne-style mansion at 669 St. Marks Avenue — which once housed the "Apostle of Temperance," a silk merchant and a millionaire Brooklyn Parks Commissioner — near the border of the Crown Heights North Historic District, city records show.

Owner Massimo Cocco filed permits to raze the three-story mansion and build a five-story apartment complex on Jan. 3, according to Department of Building records.

Cycle Architects + Planning, a Gowanus-based firm with a sustainability focus, are the architects on record and detail plans for a nine-unit Passive House (a development with an elevated standard for energy efficiency) on the company website.

Tony Daniels, the firm's principal who filed the requests, declined Patch's request for more information. Patch was unable to reach Cocco for comment.

Brownstoner noted the mansion is one of several large Brooklyn homes to be torn down and replaced with modern apartment buildings.

Demolition plans had not been approved by the Department of Buildings as of Feb. 19.

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