25 Washington St Progress

25 Washington St

25 Washington

The 25 Washington Street building is being converted from an office building to a residential rental building (noted first in November 2009). There is an application on file “for a two-story extension to the building (with “accessory cabana spaces” on the roof) in 2007.

The building is owned by Two Trees Management and formerly occupied by approximately 100 small businesses. As seen by the photos, the top floor roof has been removed and is being readied for the extension floors. Exposed wood beams and large windows are seen in the first photo above.

Further information on the building according to the Landmarks Preservation Commission Dumbo Designation Report:

Date of construction: 1901 (NB 1114-01)
Architect: William Higginson
Original owner: Robert Gair
Type: Factory
Style: American Round Arch
Stories: 6 and basement
Structure/material: Brick; slow-burning mill construction

Features: Ten bays on Washington Street, eleven bays on Plymouth Street, and ten bays facing east at lot line; segmental-arch openings; brick piers between windows from second through fifth stories; basement set behind areaway with pipe rail; bluestone window sills; sills on second and sixth stories continue across facade as beltcourses; brick corbelling and dentil course above firstand fifth-story windows; corbelling at roofline; high parapet on Plymouth Street; bulkhead on south side of Washington Street facade.

History: In 1887, this site was home to a steam pump factory. By the 1890s, this lot and the adjoining lot to the east were owned by the Dodge & Olcott Chemical Company. Dodge & Olcott was established in 1862 as an outgrowth of a chemical business that had been established in New York in 1798 by Robert Bach (George Olcott was a descendant of Bach). Between 1880 and 1904 the firm opened a distillation plant for producing essences of aromatic herbs and roots 118 on this block. The 1904 Sanborn atlas notes that Dodge & Olcott manufactured “essential oils” in its factory. Conveyance records seem to indicate that Dodge & Olcott sold the properties on the south side of Plymouth Street between Washington Street and Adams Street to Robert Gair in two transactions in 1904 and 1911. However, an 1895 application for a one-story brick storage building at 21 Washington Street indicated that Gair was the owner of the property (NB 1156-95; it is possible that Gair was a lessee). The present building was erected by Gair in 1904 and became the administrative headquarters of the Charles William Stores, housing the firm’s general offices, employment and educational divisions, dispensary, and recreation and reading rooms. The company leased this space from Gair.

25 Washington

25 Washington Street

{BIS record for 25 Washington St}
{Dumbo’s Next Blockbuster Condo Conversion: 25 Washington?, 25Aug2009, Curbed}

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