Offerman Building

Offerman Building

Offerman Building

Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn
Address: 503 Fulton Street

Design and Construction
Located on the Fulton Street Mall between Bridge and Duffield Streets, the Offerman building is a landmarked Romanesque Revival style structure designed by architect Peter J. Lauritzen. The Offerman Building was one of the tallest buildings in the borough at the time of construction. The lots that comprise the site for the Offerman Building were acquired in two phases, so the building was constructed in two phases. The first eight lots were purchased in 1889 and 1890 for $235,000. The construction ground breaking began in 1890, hence the 18 and 90 above the Fulton Street entrance (photo above). In 1892 ten additional lots were acquired, increasing the length of the building wing that fronted Duffield Street. A stone relief reading “1890 OFFERMAN BUILDING 1892” commemorates the starting dates for each phase of construction.[1] Referred to as a "sleazy alteration" by the AIA Guide to New York City, the street level facade on Fulton Street is a contemporary addition.[2] Most of the stone and terracotta architectural detailing above the pedestrian level remains intact.

Peter J. Lauritzen
Born in Denmark in 1847 and trained at the Polytechnic School of Copenhagan, Architect Peter J. Lauritzen worked in Washington D.C. in the 1870s prior to moving to New York City in 1883. The architect gained notoriety when his unsolicited entry to the Manhattan Athletic Club design competition was selected as the winning proposal.[1] In Brooklyn he was known for designing the Union League Club building in Crown Heights, as well as several fire houses throughout the borough.[2] Lauritzen lived near the Offerman residence in Williamsburg and like Offerman he was socially active in Brooklyn. Lauritzen was a member of the Union League and Hanover Club.[1]  

H for Henry Offerman

Henry Offerman 
Henry Offerman (1823-1896) was a wealthy businessman. By the time he began engaging in real estate development, he was already a successful industrialist. Offerman was president of the Brooklyn Sugar Refining Company on the East River waterfront at South 2nd Street in Williamsburg. Offerman had been an elder of the German Evangelical Lutheran Church at 63 Schermerhorn Street and supported related causes like the German Hospital Society of Brooklyn. In addition, he was involved with several German shooting clubs and helped to found the first national sharpshooters tournament in 1895.[1]

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Sources:

1. Postal, Matthew A. NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Designation Report 15 March, 2005
2. White, Norval, Willensky, Elliot, and Leadon, Fran AIA Guide to New York. Oxford University Press, 2010
3. Morris, Montrose "Building of the Day" Brownstoner 28 August 2012

Dime Savings Bank - Downtown Brooklyn

Dime Savings Bank - Downtown Brooklyn

Dime Savings Bank Pediment

Dime Savings Bank Entrance

Relief of Mercury Between Doors

South Side of Dime Savings Bank

Chartered in April 1859, the Dime Savings Bank opened in Brooklyn in June of the same year.[1] The former Downtown Brooklyn branch of the Dime Savings Bank at 9 Dekalb Avenue is a Roman Revival style structure built 1906-08 on the northeast corner of Dekalb Avenue and Fleet Street.[1] The original building was designed by Mowbray  & Uffinger; it was later enlarged by Halsey, McCormack & Helmer in 1931-1932.[2][3] Both firms were already known for designing impressive banks prior to being commissioned to design the Dime Savings Bank. Mobray & Uffinger had also designed the People's Trust Company on Montague Street and Halsey, McCormack & Helmer were well known for designing the Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower.[3] Numerous architectural elements within the building are used as symbolic references. Mercury, the Roman God of commerce, is the prominently featured symbol of the Dime Savings Bank and is included in the building in stone, as well as bronze reliefs. Along with brick, the building was clad in Pentelic marble quarried from the same source the ancient Greeks used to acquire stone for the construction of their temples, including the Pantheon.[1] Security and stability are communicated through the overall classically inspired architectural composition itself. The elements within the composition are best described in An Architectural Guide to Brooklyn:

The entrance to the bank is splendid, holding the space with all the authority and skill that architecture can muster. It is a projecting tetrastyle Ionic portico from which the east and west side of the building flare to the north. The portico is crowned by one of the best triangular pediments in Brooklyn, filled, as such pediments should be, with sculpture semi-reclining figures flank a beautiful clock. Colonnades of fully modeled Ionic columns are recessed within the east and west walls of the building. The top floor, with anthemion cresting, forms a platform for a fine, broad saucer dome.

Various financial institutions occupied the Dime Savings Bank building prior to it being vacated and put up for sale by its most recent owner, Chase Bank. JDS Development and the Chetrit Group recently purchased the building, as well as, 300,000 square feet of included development rights on the block from Chase. To date, the pair of development corporations has amassed a total 600,000 square feet of development rights for the site. So, in theory, they could erect a building as tall as the Empire State Building and include the landmarked bank as part of the future residential site.[4] 

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Sources:

1. NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission Chester Court Historic District Designation Report 19 July, 1994
2. White, Norval, Willensky, Elliot, and Leadon, Fran AIA Guide to New York. Oxford University Press, 2010.
3. Morrone, Francis An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn. Gibbs Smith, Publisher, 2001.
4. "1,000 FT Tower is Probably Coming to Downtown Brooklyn" Curbed 5, August, 2015