A historic Greenpoint building that was once home to wedding and event space Polonaise Terrace is poised to be redeveloped into a mixed-use building with a few dozen residential apartments, city records show.
Michael Weitzman, founder and CEO of Williamsburg-based real estate firm Double U Development, filed permits with the Department of Buildings this week to convert the now-vacant 2-story property at 144 Greenpoint Ave. into a 6-story building with retail on the ground floor and 35 apartments above it. Weitzman, who submitted the permits under the entity Spearhead Contracting LLC, did not return a request for comment by press time.
The proposed transformation of the roughly 14,000-square-foot former venue, which predominantly served the surrounding Polish community before it closed in 2013, comes about three months after Double U acquired the site for $8.9 million, Crain’s previously reported. The seller was the family-run real estate company MacArthur Holdings, based on the Upper West Side of Manhattan.
Originally built in 1898 by Charles Heidelberger and designed by architect Wilson & Dassau, the former catering hall’s building became what was called the Brooklyn Bazaar in 2016, offering a weekend flea-market scene with live bands, food and drinks. That also shuttered, three years later, and the building, which is in the Greenpoint Historic District between Franklin Street and Manhattan Avenue, has sat vacant since.
The site is currently zoned to allow for a variety of commercial, community and residential uses, city records show, but any future changes to the building would have to be approved by the Landmarks Preservation Commission. Much of its unique character, including the gold-plated scripted block letters spelling out Polonaise Terrace and the two waiter logos on the facade, have been retained over the years.
In 2023, when the property was still owned by MacArthur Holdings, the commission signed off on plans to redevelop the landmarked building into a modern, 4-story, gray-brick office and retail space, Brownstoner reported at the time.
The new permits filed with the city show no plans to demolish any part of the building, just a vertical enlargement of the existing structure. Double U’s proposed project would span about 28,000 total square feet, including 22,393 square feet of residential space and 6,214 of commercial space. The cellar and first floors would contain retail space and bike storage. Floors two through six would contain either five or 10 apartments each, and the sixth floor would include a gym and amenity space, records show. It doesn’t appear that the new plans call for any office space.
Elsewhere in north Brooklyn, Double U is planning a roughly 88,000-square-foot retail and sports center at 83 Wythe Ave. in Williamsburg, Crain’s reported last year.
