Brooklyn’s Grand Prospect Hall to be replaced with luxury apartments
Image courtesy of Michael Roberto on Wikimedia
Brooklyn’s cherished 119-year-old Grand Prospect Hall will be replaced with a new luxury apartment building. The Victorian-era banquet hall located at 263 Prospect Avenue in Greenwood Heights was owned for over 40 years by Michael and Alice Halkias, who captured the attention of New Yorkers through their over-the-top television commercials advertising the hall. As first reported by Yimby, permits were filed last month for a 147-unit apartment building at the site with 180 underground parking spaces, recreational spaces, and a fitness room.
The property was purchased in 2020 by Gowanus Cubes for $22.5 million after Michael Halkias passed away from Covid. The purchase was part of a $30 million acquisition of twelve properties along Prospect Avenue.
Despite efforts to save the sacred venue from demolition, the property’s new owners filed for its full removal last August. The Department of Buildings issued an interior demolition permit on July 19 of 2021. There is no estimated completion date as of yet.
The new 50-foot development will be built by Hill West Architects and create 140,420 square feet of residential space. The property will also have a cellar and a 30-foot rear yard.
The venue hall and its owners are immortalized through their commercials which imprinted their iconic slogan, “We make your dreams come true!,” in the heads of New Yorkers. The commercial was used as inspiration for a skit on Saturday Night Live in 2019.
The building was first constructed in 1982 by entrepreneur John Kolle and redesigned to its iconic form in 1900 by architect Ulrich J. Huberty after a fire. Despite being entered into the National Register of Historic Spaces in 1999, it was not registered as a landmark in New York City.
