Waterworks development clears hurdle

An embattled proposal to develop the old Brooklyn Waterworks site on Baldwin’s border with Freeport into a 121-unit, six-story apartment building took a step toward approval with a vote on Oct. 4 by the Freeport Landmarks Preservation Commission. The 4-4 tie was a victory for the project’s developer, Gary Melius, because the commission’s charter requires a majority to vote a proposal down.

“… [I]t automatically went forward,” said Cynthia Krieg, a member of the commission. “It will go on and be reviewed by the Freeport Village Planning Board next.”

An early draft of the plans for the complex was submitted to the Landmarks Commission in March of 2011 but then pre-emptively withdrawn before a vote could be held, Krieg explained. “We voted unanimously on the destruction of the original Waterworks building in the spring,” she said. “Mr. Melius brought another proposal to us, but then withdrew it. We voted to accept his withdrawal without prejudice.”

Asked why Melius reconsidered his plans, Krieg said, “That proposal didn’t have any elements of the Waterworks at all. It was just a big, square building. We understood, of course, that you couldn’t recreate the original building, but I think they felt we’d want to see some reflection of that structure.”

Melius agreed with Krieg’s assessment. “They said [the plans] were too contemporary,” he recounted. “We thought about that and decided they were right. So we went back and reconsidered and presented a plan that reflected the Waterworks structure. We made the building look more similar to the previous building.”

The Waterworks, also known as the Milburn Pumping Station, was a quirky, Roman Revival project erected in 1890 to supplement Brooklyn’s water supply. Melius, who owns the Oheka Castle in Huntington, bought the property in 1989, and planned to turn it into 48 condominiums by 1990. But a housing collapse forced him to put those plans on hold, and the project has been fraught with pitfalls and litigation ever since.