175 Kent Going Up, But 157 Kent is Quiet

The building above is 175 Kent Avenue, officially known as 53 N. 3rd Street. It will be going on that big site formerly occupied by the concrete plant on Kent Avenue between N. 3 and N. 4 Streets across from 184 Kent. The building will be six stories with 112 units and 166,000 square feet of space, according to the Department of Buildings website, which shows the initial plan being rejected on November 16. Brownstoner published the rendering of the new building, which is being developed by the Chetrit Group, last week. The architect on the project is Meltzer/Mandl Architects. Brownstoner noted the building will have 5,000 square feet of retail at street level and another 18,000 square below ground, which fits the kind of space that's sought by some big retailers. Interestingly, 175 Kent only represents about 1/2 of the Chetrit property. No permits have been filed for the other half, which is 157 Kent Avenue. A fence has gone up around the building site, which is the first time this site has had a fence. It was wide open during the long demolition of the concrete plant.