The prolific and talented Brooklyn architect Montrose Morris was known for designing some of the first multi-unit apartment buildings in the borough. This is one of them, at 109 South 9th Street. Built in 1890, the Williamsburg building is decorated with stone, brick and terra cotta alongside oversized, bracketed cornices. Inside is a massive, four-story space with nine bedrooms and eight bathrooms. To make the whole building look good, it’s going to require a big renovation from any buyer.
You’re working with some great bones with this building: high ceilings, four exposures that provide great light, and many original details like exposed brick and wooden beams, fireplaces and arched windows. Alas, while the listing promises the building is structurally sound, it says it will require a full gut renovation. Perhaps it could be renovated into a grand single-family home?
The building is currently configured with apartments on every floor. The listing doesn’t say whether or not it’ll be delivered to a buyer vacant.
109 South 9th is a freestanding building without any common walls to any adjacent properties, ensuring lots of light from all four exposures. It also sits on a large, 24-foot by 100-foot, 8,300-square-foot lot. Because the property is zoned both residential and commercial, a buyer could experiment with a variety of different uses here. But they’d be remiss not to restore the Montrose Morris building to its full glory.