Grand Prospect Hall site nearly finished as 144-apartment rental rises in Park Slope

The modern apartment building that replaced Park Slope’s Grand Prospect Hall is almost finished — four years after the gilded banquet hall came down and years of scaffolding complaints later, Brooklyn Paper reported Tuesday.

The five-story rental at 263 Prospect Avenue, designed by Hill West and marketed as The Grand Prospect, sits long and low with brown brick, dark metal panels and floor-to-ceiling glass. When Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner visited recently, green construction fencing and netting still wrapped much of the site while workers finished hardscaping, a playground and a driveway along 16th Street.

Units, rents and 421-a

Brooklyn Paper counted 144 apartments with one-, two- and three-bedroom layouts. The developer’s website, which lists the address as 263 Prospect Avenue, advertises “150 residences” and amenity marketing that matches the reporting: rooftop BBQ stations, a fitness center, golf simulator, resident lounge, children’s playroom, pet spa, bike storage and parking.

Because the project used the now-expired 421-a tax break, 20% to 30% of the units must be set aside for households earning around 130% of Area Median Income — the city’s “middle income” band. At that level, Brooklyn Paper wrote, a household of three could earn up to about $198,510 a year, and a two-bedroom would rent for $4,738. There is still no certificate of occupancy and no public unit listings, the paper said. Permits show about 180 parking spaces.

From landmark fight to new facade

The 1902 Renaissance Revival hall — rebuilt from a 1890s predecessor and famous for over-the-top ornament and the “where all your dreams come true” commercials — was demolished in 2022 after Alice Halkias sold the property to Gowanus Cubes LLC for $22.5 million following Michael Halkias’s death during the pandemic, Brownstoner reported. A last-ditch landmark campaign failed. Three 19th-century townhouses on 16th Street included in the deal were also torn down for the project.

City records identify brothers Angelo and George Rigas as running Gowanus Cubes LLC; their father, Gregory Rigas, is tied to other Brooklyn developments, including a tower nearby at 574 Fourth Avenue, Brownstoner wrote, citing The Real Deal. Neighbors complained for years about lighting and debris under scaffolding, and the site drew construction-safety violations plus worker lawsuits alleging unsafe conditions, Brooklyn Paper reported.