280 Lafayette Street

 apartment building  Add category

6-story residential building originally completed in 1892 as a factory. Designed by John R. Thomas, it is clad in red brick, with piers dividing the facades into bays of three windows, with connected stone sills and lintels. In 1898-99, during the widening of Elm (now Lafayette) Street, the building was reduced in width and the Lafayette Street facade was rebuilt and the building was extended to the south. Stone cornices run above the 1st, 2nd, & 5th floors, and the building is crowned by a projecting metal roof cornice. The ground floor has large segmental-arched openings.

In 1918, much of the building was destroyed by fire and the Jersey Street facade collapsed. The building was restored close to its original condition by the architect Lorenz F.J. Weiner. This wall lacks ornamentation, with five bays of windows in the center. The western one has been bricked-in; the remaining bays have metal fire shutters. On the 2nd floor, a window of glass blocks has been added on the east end.

The building was occupied from the completion of its original section in 1892 until the late 1960s as a paper warehouse. In the 1990s, it housed a gallery and then a home furnishings company, and has since been converted to apartments. The ground floor is occupied by 20th Century Artifacts, Brentano's Custom Framing & Fine Art, and Brooklyn Industries apparel.