A photo of 375 Smith Street when it was the Court Theatre circa 1928.
The Court Theatre in 1932. Photo courtesy of the New York Public Library
The building in 2014
The building as seen from the corner of Smith and 9th Street 2014
in 2018
The former entrance of the Court Theatre in 2018
The building in October 2019
Demolition work
Sometime in the 1940, the building was changed into a gas station. In the 1980's the pumps were taken out, and Lee Brothers bought the building and opened a repair and body shop.
Through the decades, some details of its past survived on parts of its façade.
As of yesterday, a demo crew had started to take the building apart.
In 2014, the Lee brothers filed plans with the NYC Department of Buildings for a new four story, 11 apartment residential building with retail space on the ground floor and a number of parking spots.
It wasn't until the beginning of 2018 that the garage closed permanently. Earlier this year, a blue construction site went up and demolition permits were granted by DoB.
The former movie theatre/ auto repair shop sits on one of the largest and most desirable lots in one of the most coveted neighborhoods of Brooklyn. It is therefore not surprising that the owners have decided to develop it.
According to the Carroll Gardens contextual rezoning, which was approved in 2009, the site is in an R6B zone, with a height limit of 50 feet and a commercial overlay fronting Smith Street . The Carroll Gardens community pushed for the contextual re-zoning and height limit in part because of the opposition to 360 Smith Street, the 70 feet building right across the street.
Below is the DoB zoning diagram for the site
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