Greenpoint Savings Bank

The building at 807 Manhattan Ave., on the southwest corner with Calyer St., is the Greenpoint Savings Bank, built in 1906. The bank building is one of hundreds of buildings in the Greenpoint Historic District, listed in the New York and National Registers in 1983 and a New York City landmark since 1982. The neo-Classical style bank building sports a low dome and columned porticoed main entrance on Manhattan Ave. The core of the building held a Capitol One bank branch in recent years, but the bank vacated the building in May 2020. An L-shaped addition was built in the 1920s in a style matching the original. A more modern, 3.5-story rear addition from the 1950s extended the building along Calyer to Lorimer; this "Greenpoint Savings Bank Annex" was renovated in 2019 into 29 luxury residences (1080 Lorimer St.) and rechristened "The Helm." The vacant, older parts of the bank building are available for lease as of 2022.

Although Greenpoint Savings Bank was incorporated in 1868, this building wasn't constructed until 1906. Founders of the bank included Archibald K. Meserole, Thomas F. Rowland, and Thomas C. Smith. The bank opened in January 1869 on the ground floor of a wood frame building on the corner of Oak and Franklin Streets (94 Franklin). As the commercial district of the neighborhood transitioned from Franklin St. to Manhattan Ave., Greenpoint Savings Bank opened a new office at 883 Manhattan Ave. in 1882. In late 1885, the new office burned down, and the bank moved temporarily to the ground floor of a townhouse at 127 Greenpoint Ave. In 1887, the bank moved to a long-term location at the northwest corner of Noble St. and Manhattan Ave (845-847 Manhattan). When the bank outgrew this space after a couple decades, a new site was chosen on the corner of Manhattan Ave. and Calyer St.

The architectural firm of Helme & Huberty designed the present bank building in 1906; they had recently designed the Prospect Park Boat House. The main entrance on Manhattan has a recessed portico with four Greek Doric columns below a frieze decorated with medallions and topped by a triangular pediment. The main part of the bank is two stories tall, with a set-back shorter half-story embellished with a lion head motif. The half-story is the base of a cylindrical drum below a shallow dome; the dome was clad in slate shingles in a fish-scale pattern and topped by a polygonal lantern.

In 1925, an L-shaped addition was built along Manhattan and the south side of Calyer (158-172 Calyer), echoing the existing facade along Calyer. A three-story extension was constructed in 1954, extending the bank to Lorimer St. (1080-1090). In 2016, the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission signed off on plans to renovate the extension into 29 luxury condos. By 2019, the residential development, designed by PKSB Architects, was called "The Helm."

A real estate investor bought the Savings Bank building (the original and 1925 addition) in 2018 from Slate Property Group. Slate kept ownership of the 1954 annex, which it had purchased with the rest of the bank building in 2015. Capital One announced plans to close its branch in the building in May 2020. The bank part of the building has been vacant since then but is available to lease.

Greenpointers Staff. Greenpoint Savings Bank Annex Rebranded as 'The Helm' with 29 'Luxury Residences', Greenpointers. October 24th 2019. Accessed March 10th 2022. https://greenpointers.com/2019/10/24/greenpoint-savings-bank-annex-rebranded-as-the-helm-with-29-luxury-residences/.

Greenpointers Staff. Capital One Closing Greenpoint Savings Bank Branch in May, Greenpointers. February 24th 2020. Accessed March 10th 2022. https://greenpointers.com/2020/02/24/capital-one-closing-greenpoint-savings-bank-branch-in-may/.

NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission. Designation Report, Greenpoint Historic District, Brooklyn, N.Y., LP-1248. NYC Landmarks. New York, NY. NYC Government, 1982.

Bindelglass, Evan. Landmarks Okays Residential Conversion at Greenpoint Savings Bank, 807 Manhattan Ave., New York YIMBY. May 18th 2016. Accessed March 10th 2022. https://newyorkyimby.com/2016/05/landmarks-okays-residential-conversion-at-greenpoint-savings-bank-807-manhattan-avenue.html.