Last summer, a Kickstarter fundraising campaign was launched to try to turn the Broken Angel, a fanciful mosaic mansion in Clinton Hill, into an art museum. It's owner, artist Arthur Wood, had crafted the home with his wife Cynthia, and he had been battling foreclosure for several years. The campaign was unsuccessful, and now Brownstoner reports that the architectural gem has been put on the market for $4.5 million. CPEX Real Estate is marketing the property, 4-8 Downing Street, as a "residential development/conversion site."
4 Downing Street is where the Broken Angel sits, and the listing notes that the lot comes with approved plans to convert the four-story, 10,000-square-foot structure into an 8-unit building. The adjacent lot, 8 Downing Street, is vacant and comes with approval to build a four-story two-unit building with a community space in the lower levels.
The Broken Angel started making headlines back in 2006, when the city ordered part of it to be torn down. That led to a lawsuit, several talks of sales, and interest from developers, but nothing ever happened. Wood tried to sell the building for $4 million in 2009 after his wife was diagnosed with cancer; he was fighting foreclosure at the same time. The building never sold, and last May, Wood awaited eviction. When the Kickstarter launched in August, Wood was still living there. Brownstoner spotted public records that show the building sold in January to an LLC for $2.05M, but they have no idea who the new owners are, if Wood still lives there, or why it was dropped back onto the market so quickly. If you have intel, please do send it to the tipline.
· Broken Angel Now for Sale for $4.5 Million [Brownstoner]
· Listing: 4-8 Downing Street [CPEX Real Estate]
· Broken Angel coverage [Curbed]
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