Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory
Designated as a historic district by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (NYCLPC) in 2007, it is composed of nine buildings spread across two blocks.
Following a fire six years later, Faber moved to a larger location in Greenpoint, which expanded through the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the acquisition or addition of several buildings.
Faber's children split the company from its German parent in 1898, and it remained in Greenpoint until 1956, when it moved to Pennsylvania.
[2][3][4] In 1861 Faber also established a pencil factory in the eastern part of Midtown Manhattan between 41st and 43rd Streets, on the present day site of the headquarters of the United Nations.
[6] Faber moved to a larger location within three existing buildings in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, though the offices stayed in Manhattan.
[15][16] The first such building, located at 100–106 West Street predated the factory itself, having been erected in the mid-1860s as a real estate investment for local resident and iron merchant Francis N. Gove.
The four-story 37 Greenpoint Avenue, at the corner with West Street, was built in 1881 by S.A. Valentine and taken over by Faber in the late 1880s, whereupon it was used as a mailing address and for offices.
The second, a three-story structure with basement at 72–74 Kent Street, was built in 1904–1908 and possibly made specifically for the Faber factory.
[18] The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory historic district on October 30, 2007.
[24] In 2011, Kickstarter purchased several of the buildings in the complex for US$3.6 million,[25] and announced its plans to renovated these structures, having gotten approval from the NYCLPC.
[28] Whalar, a talent firm, bought 58 Kent Street in December 2023 after Kickstarter transitioned to fully remote work.
[29] The Eberhard Faber Pencil Factory's constituent structures were designed in a German Renaissance Revival style or Rundbogenstil.
[31]: 202 These features included relatively narrow footprints to provide sufficient natural light to the interior, as well as flat roofs with brick parapets to reduce dust accumulation that could cause fires.
[35] 39–45 Greenpoint Avenue was also developed by the Valentines and built by John M. Baker in the German Renaissance Revival style around 1901.
The five-story building was made of bond brick and measures eleven window bays wide along Greenpoint Avenue.
The westernmost of these (on the right when facing the entrance) is 58 Kent Street, an Italianate building designed by Philemon Tillion in 1860 and erected by Francis Gove.
In the center is 60–64 Kent Street, a Renaissance Revival building designed by Theobald Engelhardt and built in 1895 by Faber; this facade contains brick dentil courses and corbels, cast iron lintels, radiating brick arches, and bluestone water tables.
[39] As of 2018[update] this space is partially occupied by the New York University School of Medicine as a physical therapy and imaging center.
[37] 59–63 Kent is nine bays wide and contains Renaissance Revival ornamentation, including brick corbels, a central pediment, and the company's motif at the top.
[42] The four-story building has a facade of bond brick, with sills and lintels made of cast iron in the Italianate style, as well as pediments with circular motifs.
