Bricklyn Chief Prognosticator David Bricks with two members of the staff of the Office of Chief Prognosticator (OCP) reviewing data. Photos in this post are by Bricklyn Eagle staff with assistance from Dall-E 3 AI.
From the Editor: The following is the text of the just released Chief Prognosticator’s advisory opinion on Dunk Them Donuts’ proposed zoning amendment to increase the maximum allowable height of buildings in downtown Bricklyn Junction.
Having made this determination, and taking into account research data and predictive analysis provided by staff of the Office of the Chief Prognosticator, and following consultation with the Chief Historian of the Realm, the Chief Prognosticator offers the following advisory opinion:
Re: Downtown Bricklyn Junction Historic District Zoning Changes to Increase Allowable Building Heights
1. The proposed zoning change for Bricklyn Junction would allow for high-rises that would clearly be out-of-scale with the historic development pattern of the city’s downtown. Historic district provisions are meant to ensure the preservation of Bricklyn Junction’s heritage for future generations.
Dramatically raising the existing longstanding height limit would allow for development that would forever alter the character of Bricklyn Junction. Enactment of the zoning amendment, in turn, would likely compel Bricklyn and South Bricklyn to make comparable zoning changes, thus significantly affecting the future of the entire Realm.
2. In considering the zoning amendment, one must also necessarily consider the loss of the former Hotel Stansbury, as its demolition is a necessary part of Dunk Them Donuts’ plans, and integrally linked to the intent behind the zoning amendment.
The Stansbury has played a vital role in the lives of generations of residents not just of Bricklyn Junction, but of the entire Tripartite Realm of Bricklyn. It is a noteworthy architectural gem. Demolition of the Stansbury is unwarranted.
Chief Prognosticator David Bricks.
3. Based on our Office’s research, including use of our “wisdom of the crowds” data set, it would appear that the best course of action, though one that may be challenging to accomplish, would be to rehabilitate the Stansbury and use it for most of the same purposes that Dunk Them Donuts intended for its proposed mixed-use high-rise tower.
A restored Stansbury could serve as the company’s new headquarters, while also providing housing units for its employees, as well as hotel rooms for visitors to Bricklyn Junction. The principal sacrifice required would be the loss of the revolving, roof-top, donut-shaped restaurant, a restaurant that our staff has found has little likelihood of being feasible to construct except at truly exorbitant cost.
4. The Bricklyn Planning Department and the Realm’s Office of the Federal Chancellor, should provide assistance to Dunk Them Donuts with efforts to rehabilitate the Stansbury, bringing the historic building back to life in the heart of downtown Bricklyn Junction. ✥
Reading the print edition of today’s Bricklyn Eagle. Note that all photos in this post are by Bricklyn Eagle staff, with assistance from Dall E-3 AI.
by Paul B. Macro, Bricklyn Eagle Business Reporter and Mark Tiler Richmond, Bricklyn Eagle Politics & Law Correspondent
The Bricklyn Eagle, as part of its reporting on the Dunk Them Donuts request to demolish the Hotel Stansbury, recently examined the 2015 transaction by which Brickwater Realty purchased the Hotel Stansbury. Brickwater, in turn, sold the hotel to Dunk Them Donuts in May 2023.
Was Brickwater Realty actually a dummy company owned and controlled by Dunk Them Donuts?
We take a closer look at the ownership history of the Hotel Stansbury.
Before Brickwater Realty purchased the Stansbury in 2015, the hotel had been owned and operated since 1988 by a corporation called Stansbury Associates.
For the period between 1988 and 2007 the Stansbury continued to operate as a hotel, before being converted into office space in 2008.
During the period 2008 through 2015, office occupancy levels in the Stansbury averaged between 70 and 80 percent (typical for Bricklyn Junction’s downtown), and all reports are that the building was well-maintained.
For reasons that have puzzled many, the Stansbury’s fortunes appeared to take a precipitous turn for the worse soon after being purchased by Brickwater Realty in 2015.
Two former tenants of the Stansbury who were offered what they called “extortionate” renewal leases by Brickwater Realty.
Two former tenants we contacted told us that Brickwater offered them what they both termed “extortionate” rates for renewal of their leases — which forced both of these tenants to vacate their space.
Other tenants told us they were simply not offered a lease renewal, saying that a Brickwater representative told them their space was needed for another client.
There were also a growing number of complaints of a lack of proper maintenance in the building. A parade of tenants terminated their leases in 2016.
By 2017, the Stansbury’s occupancy rate had plummeted to 30 percent. The following year the remaining tenants were compelled to leave, as Brickwater told tenants that “renovation plans for the building required it to be emptied out.” But no other plans emerged.
Hallway in the Stansbury shortly while vacant in 2022.
During the period from 2018 to 2023, several complaints were filed with the Bricklyn Junction Dept. of Public Works (responsible for code enforcement) indicating that portions of the vacant Stansbury building “were falling apart” and “in need to significant repairs.”
DPW sent “warning letters” to Brickwater Realty, but apparently took no other follow-up actions.
Review of Police Department files also show that the vacant building had become a favored spot for some of Bricklyn’s petty criminals and troublemakers, with apparently little effort by Brickwater to do anything.
Was Suzanne Broffman (aka Mary Ellen Osterbrick) a “Dummy Shareholder” in Brickwater Realty acting on behalf her husband David Tiler Broffman and Dunk Them Donuts in purchasing and “managing” the building?
In investigating the records of Brickwater Realty’s purchase of the Stansbury in 2015, we noticed that the signatory for Brickwater’s purchase was listed as Mary Ellen Osterbrick, President, Brickwater Realty. Further research indicated that Mary Ellen Osterbrick was the birth name of Suzanne Broffman, wife of Dunk Them Donuts CEO David Tiler Broffman.
Dunk Them Donuts, in its filings with the Planning Department, made no mention of the fact that the wife of Dunk Them Donuts’ CEO was the principal officer and shareholder of the Stansbury during the time period the building became vacant and fell into disrepair.
According to USLegal.com: “Dummy shareholder means a person who maintains the stock in his/her name for the benefit of the true owner. … true owner means a person or company who really owns the shares. For example, a person who holds the shares on behalf of his/her spouse is a dummy shareholder. Usually the identity of a dummy shareholder would be concealed.”
Inside the Bricklyn Land Records Office.
Suzanne Broffman, née Mary Ellen Osterbrick, by the Dunk Them Donuts yacht in Bricklyn Harbor.
Ms. Broffman has failed to return multiple calls from The Bricklyn Eagle. Likewise, Mr. Broffman and other officials at Dunk Them Donuts have not returned our phone calls, text messages, and emails.
At this point, we do not know if there was any nefarious intent by the Broffmans’ using what may have been a dummy corporation to purchase the Stansbury in 2015.
However, we do make note of the fact that Dunk Them Donuts argued to the Historic Preservation Board that the Stansbury needed to be demolished because it was in an advanced state of disrepair and could not be rehabilitated without the company incurring a very substantial financial expense.
Bricklyn Planning Director Tim Brickedy. Checking out demolition provisions in the Bricklyn zoning code.
The Bricklyn Eagle also sought to contact Realm of Bricklyn Planning Director Tim Brickedy and Bricklyn Junction Public Works Department Director Alan Tiler Alman about our investigation.📍
➤ Note that each of the three cities making up the Realm of Bricklyn — Bricklyn, South Bricklyn, and Bricklyn Junction — has its own Department of Public Works, while the Bricklyn Planning Department serves all three cities.
Dunk Them Donuts CEO Dave Broffman (wearing Dunk Them shirt) meeting with DPW head Alan Alman. Photo provided by anonymous source, dated Nov. 15, 2019.
Staff at Public Works told us that Alman could not be reached, being on a safari in a remote portion of East Africa to research developing a zoological park for Bricklyn Junction. Other senior staff at DPW indicated they could not respond to our questions.
Planning Director Brickedy said he was “troubled by the implications of our reporting.” He noted that “demolition by neglect📍 is a concern with many demolition permit requests, but would be especially troubling if the neglect were the result of both willful intent to allow a building to fall into an advanced state of disrepair and failure to make full and accurate disclosures when applying for a demolition permit.”
➤ Demolition by Neglect: “Do historic preservation ordinances impose maintenance requirements on property owners? Routine maintenance work (such as replacing tiles on a slate roof) is generally excluded from commission review. However, many ordinances require that designated property be kept structurally sound, and empower the local government to make repairs and seek reimbursement in instances where a property is essentially being ‘demolished by neglect.’ ” — “Historic Preservation Ordinances: Frequently Asked Questions,” by Julia H. Miller, Esq. (Planning Commissioners Journal 51:14, Fall 2003). For a pdf of this article & four others on planning for historic preservation.
Brickedy acknowledged that the Historic Preservation Board was not aware that Brickwater Realty might have been acting as a dummy company on behalf of Dunk Them Donuts during the years Brickwater owned the Stansbury and allowed it to fall into a significant state of disrepair.
More to come as The Bricklyn Eagle continues its reporting. ✥
Response from Dunk Them Donuts
Shortly after filing this article, The Bricklyn Eagle received the following response from Dunk Them Donuts CEO David Tiler Broffman:
David Tiler Broffman. Photo from Bricklyn Eagle archives.
“The Bricklyn Eagle seems to have lost its bearings, with its sloppy, poorly researched article impugning the integrity of not just Dunk Them Donuts, but my lovely wife Suzanne.
In everything Dunk Them Donuts does, we are guided by legal counsel from the esteemed Bricklyn law firm of Brickly Baker. We have followed the letter of the law, and promise Bricklynites that “The Dunk,” our proposed mixed-use tower, will give a huge boost to the vitality of downtown Bricklyn Junction, while generating over sixty units of badly needed affordable housing for our employees.”
To the Editor: “Sounds like there are some scandalous scoundrels at work in the whole Dunk Them Donuts purchases of this historic hotel! Yikes, this place is a hotbed of controversy!” — Pat in Vermont
To the Editor: “The only real dummies are the folks who are standing in the way of the new Dunk Them Donuts tower. Let them do what they need to so that it can be built!” — Frank in South Bricklyn
To the Editor: “What Dunk Them Donuts appears to have done reflects the monopolistic power that happens in our supposedly free market economy. They’re not content with just being the biggest company in the Realm, but they also want to destroy the Realm’s heritage. Save the Stansbury!” — Marjorie in Bricklyn Junction
by Paul B. Macro, Bricklyn Eagle Business Reporter and Mark Tiler Richmond, Bricklyn Eagle Politics & Law Correspondent
Dunk Them Donuts’ rendering of its proposed tower as submitted to the Bricklyn Planning Commission. Rendering and other photos/graphics in this post with assistance of Dall E-3 AI.
A six-member joint committee of the Bricklyn Planning Commission and the Federal Council, formed to expedite consideration of a significant zoning amendment proposed by Dunk Them Donuts, met last night.
Current zoning in downtown Bricklyn Junction allows for a 1.75 foot high building; the proposed zoning amendment would allow a building 5.0 feet high. Dunk Them Donuts’ planned tower (including a revolving rooftop restaurant) would be 4.98 feet in height.
➤ Outland readers should note that Bricklyn’s building scale is approximately 1/45 of that found in Outland cities. In other words, a 1 foot high structure in Bricklyn Jct. would equate to a 45 foot high structure in the Outland city of Burlington, Vermont; a 1.75 foot high building in Bricklyn Jct. would equal 78.75 feet in Burlington; and a 5 foot high structure in Bricklyn Junction would be approximately 225 feet high in Burlington.
In reviewing this proposed zoning amendment, the Joint Committee will be considering the impact raising the maximum height of the zoning district would have, and also whether a separate overlay zoning district should be considered so that any changes apply to a more limited portion of the existing Bricklyn Junction East district.
We spoke with two members of the Joint Committee, Elaine Plater Johansen, Chair of the Planning Commission, and Thomas J. Brickstone, the member of the Federal Council representing Bricklyn Junction.
Would this be the future look of downtown Bricklyn Junction if the zoning amendment were to be adopted? Illustration created by Bricklyn Historic Preservation Society, with assistance from Dall E-3 AI.
Johansen expressed concerns about making such a “radical change” to the existing height limit.
As she explained: “We’re nearly tripling the allowable height, which would be unprecedented in the Realm of Bricklyn’s history. Equally important, we would be destroying the character of Bricklyn Junction’s downtown historic district.
I have no doubt that other high-rise towers will follow. What will be left of Bricklyn Junction’s beautiful, historic downtown?”
Federal Council member Brickstone had a different point of view:
Federal Councilor Thomas Brickstone on left; Planning Commission Chair Elaine Plater Johansen on right at Joint Committee meeting last night.
“Yes, it’s a big change. But remember that when the Hotel Stansbury was built it towered a full story higher than any of its surrounding buildings. No one appeared to have concerns about that back then [in 1897].”
“It’s also important to keep in mind,” continued Brickstone, “that Dunk Them Donuts is vital to the Realm’s economy. They are our largest employer. We need to give them the capacity to grow in Bricklyn Junction. What’s more they’ll be adding 128 units of badly need housing in their Dunk Them tower, 64 of which are guaranteed to be affordable for their employees.”
Members of the public also spoke at the Joint Committee meeting. As at recent meetings of the Planning Commission and the Historic Preservation Board, two sides with strongly held views made their voices heard.
Supporting the zoning amendment were dozens of Dunk Them Donuts employees, as well as several Bricklyn developers and the Bricklyn Chamber of Commerce.
Opposed were members of the Historic Preservation Society, along with ten owners of small businesses located near the Stansbury in the Bricklyn Junction historic district.
The Committee itself appeared split in its reactions to the proposed zoning amendment. Some discussion focused on the idea of limiting the zoning change to just the site of the Hotel Stansbury (the location of the proposed Dunk Them Donuts tower). However, Planning Director Brickedy cautioned that this limitation might well be considered “spot zoning,” which the Bricklyn Courts have found unlawful.
Bricklyn Planning Director Tim Brickedy in his office.
➤ Spot zoning involves “the process of singling out a small parcel of land for a use classification totally different from that of the surrounding area for the benefit of the owner of such property and to the detriment of other owners. … perhaps the most important criteria in determining spot zoning is the extent to which the disputed zoning is consistent with the municipality’s comprehensive plan. See Understanding Spot Zoning, by Daniel Shapiro, Esq.
A Call for the Opinion of the Chief Prognosticator
The biggest news from the meeting came after more than three hours of discussion and public comment, when Joint Committee member (and Federal Councilor) Catherine Brickmaster requested that the Committee call for the opinion of the Chief Prognosticator of the Realm on the zoning amendment.
As Brickmaster noted, “there’s little doubt that adopting this zoning amendment has the potential of radically altering the future development pattern of Bricklyn Junction, while also impacting the Tripartite Realm of Bricklyn as a whole. In such a case it is wholly appropriate to request the input of our Chief Prognosticator.”
Other members of the Joint Committee concurred.
Chief Prognosticator of the Realm of Bricklyn, David Bricks.
➤ For Bricklyn Eagle readers unfamiliar with the role of the Chief Prognosticator, we encourage you to read our article “Chief Prognosticator of the Realm.”
When the Chief Prognosticator is called on to render an advisory opinion, the Office of the Chief Prognosticator must first (as Bricklyn’s Constitution requires) find that the matter at issue is of “high significance affecting the future of the Realm of Bricklyn.” So it remains to be seen whether that threshold will be triggered.
However, one thing is certain, if the Chief Prognosticator does provide an advisory opinion, it will be given great weight by the Joint Committee, and ultimately by the Federal Council. ✥
