Brooklyn Borough Gas Co. - Specimen Stock Certificate

Specimen Stock printed by Security Bank Note Company, Phila. Please specify color.

The Brooklyn Union Gas Company Headquarters, also known as 176 Remsen Street, is a historic building in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City. Designed by Brooklyn architect Frank Freeman in the neoclassical style, it was completed in 1914 as the headquarters of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company (later KeySpan). The structure was part of the St. Francis College campus from 1963 to 2022. The facade is eight stories high and is horizontally divided by cornices into three sections. The first two stories, constructed of granite, are vertically divided into five bays; they feature a large central portico with Doric columns. The third through eighth stories are clad with limestone and are divided vertically into 11 bays. There is a colonnade with six Ionic columns on the top two stories. The building was constructed with about 6,775 sq ft (629.4 m2) on each floor. When 176 Remsen Street opened, the ground floor had a large public office and exhibition spaces, while the second through seventh stories accommodated Brooklyn Union Gas offices. By the 1960s, these had been converted into academic facilities. The predecessor to the Brooklyn Union Gas Company was established in 1825 and built a headquarters at 180 Remsen Street in 1856. Rapid growth in the early 1900s prompted the company to acquire land in 1912 for an expanded headquarters at 172–178 Remsen Street. The building was finished in 1914, and the gas company remained there for 47 years. St. Francis College agreed to buy the building in 1960 as part of an expansion of its campus, and the college reopened the building on February 1, 1963, following an extensive renovation. The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission designated the building as a city landmark in 2011. St. Francis College relocated from the building in 2022 and sold it in April 2023 to Rockrose Development Corporation.