Dan Scholnick wasn’t going to be the average, short-sighted developer. By the time he bought his East Kensington property — a crumbling 19th century factory, typical of the bygone era’s stamp on the neighborhood — he had spent three years researching sustainable development. This was no quick-fix moneymaker: He committed four more years to creating live-work spaces that could sustain artists for the long haul, including himself, a tabla musician. But as he began the process, the unexpected challenges came at him like a flood.
“The building was in such bad shape, I had to lay my hand on everything — new walls, new ceilings, new electrical,” he explains. “As a consequence, everything is way nicer than the scrappy artist warehouse I envisioned.”
As we enter the now finished house with his fiancee, Aimee Ando, Scholnick is quick to point out the motion sensor lighting, one of the many green choices he’s proud of. (He hired green architect Scott Kelly to consult on the design.) “This building is over 100 years old,” says Scholnick. “All of my construction is with a mind toward having it stand for another 100.”
