218 Gates Avenue, 1919.

In the late 1860s, the wealthy lace merchant John Gibb built is massive Second Empire mansion for his growing family (he would eventually have 13 children by two wives). He also owned much of the surrounding land, so for its first few decades, no other buildings stood between this house and Classon Avenue. (Gibbs was a bit of a curmudgeon who did not wish to be bothered on his quiet property.) In the late 1880s, Gibb and two of his sons got even richer when they went into business with Frederick Loeser. Frederick Loeser & Company became one of the largest department stores in Brooklyn.

Gibb moved out to his Long Island estate at the turn of the century, and the large house cycled through several well-heeled owners. Owing to its enormous square footage, the house was converted into a convalescent home following the first World War. Later it was the Long Island Motor Club, a social club before becoming Hopewell House, a residential space for underprivileged women and children. In the second half of the 20th century, the homes became Plaza North Hotel, a hotel and event venue. This use ended in the 1980s after the activities here and in the more recently constructed outer building devolved in the illegal sphere. It then sat empty and in ruins.

The Pratt Area Community Council bought the house from the city in 2000. They restored and reworked the mansion offices, meeting rooms and public spaces, while demolishing the outbuildings and constructing new edifices with studio apartments on the Monroe Street side of the lot. Today the complex includes more than 70 units of affordable housing.