How Six Controversial Proposed Skyscrapers Will Radically Transform Brooklyn’s Skyline
Just like our rents, Brooklyn’s buildings are going up, up, up. With this week’s announcement of a 600-foot-tall commercial building at 420 Albee Square and a 1,000-foot-tall tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, we thought it was high time to see how a few buildings-in-the-works measure up.
Is there such a thing as too tall? Or are these structures just right in height? Here’s the line-up:
340 Flatbush Avenue Extension Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn Height: 1,000 feet Square Feet: 466,000 residential, 140,000 commercial Complete: early 2019
When built, this 1,000-foot-tall tower planned for 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension will be Brooklyn’s tallest structure and the tallest building in the city outside of Manhattan. Designed by SHoP Architects, the tower is being developed by Michael Stern and Joe Chetrit. Read More
205 Montague Street Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights Height: 700 feet Square Feet: 300,000 residential or commercial Complete: unknown
The property at 205 Montague Street — with air rights enabling a 700-foot-tall tower — went on the market in 2015 for a cool $200,000,000. No takers as of yet, but air rights included in the sale mean the site’s future owners could build higher than all of the existing structures nearby. Read More
420 Albee Square Neighborhood: Downtown Brooklyn Height: 600 feet Square Feet: 400,000 office and retail Complete: 2018
While shorter than the nearby 340 Flatbush Avenue, the 600-foot-tall tower at 420 Albee Square will be the area’s first ground-up office development since the 2004 rezoning of Downtown Brooklyn. A skyscraping tower has been in the works for years, but was initially intended to be residential and 65 stories high. Read More
280 Cadman Plaza West Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights Height: 441 feet Square Feet: 200,000 residential, 21,500 library Complete: 2018
The ultra-controversial proposal to sell the city-owned site of the Brooklyn Heights library branch to developer Hudson Companies is no news to Brownstoner readers. The planned 36-story luxury condo tower would have 139 apartments and a new library and retail space on the ground floor. Hudson would also build 114 units of affordable housing in Clinton Hill as part of the deal. Read More
Former Long Island College Hospital Site Towers (as-of-right plan) Neighborhood: Cobble Hill Height: 434 feet and 336 feet Square Feet: 528,935 residential, 262,555 community facility Complete: unknown
Developer Fortis Property Group released new renderings and details of two potential plans for the former LICH site. One of them, the as-of-right option shown above, can be built without community approval. Though the towers are lower than initially proposed, they’re still well above the 50-foot cap proposed by the Cobble Hill Association. Read More
Pier 6 Towers, Brooklyn Bridge Park Neighborhood: Brooklyn Heights Height: 280 feet and 125 feet Square Feet: 3,870 retail space in Parcel A, 192 condos; 930 retail space, 1,500 community facility in Parcel B, 145 condos Complete: 2017
The controversy never stops with these two towers planned for Brooklyn Bridge Park. Are they too big? Too affordable? Should they be built at all? Read More
Related Stories Rendering Remix: Will 205 Montague Street Be Too Tall for The Heights? 166 Affordable Apartments Coming to Flatbush and Caton Near Prospect Park New $554.77 Million Kosciuszko Bridge Replacement Rising Over Newtown Creek
Originally published at www.brownstoner.com on November 11, 2015.
