If all of the pieces come together, a tower as high as 1,000 feet could sprout on the site of Junior's Most Fabulous Cheesecakes and Desserts in Downtown Brooklyn at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Ext. and Dekalb Avenue. The iconic two-story eatery, which comes with development rights that would allow for a 20-story building, was put on the market in February. Then in April, the landmarked JP Morgan Chase next door announced that it was interested in selling its air rights, which would allow for a 50-story building on the Junior's site. Now the Times reports that if the winning developer collects all of the development rights on the whole triangular block, a 1,000-foot skyscraper could be built. It's a mindboggling height for Brooklyn, considering that the borough's current tallest tower only stands at 590 feet, but there is a decent chance that it could actually be built.
Bidding for the site begins this week, and dozens of big name developers are interested, including Michael Stern of JDS Development Group and Joseph Chetrit of the the Chetrit Group. And it just so happens that the pair purchased Junior's neighbor at 340 Flatbush Avenue Ext. late last year. If they win Junior's and acquire the air rights from Chase, they would be able to build at least a 500,000-square-foot structure.
In February, Junior's owner Alan Rosen said that any deal for redeveloping the site would have to give Junior's space on the ground floor. Now, he's not so adamant. If the price is right, he'll consider moving.
· At Junior's Site, Bidders See Brooklyn, Too, as a City of Spires [NYT]
· 386 Flatbush Avenue Ext coverage [Curbed]
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