clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Downtown Brooklyn’s wild development boom, mapped

The transit-rich neighborhood is in the middle of a building boom

View as Map

Every month is seems like a new tower makes an appearance in the Downtown Brooklyn skyline, and that's not all that far from the truth. The transit-rich neighborhood is undergoing a precipitous boom in new residential and office construction that's hard to keep a handle on—in the past few years, thousands of apartments have been added to the neighborhood, with about that many more in the works.

Some of the projects below are in the pipeline, while others still pipe dreams. Check in on all that's going on in the busy neighborhood.

Read More

One Boerum Place

Copy Link

The corner of Boerum Place and Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn will officially sprout a 250-foot tower. Developer Avery Hall Investments has filed plans for a new, 21-story building at 7 Boerum Place, with 122 apartments and ground-floor retail part of the package. According to the plans on file with the Department of Buildings, the new tower will have 122 condos, along with amenities like a swimming pool, exercise room, roof terrace, and bicycle parking. SLCE is the architect of record.

22 Chapel Street

Copy Link

Developer OTL Enterprises is in the process of constructing a 20-story building with 180 apartments, a chunk of which will be earmarked as affordable. The building, designed by CetraRuddy, will be situated on tiny Chapel Street behind the Cathedral Basilica of St. James. The building will rise 210 feet and hold amenities like a resident's lounge, a children's room, a gym and pool, and a roof deck. It’ll also have ground-floor retail and a community center.

CetraRuddy

11 Hoyt

Copy Link

Developer Tishman Speyer has assembled a star-studded design team for its condo building set to rise next to Downtown Brooklyn’s Macy’s (which the developer is revamping at present). Jeanne Gang’s Chicago-based firm, Studio Gang is on the building; the condo will feature interiors by Michaelis Boyd Associates and landscape design by Hollander Design. The project will also be Studio Gang’s first residential building in NYC. The 51-story condo will have 480 apartments (a mix of studios through four-bedrooms) with prices ranging from $600,000 to over $4 million.

Courtesy of Tishman Speyer

Willoughby Square Park

Copy Link

Promised 15 years ago and in the works since 2010, the project to build this green space between Gold and Duffield streets dramatically changed over the years. The 1.15-acre space, designed and developed by landscape architecture firm Hargreaves Jones, will have a play area, a dog park, a lawn, several seating areas, and a walkway between Duffield Street and Albee Square West. Construction for the project is expected to go from September 2020 to September 2021.

A park with several green areas, trees, and people walking around. Renderings courtesy of NYCEDC and Hargreaves Jones

Ace Hotel Brooklyn

Copy Link

Roman & Williams is behind the Ace Hotel’s forthcoming Brooklyn outpost, which has been rumored for a few years now. GFI Capital is the developer, with Ace operating the space at 61 Bond Street. If all goes according to plan, the hotel—which a source tells Curbed will have a “warm and raw brutalist style”—should open sometime in the near future.

169 Tillary Street

Copy Link

A parking lot at Tillary and Gold streets will soon give way to a 13-story building with more than 280 apartments. According to plans on file with the Department of Buildings, the structure will also have parking for cars and bikes, as well as communal recreation space. 

Via Google Maps

260 Gold Street

Copy Link

A parking lot at the corner of Tillary and Gold Streets in Downtown Brooklyn is set to sprout a 13-story residential building. Plans filed with the city’s Department of Buildings reveal that the building will have a total of 286 apartments that will be spread out over 191,000 square feet of space. Aside from the residences, the project will also have parking for 115 cars and a bike room. J. Frankl Associates is designing the building.

Via Google Maps

Brooklyn Point

Copy Link

It’s official: Extell has landed in Brooklyn. The developer’s first Kings County building, Brooklyn Point, launched sales earlier in 2017, with apartments starting at $837,000. The condo is the final piece of the larger City Point megaproject, and is currently under construction at 138 Willoughby Street. In addition to what is allegedly the highest rooftop pool in the Western Hemisphere, the building will have a stargazing observatory, pilates and cycling studios, rock climbing, a pet spa, various lounges, a “forest adventure,” stroller valet, a game lounge, and yes, even more. Occupancy is expected in 2020.

Williams New York

9 Dekalb Avenue

Copy Link

Brooklyn’s getting its first supertall, courtesy of 111 West 57th Street developer/design duo JDS and SHoP Architects. The planned 1,000-foot tower will rise above the landmarked Dime Savings Bank Building in Albee Square, and will incorporate its historic facade into the skyscraper’s design. The Landmarks Preservation Commission gave the project the green light in 2016, and construction is underway; the developers have been tight-lipped about other details, such as unit mix or starting prices.

202-208 Tillary Street

Copy Link

A new rental building is set to rise right next to one of the entrances of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Downtown Brooklyn. The Aufgang Architects-designed project would have two buildings rising 21 and 23 stories, which would be connected by a shorter structure. The buildings would have 262 apartments, of which 79 would be affordable units. Just a little under 14,000 square feet has been set aside for ground floor retail.

Via YIMBY

167 Willoughby Street

Copy Link

A 12-story building with 23 apartments is due to rise on this site, with bike and car parking, as well as a roof deck.

Via Google Maps

80 Flatbush

Copy Link

Plans for 80 Flatbush Avenue, an Alloy Development project, call for two skyscrapers, one rising a whopping 986 feet, which would make it the second-tallest Brooklyn building upon completion (the tallest will be the supertall at 9 DeKalb Avenue, just a few blocks away). The project will bring 900 apartments—200 of which would be permanently affordable—two schools, and more to Brooklyn. It was approved in 2018, and will become the city’s first all-electric skyscraper upon completion.

Alloy Development

161 Ashland Place

Copy Link

Developer RXR Realty will replace Long Island University’s athletic fields near 161 Ashland Place with a 34-story building that will include space for the university on the lower floors, and apartments above. The residential portion of this project will have 476 apartments, of which 140 will be affordable units, the developer hopes. Amenities announced for this building so far include a yoga studio, a fitness center, and a kids playroom.

Via Google Maps

308 Livingston St

Copy Link

In Downtown Brooklyn, an early 20th-century building with terra cotta figures may be replaced by a 23-story tower. Located at 308-310 Livingston Street, the three-story brick structure was built in 1911. Documents on file with the Department of Buildings show that in October, architecture firm Fogarty Finger filed an application to build a new 23-story building, and in May, filed another one for full demolition. Department of Finance documents show that the building was sold for $11 million to Lonicera Partners (Livingston Owner LLC).

Courtesy of Justin van Deursen

23 Hanover Place

Copy Link

INC. Architecture is behind a planned 29-story tower that would rise on the corner of Hanover Place and Livingston Street. The building would have 43 apartments, according to plans on file with the Department of Buildings, which were submitted in August 2019. The plans have not yet been approved.

540 Fulton Street

Copy Link

A 42-story skyscraper on Fulton Street just east of Flatbush Avenue is currently in the works, and will bring close to 400 apartments to the neighborhood. Marvel Architects designed the more than 500-foot building, which started going vertical in 2019.

227 Duffield Street

Copy Link

Plans have been filed with the city’s Department of Buildings to replace the two-story brick building at 227 Duffield Street with a 13-story mixed-use tower. The plans were filed by the building’s owner, Samiel Hanasab, and name ARC Architecture + Design Studio as the firm of record. The mixed-use building would stand 13 stories (or 125 feet high), with just 21 apartments. Per the plans on file, the building would have only one or two apartments per floor, and there would be parking for nearly 100 cars, along with “office use” on the first floor. The move comes after demolition plans for the building were filed with the DOB in early June, setting off a flurry of activity among preservationists who think the mid-1800s house, believed to be an Underground Railroad stop when owned by prominent abolitionists Thomas and Harriet Lee-Truesdell, is worth saving. The application has not yet been approved.

Screenshot via Google Maps

50 Nevins Street

Copy Link

A building rising on Nevins Street between State and Schermerhorn streets will have 129 affordable apartments, more than half of which will be set aside for “formerly homeless individuals, including those with a serious mental illness, substance abuse disorder, veterans and young adults.” The $72 million project involves rehabbing a former YWCA SRO building and constructing a new, 10-story building next door.

570 Fulton Street

Copy Link

Despite community pushback, a 40-story tower on Fulton Street was cleared to rise in early 2019. The mixed-use building will have 139 apartments, as well as office space and retail. The site’s developer, Slate Property Group, put it on the market last fall.

Hill West Architects

The Symon

Copy Link

Developed by Lonicera Partners, Orange Management, and The Davis Companies, this 13-story project, known as The Symon, has 59 one- to four-bedroom units. The name was inspired by a very New York personality: Symon Schermerhorn, who was the patriarch of the family of the same name—he’s known for his involvement in the Schenectady massacre, and the family went on to have a long history in the borough. While Colberg Architecture is the project architect, Studio DB designed both the building’s exteriors and interiors. The project’s facade features hand-laid brick, arched windows, and a canopied entrance.

Volley Studio

One Boerum Place

The corner of Boerum Place and Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn will officially sprout a 250-foot tower. Developer Avery Hall Investments has filed plans for a new, 21-story building at 7 Boerum Place, with 122 apartments and ground-floor retail part of the package. According to the plans on file with the Department of Buildings, the new tower will have 122 condos, along with amenities like a swimming pool, exercise room, roof terrace, and bicycle parking. SLCE is the architect of record.

22 Chapel Street

Developer OTL Enterprises is in the process of constructing a 20-story building with 180 apartments, a chunk of which will be earmarked as affordable. The building, designed by CetraRuddy, will be situated on tiny Chapel Street behind the Cathedral Basilica of St. James. The building will rise 210 feet and hold amenities like a resident's lounge, a children's room, a gym and pool, and a roof deck. It’ll also have ground-floor retail and a community center.

CetraRuddy

11 Hoyt

Developer Tishman Speyer has assembled a star-studded design team for its condo building set to rise next to Downtown Brooklyn’s Macy’s (which the developer is revamping at present). Jeanne Gang’s Chicago-based firm, Studio Gang is on the building; the condo will feature interiors by Michaelis Boyd Associates and landscape design by Hollander Design. The project will also be Studio Gang’s first residential building in NYC. The 51-story condo will have 480 apartments (a mix of studios through four-bedrooms) with prices ranging from $600,000 to over $4 million.

Courtesy of Tishman Speyer

Willoughby Square Park

Promised 15 years ago and in the works since 2010, the project to build this green space between Gold and Duffield streets dramatically changed over the years. The 1.15-acre space, designed and developed by landscape architecture firm Hargreaves Jones, will have a play area, a dog park, a lawn, several seating areas, and a walkway between Duffield Street and Albee Square West. Construction for the project is expected to go from September 2020 to September 2021.

A park with several green areas, trees, and people walking around. Renderings courtesy of NYCEDC and Hargreaves Jones

Ace Hotel Brooklyn

Roman & Williams is behind the Ace Hotel’s forthcoming Brooklyn outpost, which has been rumored for a few years now. GFI Capital is the developer, with Ace operating the space at 61 Bond Street. If all goes according to plan, the hotel—which a source tells Curbed will have a “warm and raw brutalist style”—should open sometime in the near future.

169 Tillary Street

A parking lot at Tillary and Gold streets will soon give way to a 13-story building with more than 280 apartments. According to plans on file with the Department of Buildings, the structure will also have parking for cars and bikes, as well as communal recreation space. 

Via Google Maps

260 Gold Street

A parking lot at the corner of Tillary and Gold Streets in Downtown Brooklyn is set to sprout a 13-story residential building. Plans filed with the city’s Department of Buildings reveal that the building will have a total of 286 apartments that will be spread out over 191,000 square feet of space. Aside from the residences, the project will also have parking for 115 cars and a bike room. J. Frankl Associates is designing the building.

Via Google Maps

Brooklyn Point

It’s official: Extell has landed in Brooklyn. The developer’s first Kings County building, Brooklyn Point, launched sales earlier in 2017, with apartments starting at $837,000. The condo is the final piece of the larger City Point megaproject, and is currently under construction at 138 Willoughby Street. In addition to what is allegedly the highest rooftop pool in the Western Hemisphere, the building will have a stargazing observatory, pilates and cycling studios, rock climbing, a pet spa, various lounges, a “forest adventure,” stroller valet, a game lounge, and yes, even more. Occupancy is expected in 2020.

Williams New York

9 Dekalb Avenue

Brooklyn’s getting its first supertall, courtesy of 111 West 57th Street developer/design duo JDS and SHoP Architects. The planned 1,000-foot tower will rise above the landmarked Dime Savings Bank Building in Albee Square, and will incorporate its historic facade into the skyscraper’s design. The Landmarks Preservation Commission gave the project the green light in 2016, and construction is underway; the developers have been tight-lipped about other details, such as unit mix or starting prices.

202-208 Tillary Street

A new rental building is set to rise right next to one of the entrances of the Brooklyn Queens Expressway in Downtown Brooklyn. The Aufgang Architects-designed project would have two buildings rising 21 and 23 stories, which would be connected by a shorter structure. The buildings would have 262 apartments, of which 79 would be affordable units. Just a little under 14,000 square feet has been set aside for ground floor retail.

Via YIMBY

167 Willoughby Street

A 12-story building with 23 apartments is due to rise on this site, with bike and car parking, as well as a roof deck.

Via Google Maps

80 Flatbush

Plans for 80 Flatbush Avenue, an Alloy Development project, call for two skyscrapers, one rising a whopping 986 feet, which would make it the second-tallest Brooklyn building upon completion (the tallest will be the supertall at 9 DeKalb Avenue, just a few blocks away). The project will bring 900 apartments—200 of which would be permanently affordable—two schools, and more to Brooklyn. It was approved in 2018, and will become the city’s first all-electric skyscraper upon completion.

Alloy Development

161 Ashland Place

Developer RXR Realty will replace Long Island University’s athletic fields near 161 Ashland Place with a 34-story building that will include space for the university on the lower floors, and apartments above. The residential portion of this project will have 476 apartments, of which 140 will be affordable units, the developer hopes. Amenities announced for this building so far include a yoga studio, a fitness center, and a kids playroom.

Via Google Maps

308 Livingston St

In Downtown Brooklyn, an early 20th-century building with terra cotta figures may be replaced by a 23-story tower. Located at 308-310 Livingston Street, the three-story brick structure was built in 1911. Documents on file with the Department of Buildings show that in October, architecture firm Fogarty Finger filed an application to build a new 23-story building, and in May, filed another one for full demolition. Department of Finance documents show that the building was sold for $11 million to Lonicera Partners (Livingston Owner LLC).

Courtesy of Justin van Deursen

23 Hanover Place

INC. Architecture is behind a planned 29-story tower that would rise on the corner of Hanover Place and Livingston Street. The building would have 43 apartments, according to plans on file with the Department of Buildings, which were submitted in August 2019. The plans have not yet been approved.

540 Fulton Street

A 42-story skyscraper on Fulton Street just east of Flatbush Avenue is currently in the works, and will bring close to 400 apartments to the neighborhood. Marvel Architects designed the more than 500-foot building, which started going vertical in 2019.

227 Duffield Street

Plans have been filed with the city’s Department of Buildings to replace the two-story brick building at 227 Duffield Street with a 13-story mixed-use tower. The plans were filed by the building’s owner, Samiel Hanasab, and name ARC Architecture + Design Studio as the firm of record. The mixed-use building would stand 13 stories (or 125 feet high), with just 21 apartments. Per the plans on file, the building would have only one or two apartments per floor, and there would be parking for nearly 100 cars, along with “office use” on the first floor. The move comes after demolition plans for the building were filed with the DOB in early June, setting off a flurry of activity among preservationists who think the mid-1800s house, believed to be an Underground Railroad stop when owned by prominent abolitionists Thomas and Harriet Lee-Truesdell, is worth saving. The application has not yet been approved.

Screenshot via Google Maps

50 Nevins Street

A building rising on Nevins Street between State and Schermerhorn streets will have 129 affordable apartments, more than half of which will be set aside for “formerly homeless individuals, including those with a serious mental illness, substance abuse disorder, veterans and young adults.” The $72 million project involves rehabbing a former YWCA SRO building and constructing a new, 10-story building next door.

570 Fulton Street

Despite community pushback, a 40-story tower on Fulton Street was cleared to rise in early 2019. The mixed-use building will have 139 apartments, as well as office space and retail. The site’s developer, Slate Property Group, put it on the market last fall.

Hill West Architects

The Symon

Developed by Lonicera Partners, Orange Management, and The Davis Companies, this 13-story project, known as The Symon, has 59 one- to four-bedroom units. The name was inspired by a very New York personality: Symon Schermerhorn, who was the patriarch of the family of the same name—he’s known for his involvement in the Schenectady massacre, and the family went on to have a long history in the borough. While Colberg Architecture is the project architect, Studio DB designed both the building’s exteriors and interiors. The project’s facade features hand-laid brick, arched windows, and a canopied entrance.

Volley Studio