Downtown Brooklyn

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

Rendering of 625 Fulton Street; image: Albo Liberis /Genesis Studios

December 14, 2016

New renderings from Albo Liberis offer up two visions for Brooklyn’s next skyscraping office tower

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As the future Brooklyn skyline takes shape, one of the borough's largest office towers-to-be, a 36-story commercial skyscraper, is slated to rise at 625 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn. Brooklyn-based Rabsky Group purchased the lot for $158 million and, as The Real Deal reports, plans are in the works to create 700,000 square feet of leasable space, for which the developer is in talks with City Planning to take advantage of a plaza bonus. Albo Liberis (see Williamsburg's William Vale Hotel) has been commissioned as the architect, and while no design has been officially revealed or finalized by Rabsky, the firm's site does offer up some insight into what is being considered for the game-changing tower.
Check out the renderings
See new photos inside the world’s tallest modular tower; leasing kicks off at 461 Dean
November 15, 2016

See new photos inside the world’s tallest modular tower; leasing kicks off at 461 Dean

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It's been a long an tumultuous journey for 461 Dean, also know as the B2 tower, and better known as the world's tallest prefab tower. The fire-engine-red stacked building has seen numerous delays in the last four years thanks to lawsuits, leaks, and alignment issues. Its developer Forest City Ratner even opted to exit the modular business last month—although that's not to say that the technology developed is any less valuable (more on that ahead). But now that celebratory champagne bottle can finally be popped, as this afternoon the developer held a grand opening ceremony to kick off the official start of leasing.
more details here
Apple will open second Brooklyn store at 300 Ashland Place
November 3, 2016

Apple will open second Brooklyn store at 300 Ashland Place

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Apple opened its first Brooklyn store on Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg over the summer, which many felt was the final nail in the coffin of the neighborhood's gentrification. The company has now set their sites on another rapidly developing part of the borough, as The Real Deal reports they've inked a 10-year deal for a 12,000-square-foot space in the ground floor Two Trees Management's 300 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn's BAM Cultural District. It was an off-market deal, so there's no asking rent, but sources say the going price for the 32-story rental tower's retail space is $150 per square foot.
More details ahead
Interior and amenity renderings revealed for Hub, Brooklyn’s tallest tower
October 31, 2016

Interior and amenity renderings revealed for Hub, Brooklyn’s tallest tower

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For now, Downtown Brooklyn's Hub holds the title of tallest building in Brooklyn. Topping off at 610 feet, the Dattner Architects-designed, Douglas Steiner-developed slab tower at 333 Schermerhorn Street will offer 740 apartments, 150 of which became available through the city's affordable housing lottery earlier this month. But aside from its height and number of units, the 55-story building has been turning heads for its list of amenities--a landscaped outdoor terrace with sun deck, 75-foot pool, fitness center with yoga studio, dog run, grilling terrace, indoor and outdoor movie screens, children’s playroom, and bike storage for every unit. And Curbed has gotten its hands on the first set of renderings that show these swanky offerings, along with views of the apartments and news that leasing for the market-rate units will begin in January.
More details and renderings
Live in Brooklyn’s tallest tower for $833/month, lottery launching for 150 units at 333 Schermerhorn

Rendering of The Hub via Dattner Architects (L); Construction shot as of December 2015 via Tectonic (R)

October 13, 2016

Live in Brooklyn’s tallest tower for $833/month, lottery launching for 150 units at 333 Schermerhorn

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At 610 feet, Douglas Steiner's 333 Schermerhorn Street in Downtown Brooklyn currently holds the title of tallest building in Brooklyn. Though it'll be surpassed by forthcoming supertalls like JDS' 9 DeKalb Avenue, the first 1,000+ foot tower in the borough, and the 700-foot 205 Montague Street, the 53-story slab apartment tower known as The Hub will certainly remain a much-sought-after address, especially considering its wealth of amenities and proximity to the BAM Cultural District. Of its 740 apartments, 150 are reserved for New Yorkers earning less than 60 percent of the area media income, and as of tomorrow the lottery is open for these units, which range from $833/month studios to $1,082/month two-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
Developer of the world’s tallest prefab tower in Brooklyn is exiting the modular business

Image via Field Condition

October 6, 2016

Developer of the world’s tallest prefab tower in Brooklyn is exiting the modular business

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After boasting that it had “cracked the code” on modular construction, with plans for a Brooklyn factory, developer Forest City Ratner is exiting the prefab building business, reports the New York Times. The factory at the Brooklyn Navy Yard will be sold to Roger Krulak, a former Forest City executive, along with the technology used to construct the world's tallest prefabricated steel structure, the 32-story 461 Dean Street in the Pacific Park complex in Brooklyn. Construction on the building has just been completed and 461 Dean is weeks from getting its first residents.
Find out more
Artist brings 4,000 redwood trees to Downtown Brooklyn
October 3, 2016

Artist brings 4,000 redwood trees to Downtown Brooklyn

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A big green sign that greets drivers from Manhattan coming over the Williamsburg Bridge reads, "Name It...We Got It!" Among the many things to which the borough can now lay claim: A dense grove of 4,000 redwood trees in the middle of Downtown Brooklyn's Metrotech Commons. It's this unlikely juxtaposition that has brought the trees, with roots in prehistoric times and known to grow bigger than the Flatiron Building and longer than the Brooklyn Bridge, to this spot steps from Shake Shack. The mini-redwood forest is called "Lost Man Creek," an art installation by Brooklyn-based artist Spencer Finch that opened on October 1. It's a scaled-down (to one hundredth the size) replica of a 790-acre section of California's Redwood National Park, planted in partnership with the Save the Redwoods League.
See more of this magical mini-forest
Is Downtown Brooklyn’s rental boom about to turn into a glut?

Google Earth rendering of the new residential buildings going up in Downtown Brooklyn, via CityRealty.com

August 30, 2016

Is Downtown Brooklyn’s rental boom about to turn into a glut?

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This time last year, 6sqft shared a report from CityRealty.com that detailed how Northern Brooklyn would be getting a staggering 22,000 new apartments over the next four years, with the majority, 29 percent or roughly 6,500 apartments, headed for Downtown Brooklyn. The trend has kept up, as the Times reports today that this number of units is concentrated among "19 residential towers either under construction or recently completed along the 10-block section of Flatbush stretching from Barclays Center north to Myrtle Avenue." Another 1,000 units are coming to four buildings on Myrtle Avenue, and all of these are overwhelmingly rentals. In fact, 20 percent of the entire city's rentals that will become available this year and next are in the neighborhood. But many believe this rental boom is fast approaching a glut that will cause prices to soften in a saturated market.
Find out more
LEESER Architecture dreams up an 80-story supertall for Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s site
August 18, 2016

LEESER Architecture dreams up an 80-story supertall for Downtown Brooklyn Macy’s site

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In April, initial details were released about Downtown Brooklyn's Macy's $100 million interior makeover, which included new columns, fluted ceilings, metal and glass entrance canopies, and video screens surrounding the escalators. This came after Tishman Speyer inked a $170 million deal with the department store in January, in which they'll remodel the 11-story Art Deco building's top five floors into offices. As part of the deal, Tishman also took control of the connecting Hoyt Street parking garage, a site that was speculated may give way to a supertall, mixed-use tower. Today, CityRealty.com posted a set of renderings from architecture firm LEESER showing a glassy tower rising from the existing department store. Although it is not the design being considered by Tishman Speyer, it does give us a taste of the type of modern development that could climb from the coveted DoBro address.
See more renderings
Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower Finishes Construction and Commences Leasing
August 6, 2016

Brooklyn’s Tallest Tower Finishes Construction and Commences Leasing

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Back in 2007, a run-of-the-mill row of three- to four-story walk-up buildings bounded by Willoughby, Bridge and Duffield Streets was ordered to vacate to make way for a soaring mixed-use skyscraper developed by AvalonBay Communities. Without warning, shopkeepers were given between 30 and 120 days to clear out or face court eviction, evidence of the impact of gentrification on Downtown Brooklyn. The district's 2004 rezoning sparked the development of thousands of new apartments (6,400 in the pipeline according to our latest count) and is finally getting a dusting of office space too. Now, after an arduous, decade-long journey of assembling an 11-parcel site, clearing and excavating it, and throwing up nearly one million square feet into the air, Avalon has finally finished construction and has kicked off leasing of the building's upper collection of homes called Avalon Willoughby Square.
Get the scoop on Avalon's deals
Lottery Launches for 76 Affordable Units at 300 Ashland Place, From $889/Month
July 25, 2016

Lottery Launches for 76 Affordable Units at 300 Ashland Place, From $889/Month

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It's been 14 years since Enrique Norten's ship-like design was chosen to sail upon a triangular site in an ambitious arts district planned for the area around the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Initially proposed as an eight-story glass building to house the Brooklyn Library for the Visual and Performing Arts, the project was altered to a mixed-use high-rise when Two Trees Management was brought onboard during the economic downturn in 2008. Now officially known as 300 Ashland Place, the slab-shaped tower is a silvery 32-story icon that architecture critic Carter Horsley praises as a "gleaming, but mysterious steed" in the emerging Downtown Brooklyn skyline. It will house a smattering of public uses in addition to 379 apartments above. Earlier this July, leasing began on the 300 market-rate apartments that go for roughly $2,850/month for studios, $3,600/month for one-bedrooms and $5,750/month for two-bedrooms. And now, a housing lottery has launched for the 76 affordable units that include $889/month studios, $949/month one-bedrooms, and $1,087/month two-bedrooms.
Find out here if you qualify
Lottery Opens Tomorrow for 300 Affordable Rentals at Pacific Park Brooklyn
July 14, 2016

Lottery Opens Tomorrow for 300 Affordable Rentals at Pacific Park Brooklyn

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It's been almost two years since architects COOKFOX were selected by developer Greenland Forest City Partners to design two residential buildings at their Pacific Park Brooklyn project, the 22-acre site anchored by the Barclays Center and containing eight million square feet of mixed-use development. COOKFOX took the helm for 550 Vanderbilt Avenue, a 275-unit condo, and 535 Carlton Avenue, a 298-unit affordable rental. A housing lottery for the latter will open tomorrow, according to a press release, offering low, moderate and middle-income residents the chance to apply for apartments ranging from $548/month studios to $3,716/month three-bedrooms.
Find out if you qualify
FXFOWLE’s The Ashland Kicks Off Leasing With New Renderings of Apartments and Food Hall
July 14, 2016

FXFOWLE’s The Ashland Kicks Off Leasing With New Renderings of Apartments and Food Hall

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At the crossroads of Fort Greene, Downtown Brooklyn, and the BAM Cultural District, The Ashland rises. Next Tuesday, July 19, the 53-story, 586-unit tower will open its leasing office to prospective renters interested in its one-, two- and three-bedroom no-fee apartments, priced from $2,600/month for studios to $7,500/month for three-bedrooms. Previously, 282 apartments went online through the city's affordable housing lottery. To coincide with the grand opening, the Gotham Organization-developed and managed building has also launched its full website, providing us a bundle of new renderings of the exterior, the apartments, and the 17,000-square-foot marketplace that will open along its ground floor.
More details ahead
Downtown Brooklyn’s 300 Ashland Releases New Renderings to Kick Off No-Fee Leasing
July 12, 2016

Downtown Brooklyn’s 300 Ashland Releases New Renderings to Kick Off No-Fee Leasing

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The latest tower to open its doors in Downtown Brooklyn‘s BAM Cultural District is 300 Ashland, a 35-story, mixed-use tower from Two Trees Management that is offering 300 no-fee rentals. There are currently nine units available with studios starting at $2,850/month, one-bedrooms at $3,300/month and a single three-bedrooms from $5,750/month. To coincide with the launch, the developer […]

Friday Five: 5 Buildings in the Heart of Brooklyn Offering Free Rent
July 8, 2016

Friday Five: 5 Buildings in the Heart of Brooklyn Offering Free Rent

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Rental deals have become increasingly tough to find but they're most definitely still out there. Starting today, every Friday 6sqft is rounding up five of the best deals showcased on CityRealty's newly launched no-fee rental offers page, where NYC house hunters can find the latest and most generous concessions being offered by landlords across the city. This week, we've culled five fabulous buildings in prime Brooklyn that are currently offering FREE RENT on new leases. Among the offers ahead, check out a newly renovated two-bedroom with yard in pretty Carroll Gardens offering a month rent-free on an already reasonable $2,700/month price tag.
Check them out here
Leasing Begins at The Giovanni in Downtown Brooklyn, Rents From $2,379 Plus a Month Free
June 1, 2016

Leasing Begins at The Giovanni in Downtown Brooklyn, Rents From $2,379 Plus a Month Free

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John Catsimatidis' Big Apple Group has kicked-off leasing for The Giovanni, the latest addition to a quartet of rental buildings ushering in more than 1,000 units along a once underutilized section of Myrtle Avenue. Located at 81 Fleet Place within the crossroads of bucolic Fort Greene and thriving Downtown Brooklyn, the recently finished 15-floor building is comprised of 205 no-fee apartments with retail space along its lower levels. Like its sister buildings, the Andrea and the Margo, Dattner is the building's architect and the firm has configured a mix of studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments, many featuring balconies or roof terraces.
more on what's available here
REVEALED: First Look at Downtown Brooklyn’s New Office Tower at 540 Fulton Street
May 20, 2016

REVEALED: First Look at Downtown Brooklyn’s New Office Tower at 540 Fulton Street

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Downtown Brooklyn and its Fulton Street Mall lost a bit of its soul late last year with the demolition of an ornate 1891 Romanesque-Reviaval gem at 540 Fulton Street. Prior to being cleared, the two-story structure held a jumble of small retailers that included a jewelry exchange, Metro King Sushi & Teriyaki and a Lucille Roberts. When the building was finished 125 years ago, it rose three floors with its first tenant being F.W Woolworth's "five-and-dime store," their first Downtown Brooklyn location. Now with the slate wiped clean, what's envisioned to rise from the 18,531-square-foot lot near the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension is a 19-story, 200,000-square-foot office block developed by the real estate investment and management firm Jenel Management. A new building application was filed with the Department of Building's last April, listing Marvel Architects as the applicant of record. The proposed building's podium will contain three levels of retail space from the cellar to the second level, and 17 floors of office space above.
find out more here
Downtown Brooklyn’s Newly-Launched City Tower Offering One Month Free Rent
May 16, 2016

Downtown Brooklyn’s Newly-Launched City Tower Offering One Month Free Rent

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City Tower, the second phase of Downtown Brooklyn's 1.8 million-square-foot, mixed-use mega-development, has debuted, ushering in 439 brand new market-rate rentals to the heart of the borough. For a limited time, the building is offering new renters one month for free based on a 13-month lease. The 38-story tower's current availabilities include four studios starting at $2,423/month, five one-bedrooms at $2,838/month, and three two-bedrooms at $4,154/month. The building was developed and is being managed by the long-established Brodsky Organization and was designed by the acclaimed eco-conscious architects at COOKFOX. Perched twenty floors above 700,000 square feet of retail, entertainment and dining spaces, many of City Tower's residences provide spectacular views of the harbor and Manhattan skyline.
Get the full scoop on the building this way
Leasing Begins at Downtown Brooklyn’s One Duffield, No-Fee Units Begin at $2,400/Month
May 12, 2016

Leasing Begins at Downtown Brooklyn’s One Duffield, No-Fee Units Begin at $2,400/Month

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Within the human-scaled oasis between the Manhattan Bridge and the BQE, a 57,000-square-foot church conversion has wrapped up construction, releasing 84 brand-new no-fee rental apartments to the Downtown Brooklyn market. Named One Duffield, for its address at the corner of Gold and Duffield streets, the five-story building uses some of the structural bones of a prior two-story church and completely re-imagines its aesthetic into a varied composition of brown and orange brick, metal siding, and large square windows. Nataliya Donskoy of ND Architecture and Design P.C. is the designer of the building and "The Bridge Building LLC" is listed as the developer in permits.
Get pricing and see inside
Lottery Launches for 181 Affordable Units in Pacific Park’s Modular Tower

Photo of the construction progress at 461 Dean Street in January, via Field Condition

April 27, 2016

Lottery Launches for 181 Affordable Units in Pacific Park’s Modular Tower

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After suffering delays, lawsuits, leaks and alignment issues, Pacific Park's 461 Dean Street (aka the B2 Tower) is finally wrapping up construction and has just launched its affordable housing lottery. The 32-story structure from SHoP Architects will be the world's tallest prefab tower, and of its 363 units, 181 will be available to low- and middle-income households. This will range from $559/month studios to $3,012 two-bedrooms and from individuals earning $20,675 annually to families of four earning $144,960.
Get a look at the apartments and find out if you qualify
First Look at StudiosC’s Boutique Condominium Underway at 187 Bridge Street
April 22, 2016

First Look at StudiosC’s Boutique Condominium Underway at 187 Bridge Street

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Within Downtown Brooklyn's detached island of urbanity between the Manhattan Bridge on-ramp and the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, local architecture firm StudiosC has designed a modestly scaled, ground-up condominium at the corner of Bridge and Nassau Streets. Re-approved plans filed by the architect of record Karl Fischer detail an eight-story building with 12,000 square feet of gross floor area.
More details ahead
Skyline Wars: Brooklyn Enters the Supertall Race
April 20, 2016

Skyline Wars: Brooklyn Enters the Supertall Race

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Carter Uncut brings New York City’s latest development news under the critical eye of resident architecture critic Carter B. Horsley. Here, Carter brings us his fifth installment of “Skyline Wars,” a series that examines the explosive and unprecedented supertall phenomenon that is transforming the city’s silhouette. In this post Carter looks at Brooklyn's once demure skyline, soon to be Manhattan's rival. Downtown Brooklyn has had a modest but pleasant skyline highlighted by the 350-foot-high Court & Remsen Building and the 343-foot-high great ornate terraces of 75 Livingston Street, both erected in 1926, and the 462-foot-high flat top of the 1927 Montague Court Building. The borough’s tallest building, however, was the great 514-foot-high dome of the 1929 Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower, now known as One Hanson Place, a bit removed to the east from Downtown Brooklyn. It remained as the borough’s tallest for a very long time, from 1929 until 2009. A flurry of new towers in recent years has significantly enlarged Brooklyn’s skyline. Since 2008, nine new towers higher than 359 feet have sprouted there, in large part as a result of a rezoning by the city in 2007. A few other towers have also given its riverfront an impressive frontage. Whereas in the past the vast majority of towers were clustered about Borough Hall downtown, now there are several clusters with some around the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the former Williamsburg Savings Bank Tower and some around the Williamsburg riverfront.
more on Brooklyn's skyline here
LPC Approves Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower; New Renderings and Details
April 19, 2016

LPC Approves Brooklyn’s First 1,000+ Foot Tower; New Renderings and Details

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Brooklyn is finally getting a new skyscraper development worthy of its 2.6 million populace. Today, the Landmarks Preservation Commission approved SHoP Architects' vision for 9 DeKalb Avenue, a rehabilitation of the landmarked Dime Saving Bank that will marry it with a dramatic, supertall skyscraper behind, the first 1,000+ foot building to arrive in the borough. The Beaux-Arts banking hall, which is both an interior and exterior landmark, hosted a J.P. Morgan Chase branch up until last year. Now, its new owners, Michael Stern's JDS Development and the Chetrit Group, plan to transform the hall into a public and retail space that will complement their new tower. To bring back more of the building's grandeur, its exterior and interior spaces will be restored, and to accommodate the tower behind, the team is calling for the demolition of two nondescript one- and five-story rear annexes, which will then allow for a grand entrance to the skyscraper and a public through-space. The LPC was enamored with the project, calling it "flawless" and "enlightened urbanism at its best," as well as touting that it "improved the vision of this historic landmark." One commissioner even went so far as to say "It's similar to the Parthenon sitting on the Acropolis." The LPC had only a few minor modifications, the most notable being that the teller cages be retained until the team can show a plan detailing how the retail tenant (there will only be one) will use the space.
Get a look at all the presentation materials
Last Chance to Apply for 282 Middle-Income Apartments at Downtown Brooklyn’s 250 Ashland Place
April 11, 2016

Last Chance to Apply for 282 Middle-Income Apartments at Downtown Brooklyn’s 250 Ashland Place

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Today is your last chance to apply for 282 affordable housing units at 250 Ashland Place in Downtown Brooklyn. The 52-story skyscraper rises from the heart of Brooklyn's cultural district and is near a multitude of subway lines, the Atlantic Terminal transit hub, and the Barclays Center. Developed by the Gotham Organization, the skyscraper encompasses 580,000 square feet of space and soars 568 feet into the burgeoning Brooklyn skyline, making it the second tallest in the borough after the nearby rental tower AVA DoBro. Designed by New York-based FXFowle Architects, the building is sheathed in a contextual brick and glass exterior, relating both to the charming brownstones of Fort Greene and the dynamism transforming Downtown Brooklyn.
Find out if you qualify
Corner Loft in Former Downtown Brooklyn Toy Factory Isn’t Playing Around With $999K Ask
March 28, 2016

Corner Loft in Former Downtown Brooklyn Toy Factory Isn’t Playing Around With $999K Ask

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Here's a two-bedroom condo from the Toy Factory Lofts, the former home to Tudor Metal Products. From the 1920s to the 1980s, the company, known for designing the popular Depression-era toy Budget Bank and the board game Electric Football, occupied the factory. Today, it's a 56-unit residential building in Downtown Brooklyn that holds a gym, parking garage and a rooftop deck. This lofty apartment has a big wall of oversized factory windows, not to mention exposures to the east and south that bring light into the open space.
See more of the interior
New Close-Up Renderings of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower
March 14, 2016

New Close-Up Renderings of Brooklyn’s Future Tallest Tower

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About a month ago we were treated to a lone rendering of Brooklyn’s future tallest tower at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension (now re-dubbed 9 DeKalb Avenue) that showed its full 1,066-foot height, towering against the rest of Downtown Brooklyn. Now, Curbed has spotted a full set of views, these showing more facade details and close ups of the building's triangular base next to the historic Dime Savings Bank.
All the renderings ahead
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