Alloy Development’s plans for 80 Flatbush Avenue will eventually yield two residential towers, the larger of which will extend 74 floors and 920 feet into the Downtown Brooklyn skyline. But before construction can begin, the developers covered the existing structures in a mural starting back in September. Now, work on the art piece has wrapped up, as seen in the latest photos of the site from Tectonic.
80 Flatbush as of November, photo by Tectonic
The mural will live for at least two years, as the larger site must still complete the ULURP process before construction can begin. One of the buildings, a Civil War infirmary currently used by the Khalil Gibran International Academy, will be integrated into the base of the new project. However, the structures covered by the murals will eventually be demolished.
80 Flatbush as of November, photo by Tectonic
The development’s scope will be very large, even by Downtown Brooklyn standards, and construction is currently anticipated to begin on the first phase by 2019, which includes two schools expected to open by 2022, and the smaller residential tower. The larger, 920-foot-tall skyscraper would open in 2025, and together, they would deliver 900 apartments.
While the eventuality of the site will be a game-changer for the neighborhood, adding substantially to its housing stock while also bolstering its educational assets, the murals are a welcome touch in the meantime, and improve greatly upon the hum-drum structures set for the wrecking ball.
80 Flatbush’s future base, rendering by Alloy
As Curbed reported two months ago when work began on the piece, Brooklyn artist Katie Merz is responsible for the design.
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Answer: How about arches in the middle of a building?
Actually, this project is a big problem for the community. The “charm offensive” of the developer, Alloy, was to have a mural while our skyline and neighborhoods change forever. They like to say they’re “of the community,” but the project actually will have a net-negative impact on school seats, given the number of new residents they’ll be bringing to the neighborhood in their MONSTER tower. Also, say goodbye to your view of Williamsburg Savings Bank, all of South Brooklyn!
And, all of these gigantic residential developments are going to put thousands of people into already crush-loaded subways. It made sense to build office buildings in Downtown Brooklyn and LIC. It spreads out the jobs and gets some people off the subway before they get to Manhattan. The same is true of Lower Manhattan where office jobs pulled people off subways so that there was room for residents of the neighborhoods between Downtown and Midtown to get on and travel north to midtown. Now, not so much with all the residential conversions and construction downtown as well. Residential does the opposite, putting more people on jammed trains headed for Midtown. Instead, we are about to rezone Midtown East and put even more offices there and only will use the transit improvement funds on Midtown East stations. Terrible planning across the board but I guess the profits of residential development in Downtown Brooklyn and LIC are all that matters.