Demolition is nearing completion at 275 Atlantic Avenue, the site of a 15-story jail complex in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Designed by HOK and developed by the NYC Department of Design and Construction, the 339-foot-tall structure will span 712,150 square feet with a capacity of 1,040 inmates, as well as 30,000 square feet of community facility space, two cellar levels, two loading berths, 100 enclosed parking spaces, and an underground tunnel connecting to the adjacent courthouse. Northstar Contracting Group Inc. is the general contractor for the project, which will replace the defunct Brooklyn Detention Complex bound by Atlantic Avenue, Boerum Place, and Smith and State Streets.
Most of the old steel-framed superstructure has been razed since our last update in late November, when demolition was just getting underway and the facility stood shrouded in scaffolding and black netting. Recent photos show only a few stories still standing on a portion of the lot, with crews in protective gear hauling debris in crates out of the gutted building. Based on the pace of progress, work could reach street level by the spring.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Renderings of the new facility depict two interlocking volumes that cantilever and set back from each other around a central cutout dubbed “the central reveal.” The façade consists of floor-to-ceiling glass framed by geometrically sculpted terracotta panels, and the cutout is further enhanced with bronze-hued ornamental screens. New sidewalks with trees, garden beds, and bollards will line the edges of the full-block property and the main entrance along Boerum Place.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
275 Atlantic Avenue. Designed by HOK.
The Brooklyn Detention Complex was originally built in 1957 with a maximum capacity of 815 male inmates, but closed in 2020 as part of a grander scheme to replace Rikers Island with modernized jail facilities in each borough except Staten Island. Each facility is expected to house up to 1,510 people.
275 Atlantic Avenue is expected to cost $3 billion with demolition slated for completion in July 2024, as noted on site.
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Is there a better upgrade in the city right now? Perhaps not
Less ‘jail like’ than many buildings rising now.
It’s replacing the old Brooklyn House of Detention, which was a hell hole
Anon, Google the old building and see how that compares to the newer, and better, design
Can you imagine waking up on a nice sunny spring morning, opening your blinds, and staring at that MASSIVE jail complex across the street from your apartment?! 🤔🔗🤣
Yes.
And the idea is that it just looks like a normal building.
So what’s the problem? You make it sound like it will be a windowless bunker.
If it looks like this, anyday.
Luxury jail on prime real estate what a joke insane.
It is across the street from the courthouse which makes sense.
Part of the initiative for borough jail plan is just that: to locate jails very near to borough courthouses to save on the millions per year spent on inmate transportation to and from Rikers.
Rikers requires nearly a full day to get an inmate to one of the borough courthouses and back. These new prisons built next to courthouses solves the problem, not to mention leaving behind the medieval conditions at Rikers.
The design is really quite amazing and most people will think it’s an office building. Bravo!
Rikers requires nearly a full day to get an inmate to one of the borough courthouses and back. These new prisons built next to courthouses solves the problem, not to mention leaving behind the medieval conditions at Rikers.
The design is really quite amazing and most people will think it’s an office building. Bravo!
I first worked environmental and traffic studies on this replacement for the old Brooklyn House of Detention, a hole of a structure. Part of those studies involved a tour of that jail… low ceilings, tiny cells. Imagine, it took 35 years to finally got this going…progress is geodesic in this city.
Finally, luxury jail cells for all the criminal hedge funders and developers to be sent to!
Haha what a stupid, uninformed comment. I hope you’re really proud of yourself for coming up with that.
Demolition in developed countries, it looks so clean. Beautiful and luxurious, but I probably wouldn’t go there as a male prisoner: Thanks to Michael Young.
I was wondering “why is that construction worker in a hazmat suit?” Then I got my question answered after reading that the old structure was built in 1957 and probably contains asbestos and lead.
Spent a night there in 1967. It was a hellhole then. Cold baloney sandwich and tap water rea for breakfast. Luxury jail my ass!