At number three on our annual countdown of the tallest buildings under construction in New York is The Brooklyn Tower, a 1,066-foot residential supertall skyscraper 9 DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed by SHoP Architects and developed by Silverstein Properties, which took over from JDS Development, the 93-story structure stands as the tallest structure in the outer boroughs and yields 550 residential units including 150 condominiums, 280 market-rate rentals, 120 affordable rentals, and 100,000 square feet of retail space in the podium and the adjoining landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn. The property is alternately addressed as 55 Fleet Street and bound by Flatbush Avenue Extension to the northeast, Fleet Street to the northwest, DeKalb Avenue to the south, and the adjoining Dime Savings Bank to the west.
Work on the tower concluded in 2023 but construction on the podium is still ongoing, with more of the lower levels now enclosed since our last update nearly a year ago. Additional copper-hued fins have been installed on the signature “convexcave” marble columns, particularly at the northern corner, and metal clips are in place for the final marble columns along Fleet Street. The sidewalk shed and construction fencing still surround much of the base, including the Dime Savings Bank and the entrance to the rental unit lobby.
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
JDS Development Group founder Michael Stern purchased the project site for $90 million in 2015 along with Joseph Chetrit of The Chetrit Group, and later bought out Chetrit’s stake in 2018. Earlier this year, Silverstein Properties, best known for handling the development of the World Trade Center complex in Manhattan’s Financial District, acquired control of The Brooklyn Tower’s retail space, rental units, and 143 unsold condominium units from JDS in a $672 million deal.
Silverstein originally provided $240 million in mezzanine and mortgage loans for the project in 2019, but all went into maturity default by April 2024. A UCC foreclosure auction was scheduled for June 1, 2024, but was avoided following Stern’s transfer of preferred equity in The Brooklyn Tower to Silverstein and subsequent debt restructuring.
The Brooklyn Tower will feature 120,000 square feet of indoor and outdoor amenities within the podium including a 24-hour attended lobby, a package valet, an in-house coffee stand, and a ride share lounge. The roof of the Dime Savings Bank will feature a 75-foot-long outdoor lap pool, a kids pool, a whirlpool, multiple sundecks, a hammock lounge, and outdoor dining areas with barbecue grills and a fire pit. The pools will surround the Guastavino dome, accompanied by an adjacent double-height poolside lounge with room for shuffleboard and a cocktail bar, a chef’s kitchen with a private dining room, and a living room lounge with group and private seating areas.
The remaining amenities will be housed on higher floors in the tower and will include a children’s playroom with a pantry, a screening room with a wet bar, a billiards room with a bar, and a library lounge with coworking spaces, conference rooms, and a private meeting room. The 66th-floor Sky Park will feature an open-air loggia with a basketball court, and the 85th-floor Sky Lounge will offer multiple lounges, bars, and an outdoor fireplace.
Life Time Athletic Club is planning to occupy the podium with barre, cycle, pilates, and yoga studios. The club will also offer group fitness and private training, a recovery space with chiropractic services, and a LifeCafe restaurant.
Leasing is ongoing for the rental units, and the property’s website lists a formal sales launch for the remaining condominiums in spring 2025.
A full completion date for The Brooklyn Tower remains unclear.
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Will there be pools as shown?
Progress is extremely slow, especially the cladding tiles on fleet st side where often for weeks nothing happens. Only a handful workers come in every day and do “something”;
Really odd; you would expect that after the financial troubles the new owner would be incentivized to complete the job and rent/sell it out properly (although I know some leases started already a year ago )
When finished, it will be an iconic building…I wish a lot of the crap being built in Manhattan (think NoMad) would have this level of design. It’s quite hard making new and interesting. Now…if they only had done wood finishes in the Kitchen instead of the flat black…
Heartbreakingly, much of NoMad and the Garment District is irrevocably damaged by the zoning mandated low-quality set-back dreck bestowed upon us by the hospitality industry in the last 15 years.
The fluted marble panels are just stunning. Still my very favorite new tower for NYC.
I know it is controversial but I think this building is beautiful. A modern soaring Art Moderne tower. The detailing on the lower level may be taking forever but the building is ambitious in scale and quality of materials. It is 2024 and craftsmen trained to produce the gorgeous cut stonework are far less common than a century ago when many of the landmark Manhattan towers were going up. As professionals in the Preservation community like to say, this is a gift to the street !
That stone is being milled by a machine not some Italian stone mason protege. Agree it’s very nice tho and we need to see more of it
A building that saved the Brooklyn skyline..
Barad Dur
Yes, it certainly is the ‘Dark Tower’..
I hope these marble panels fare better than those on buildings in Chicago and Paris. The AMOCO (now Aon) building had its falling white marble replaced starting about 1990. In 2014, La Grande Arche began shedding its Carrara marble cladding.
Absolutely stunning in person. Too bad the economics didn’t quite pan out for JDS.
Keep reading and it’s all good, but coming to the last line there’s still no clarity; I’m following! Thanks.
Does anyone know if Lifetime Fitness is going to have access to the pools?