This month Long Island University and RXR Realty celebrated the commencement of a multimillion-dollar capital improvement project at the institution’s Downtown Brooklyn campus. Located near the buzzing intersection of Flatbush and Dekalb Avenues, the improvement plan arrives as part of an initiative to modernize existing academic and recreational facilities.
Key elements of the project include the construction of a new athletic field, fitness and wellness facilities, academic spaces, and a 34-story residential high-rise.
Permits filed in 2018 place the tower at 61 Dekalb Avenue and name Perkins Eastman as design architect. The project is expected to yield 600,200 square feet, with 370,960 square feet dedicated to residential space, and 183,530 square feet dedicated to community facility use. Residential area includes 476 units averaging 779 square feet apiece, which will most likely be marketed as rental apartments. Thirty percent of the residential tower will be marketed as affordable homes.
The permits also include an adjacent two-story structure that will accommodate parking for 564 vehicles, office space, and an outdoor recreational field on the roof.
61 DeKalb Avenue, via Google Maps
The project also includes the refurbishment of the campus’s north and eastern boundaries along Willoughby Street and Ashland Place, improved landscaping throughout, improvements to existing passageways, and the construction of new pedestrian walkways.
“This is the largest campus improvement project at LIU Brooklyn since it was founded nearly a century ago,” said Dr. Kimberly Cline, president of Long Island University. “The new facilities and unprecedented investment in our University will advance excellence in scholarship, athletics, and academic research. Our Brooklyn campus is a prime destination for students across the U.S. and abroad. Our new expansion will further enhance the exceptional student experience at LIU.”
Beyond capital improvements, RXR will provide Long Island University with financial resources that will be applied to both short- and long-term capital needs, as well as an investment into the university’s existing endowment.
“For us, when we look at private-public partnerships, it’s about working really closely with the community at large and trying to understand what their needs are,” said Scott Rechler, CEO and chairman of RXR Realty. “This is a win for all because not only are we going to make the community a better place with greater long-term vitality, but we’re going to have the opportunity to actually enhance LIU, which is one of the region’s most important institutions.”
RXR has not specified the specific dollar amount provided to the university nor the overall construction cost of this phase of development.
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Terrible plan that is incongruous with the area. A suburban-like campus within a very urban Downtown Brooklyn. Blank walls, parking garages, no retail, etc. This belongs in Floral Park or Hempstead, not in the heart of DTBK.
I’m surprised by the location of the tower; I thought it was going to replace the parking lot on DeKalb to the left in the rendering. Hopefully something else will go up there eventually!
Whatever happened to the renovation of the Paramount Theater?
What’s the building in the back right of the rendering? That’s not CityPoint…
No it’s not. I walked by there yesterday and the rendering on the construction fence is even more bizarre; they basically inserted the development in a photo from a different city.