Construction is rising on 470-490 Kent Avenue, a three-tower residential complex along the East River waterfront in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Designed by Brooklyn-based Brandon Haw Architecture LLP with Hill West Architects as the executive architect of record and developed by Naftali Group and Access Industries, the development will span 645,000 square feet and yield 607 units, including 89 condominiums, as well as 19,000 square feet of commercial space and a suite of amenities. New Line Structures & Development LLC is the general contractor for the project, which occupies a 4-acre plot bound by South 10th Street to the north, Division Avenue to the south, Kent Avenue to the east, and Wallabout Channel to the west.
The complex comprises the 22-story 470 Kent Avenue, which will span 263,009 and yield 249 rental units; the 21-story 480-484 Kent Avenue, which will span 216,260 square feet and yield 86 rental units and 89 condominium units; and the 22-story 490 Kent Avenue, which will span 204,560 square feet and yield 183 rental units.
Recent photos show the reinforced concrete superstructure of the southern two-tower component constructed past the halfway mark, aided in the process by telescopic crane booms and concrete pumps. Façade installation has yet to begin.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
Below-grade work is still ongoing for the third tower, with excavators and piling machines at work across the plot. This structure should begin to rise above street level in the early months of 2024.
Photo by Michael Young
The following images from the summer of 2022 detail the start of earthwork at the property.
Photo by Michael Young
Photo by Michael Young
The following rendering and elevation diagram show all three towers rising from six-story podiums and clad in glass curtain walls framed by white and copper-hued mullions. Setbacks on the upper levels will be topped with terraces, and the towers culminate in architecturally cohesive mechanical bulkheads enclosed with reflective metallic paneling.
Rendering courtesy of Brandon Haw Architecture LLP
The below axonometric diagram indicates the third and final tower will rise at the northeastern corner, as seen in silhouette on the left edge of the above rendering. The drawing also depicts an empty space along the waterfront labeled “Phase 2 Site,” though it remains unclear what this stage would entail.
470-490 Kent Avenue diagram.
Naftali Group acquired the project site in 2020 and closed on a $385 million construction loan last year. The funding consisted of a $310 million senior mortgage loan from Bank OZK and $75 million in mezzanine financing from Barings.
The nearest subways from the complex are the J, M, and Z trains at the Marcy Avenue station to the west. The site is also located in close proximity to the South Williamsburg ferry terminal, providing access to Manhattan and other destinations along the East River.
470-490 Kent Avenue is slated for completion in spring 2025, as noted on site.
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The empty space along waterfront with three towers rising, so beautiful units and exciting views: Thanks.
The land and everything on it should on it be given back to its rightful owners, the descendants of the original Lenape natieb inhavitants. Then again the present-day gentrifiers of the area are doing the very same thing to the locals who have lived there for decades, the very same thing that the as the “discoverors” did to the people of yjese already inhabited lands. They come in and say, hey we like the place , it has potential, so get out, or be forced out.