LIVWRK

85 Jay Street

New Owners Buy High-Profile Mixed-Use Development Site at 85 Jay Street, DUMBO

1:00 pm on December 22, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Kushner Companies, LIVWRK, and the CIM Group have closed on the purchase, for $345 million, of the 135,000-square-foot development site at 85 Jay Street, in DUMBO. The full-block property, currently vacant, could accommodate up to 1.1-million square feet of mixed-use development, the New York Post reported. The new owners plan to develop the site within current zoning laws. A project “with mixed uses” is planned, although plans are very preliminary. It was reported earlier that the site could host as many as 1,000 residential units. The team is in the process of hiring architects and consultants.

25-30 Columbia Heights

Development Team Acquires 11-Story Watchtower Complex at 25-30 Columbia in Brooklyn Heights, Plans Creative Office Conversion

6:00 am on August 5, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Over the spring, a team of developers entered into contract to acquire, from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the 11-story, 739,000-square-foot commercial complex known as the Watchtower, at 25-30 Columbia Heights, in Brooklyn Heights. The team – now a joint venture between the Kushner Companies, CIM Group, and LIVWRK – have closed on the purchase for roughly $340 million, Commercial Observer reported. The new owners plan to convert the complex into creative office space, likely similar to how some of the same developers transformed the five-building complex now dubbed DUMBO Heights. The redevelopment is expected to begin within a year. In addition to the acquisition of 25-30 Columbia Heights, the same partnership is remains in contract to buy the vacant, block-encompassing development site at 85 Jay Street, in DUMBO.

DUMBO Heights

Two-Block-Long Public Plaza Coming To DUMBO Heights’s Sand Street Corridor

6:00 am on May 24, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Back in 2013, Kushner Companies, RFR Realty, and LIVWRK acquired, for $375 million from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, the five-building, 1.25-million square-foot commercial complex at 55 and 81 Prospect Street, 117 Adams Street, 77 Sands Street, and 175 Pearl Street. The developers have since converted the collection of mid-rise buildings into offices and retail space, dubbed DUMBO Heights. The developers are now constructing a two-block-long public plaza along Sands Street between Adams and Jay streets, according to the Wall Street Journal. The plaza will extend the 15-foot-wide sidewalk by 15 feet. It will include public artwork, seating, and planters. La Fantástica is behind the design, and the Dumbo Improvement District is associated with the project. Current office tenants in the complex including WeWork Cos., Etsy Inc., Frog Design, Alexis Bittar Inc., and retail tenants include Randolph Beer, fitness center Shadowbox, Row House, Bluestone Lane Coffee, and Dig Inn. Roughly 350,000 square feet of commercial space remains vacant, according to Real Estate Weekly.

25-30 Columbia Heights

Development Team to Buy Jehovah’s Witnesses’ 11-Story Headquarters at 25-30 Columbia Heights, Vacant Site at 85 Jay Street

6:00 am on April 14, 2016 By Reid Wilson

RFR Holding, LIVWRK, and Kushner Companies are preparing to enter into contract to purchase the 11-story, 733,000-square-foot office complex at 25-30 Columbia Heights, in Brooklyn Heights, in addition to the vacant full-block, 135,000-square-foot development site at 85 Jay Street, in DUMBO, from the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The team of developers are paying $700 million for the properties, according to the New York Post. 25-30 Columbia Heights, which is commonly called the “Watchtower,” is the organization’s current headquarters. It could possibly be turned into a commercial hub, similar to how the same developers converted the former Jehovah’s Witnesses properties at 81 Prospect Street into offices back in 2014. As for 85 Jay Street, the site has been long approved for roughly 1.1 million square feet of development. That’s as many as 700 to 1,000 residential units, which could boost the neighborhood’s population by a third, Brownstoner reported a few months ago.

160 Van Brunt Street

Commercial-Office Conversion Complete on Three-Story Building At 160 Van Brunt Street, Red Hook

6:00 am on April 4, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Back in April of 2015, renderings were revealed of the planned commercial conversion of the Golten Marine building, a three-story, 98,650-square-foot former industrial property at 160 Van Brunt Street, in northern Red Hook. Since then, construction has been largely completed on the project and Tesla Motors was announced as the anchor tenant, as reported by Curbed NY earlier this year. Tesla is leasing 40,000-square feet on the ground floor, which it will use for dealership showrooms, offices, and a service center. The Brooklyn Paper also recently reported Tesla will install a reconstructed illuminating “Red Hook” sign on the ground floor. The building opened in March and contains additional yet-to-be-leased office space on the upper levels. LIVWRK is the developer and acquired the property for $21.5 million in 2014. New Jersey-based John Saracco Architects is the architect of record.

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