Willoughby Square, rendering via EDC

217 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn Gets Demolished for Park and Parking Garage

4:00 pm on August 19, 2016 By Rebecca Baird-Remba

It’s been a few years since the city’s Economic Development Corporation announced plans to develop a 700-unit underground parking garage on Willoughby Street in Downtown Brooklyn and create a one-acre green space on top. Now, the park, Willoughby Square, is one step closer to reality, as the city prepares to demolish an office building at 217 Duffield Street, between Willoughby and Fulton streets. Prolific construction photographer Tectonic brought us photos of what the site looks like now.

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Completion Near for Aloft Long Island City at 27-45 Jackson Avenue, Future Tallest Hotel in Queens

3:00 pm on August 19, 2016 By Vitali Ogorodnikov

Construction is wrapping up on the Aloft Hotel at 27-45 Jackson Avenue, in Long Island City’s Court Square district. According to Starwood Hotels, the 176-room property, officially called the “Aloft Long Island City – Manhattan View,” is set to open on October 27. At that point, the 18-story, 186-foot-tall high-rise should become the tallest all-hotel building in Queens. Though the 31-story slab of the nearby 29-11 Queens Plaza North, which opened its doors just recently, stands a good deal taller, the Marriott Courtyard within occupies only the tower’s lower half, with the residences at Aurora LIC sitting above. By YIMBY’s count, Aloft Hotel’s lofty pinnacle rises higher than that of any other hotel in the borough.

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160 West Street

Five-Story, 13-Unit Residential Project Tops Out at 160 West Street, Greenpoint

2:00 pm on August 19, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Construction has topped out and façade installation is underway on the five-story, 13-unit residential project under development at 160 West Street, located on the corner of Huron Street in Greenpoint. The update is possible thanks to photos posted to the YIMBY Forums. The latest building permits indicate the new building, dubbed the Gibraltar, measures 16,198 square feet in its entirety. Its residential units, condominiums, should average 1,241 square feet apiece, ranging from one- to two-bedrooms. Amenities include an eight-car parking garage and bike storage, and some of the condos include private terraces. Since the site is subject to flooding, the ground floor won’t contain any apartments and the building’s mechanical equipment will be elevated. Saddle Rock Equities is the developer and Eisner Design is behind the architecture. Completion is expected later this year.

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622 Madison Street

Four-Story, Four-Unit Residential Building Planned at 622 Madison Street, Bedford-Stuyvesant

1:00 pm on August 19, 2016 By Reid Wilson

Property owner Elad Ben-Kimon, doing business as an anonymous Brooklyn-based LLC, has filed applications for a four-story, four-unit residential building at 622 Madison Street, in the heart of Bedford-Stuyvesant. The project will measure 5,100 square feet and its full-floor residential units should average 982 square feet apiece, indicative of condominiums. The structure will be topped by a roof terrace. Olabanji B. Awosika’s Jamaica-based architectural firm is the architect of record. The 20-foot-wide, 2,000-square-foot lot is currently vacant. The Utica Avenue stop on the A/C trains is 10 blocks to the south.

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199 Cook Street

Mixed-Use Commercial Conversion Underway at Three-Story, 35,000-Square-Foot Industrial Building, 199 Cook Street, East Williamsburg

11:00 am on August 19, 2016 By Reid Wilson

The Mann Group is currently converting the three-story, 35,000-square-foot former industrial building at 199 Cook Street, on the southern end of East Williamsburg, into a mixed-use commercial building, Commercial Observer reports. The ground floor will host retail space, followed by office space on part of the cellar level and the entire second and third floors. Additionally, a 3,000-square-foot restaurant will be located in the cellar. The commercial spaces will break down into five artist’s galleries and 28 office units. The structure will be topped by a rooftop lounge. Syndicate Architecture is behind the conversion’s design and completion is expected in early 2017. The property was acquired for $6 million in 2013.

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