The Brooklyn Tower

Today JDS Development Group and SHoP Architects announce the tower facade completion of The Brooklyn Tower – Brooklyn’s first supertall skyscraper. The building’s transformative contribution to the city skyline boldly expresses the borough’s vibrant past and future. Rising from the native geometries of the neighborhood streets, its striking form draws inspiration from the hexagonal composition and patterning of the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, which is being carefully restored and thoughtfully integrated within the building.

“As builders, we couldn’t be more proud of this significant architectural milestone for The Brooklyn Tower,” said Michael Stern, Founder and CEO of JDS Development Group, the developer and builder of the project. “This is Brooklyn’s most daring tower—its complexity and character are a testament to the deep collaboration between JDS and SHoP and our serious commitment to thoughtful urbanism that celebrates history with an eye towards the future.”

“SHoP is incredibly proud of our continued partnership with JDS, together making some of the most iconic structures in New York City,” said SHoP Architects’ founding principal Gregg Pasquarelli. “The two facades of The Brooklyn Tower sit in contrast to each other.  The podium is a baroque yet modernist reinterpretation of the fluted colonnade of its neighbor, the historic Dime Savings Bank. The interlocking hexagonal tower uses textures on the facade of black, copper, bronze and white to create a Neo-Gotham spire that changes radically in different weather. It’s New York of the 1930’s, 2030’s, and 2130 at the same time.”

Designed by award-winning SHoP Architects with residential interiors by Gachot Studios and amenities interior design by Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot, the building’s architectural design features Art Deco elements while combining baroque, Brooklyn charm with crisp, modern details. Pilasters of blackened steel, copper and bronze create striking verticality along the building’s impressive height, prominently holding the structure’s corners while extending beyond the edges of its flat top towards the sky. At street level, The Brooklyn Tower’s marble “convexicave” columns sit upon black granite pedestals, designed to provide visual continuity with the historic Dime Savings Bank. The lower façade transitions from a typical convex geometry at the bottom to an inverse concave shape towards the top of the podium, while thin gold-hued metal lines in the column edges add to the visual impact.

The materiality of the Neo Deco façade gracefully combines this white marble base with blackened stainless steel as it ascends, deepening to darker shades toward the apex. The façade displays a captivating play of colors, reflecting different hues throughout the day that change with the sun’s position. From any angle, The Brooklyn Tower maintains its unique shape, texture, and materiality, achieved through a thoughtful arrangement of fluted, cylindrical, and triangular metal shapes that alternate in size.

The project represents the fourth major project between JDS and SHoP, including the American Copper Buildings and 111 West 57th Street in Manhattan, and 1 Southside Park in Miami.

Brooklyn’s first supertall skyscraper, The Brooklyn Tower stands at 93 stories and over 1,000 feet in height. Situated in the burgeoning neighborhood of Downtown Brooklyn, the new landmark building comprises approximately 150 condominiums and 400 residences for lease –– with almost 100,000 square feet of retail at its base and over 120,000 square feet of immersive indoor and outdoor amenities. Douglas Elliman is the exclusive marketing, sales, and leasing agent for the project.

Amenities

The Brooklyn Tower will offer over 120,000 square feet of immersive indoor and outdoor amenities, featuring interior design by Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot, architecture by SHoP Architects, and landscape design by HMWhite. Signature amenities will include: The Dome Pool and Terrace, a creative reimagining of the Dime Savings Bank on Brooklyn’s roof deck, featuring three outdoor pools that surround the historic bank’s immense Guastavino dome: a 75’ outdoor pool, kids pool, and whirlpool; a hammock lounge, an outdoor dining area, barbeque grills, lounge seating, fire pit, and outdoor showers. Additional amenities include a double-height poolside lounge and cocktail bar, movie theatre, billiards room, and library with co-working spaces and a conference room. A beautifully appointed living room lounge and children’s playroom further enhance the impressive amenity offering.

The Brooklyn Tower Sky Park amenities will be home to the Western Hemisphere’s highest basketball court, dog run, and outdoor playground, while the tower’s Sky Lounge will be the highest amenity floor in all of Brooklyn. The Sky Park and Sky Lounge will offer some of the most unique amenity and skyline experiences in New York City with spectacular 360-degree views of Manhattan, Statue of Liberty, New York Harbor, Atlantic Ocean, Brooklyn, Long Island, and beyond. The Sky Park, located on the 66th floor, is a spectacular open-air loggia with a basketball court (the Sky Court), dog run, and game deck where residents can enjoy foosball, ping-pong and air hockey as well as a children’s playground with three distinct play structures for various age groups. On the 85th floor—at an elevation of over 800 feet—the Sky Lounge offers an incomparable vantage point to experience the extraordinary sunrises and sunsets over New York City. Exclusive to condominium owners, the 4,630 square-foot Sky Lounge will include a fireplace nook and lounge, observation deck, garden terrace, a cocktail bar and outdoor dining for elevated entertaining with expansive views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines, East River and New York Harbor.

The Brooklyn Tower’s Life Time destination features approximately 80,000 square feet of expansive, state-of-the-art health and wellness offerings and amenities, and will be home to New York’s first Life Time Work, providing a high-end premium coworking experience for established professionals and companies.  The Brooklyn Tower’s Life Time Athletic Country Club and Life Time Work will be especially convenient for the building’s rental and condo residents, offering exclusive membership privileges for owners, and also welcome Life Time members through a reception area directly adjacent to the tower’s Flatbush Avenue Extension entrance.

Lobby

The Brooklyn Tower features a full block residential lobby with two distinct residential entrances, from Fleet Street and Flatbush Avenue Extension. The entrances, designed by Krista Ninivaggi of Woods Bagot in collaboration with SHoP Architects, express the architecture of the soaring new tower and historic site on the interior – featuring soft cream and white hexagonal flooring in a nod to the original design motifs and patterns found inside the Dime Savings Bank. The walls of both residential entrances are wrapped in warm, white oak paneling cut into a sculptural pattern that evokes the tower’s fluted façade, while bronzed mirrored surfaces, and bespoke furnishings create an immediate sense of arrival, transporting one away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Additional ground-level amenities will include a 24-hour doorman, valet services, a rideshare lounge, and a coffee stand.

Architecture

The design of The Brooklyn Tower forms an eloquent, expressive dialogue between the borough’s past and future.Its striking design by SHoP Architects draws inspiration from the hexagonal shape, design motifs and unique patterning found on the landmarked interior of the historic Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn. The skyscraper’s form takes a cue here as a series of interlocking hexagons and dramatic cascading setbacks come together to create a cinematic exterior façade of shimmering bronzes and deep blacks. It holds its shape and texture at every angle, deploying a wide variety of fluted, cylindrical, and triangular shapes arranged in a strongly vertical composition between oversized glass panes. The building’s distinctive materiality incorporates elegant white marble at its base and evolves to blackened stainless steel and shades of bronze and copper as the tower ascends. This combination of form and color give The Brooklyn Tower an expression that is both playful and seriously dramatic from every perspective.

Neighborhood

The Brooklyn Tower is bound by DeKalb Avenue, Fleet Street, and Flatbush Avenue Extension in Downtown Brooklyn in one of the most connected neighborhoods in New York City, with unrivaled transportation access to 13 subway lines, 11 commuter trains via the LIRR at Atlantic Center, and 22 Citi bike stations. Downtown Brooklyn lives at the intersection of three of Brooklyn’s most beloved Brownstone neighborhoods (Fort Greene, Boerum Hill, and Cobble Hill), just minutes from DUMBO and Brooklyn Heights. Downtown Brooklyn is the third-largest central business district in New York City and home to a robust technology and innovation sector, vibrant shopping along Fulton Street, City Point, and nearby Atlantic Avenue, and is proximate to more than 100 arts and cultural institutions in the Brooklyn Cultural District, including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, the Brooklyn Art Museum, Marc Morris Dance Group, Roulette, Brooklyn Museum, BRIC, and the Barclays Center, home to the Brooklyn Nets. Brooklyn is a creative, culinary, and artistic mecca for New York City, with celebrated restaurants such as Gage & Tollner, Grand Army, Romans, as well as popular DeKalb Market Hall and the famed Junior’s Cheesecake located just below the tower. Residents are minutes away from world-class parks and greenspaces, including beloved Fort Greene Park, Brooklyn Bridge Park, and Prospect Park. Significant new growth in the residential, hospitality, and commercial sectors has ushered in a new era of 24-7 living in Downtown Brooklyn, with the introduction of new schools, infrastructure, and transformative streetscape improvements underway.

History

Established in 1859, the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn commissioned a new headquarters at 9 DeKalb Avenue in anticipation of the opportunities offered by the 1908 opening of both the first subway tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan as well as the creation of the Flatbush Avenue Extension. Originally designed by Mowbray and Uffinger (1906-1908) and later expanded by esteemed architects Halsey, McCormack & Helmer (1931-1932), the historic building has been celebrated by critics for its civic-minded urban design and was designated a New York City landmark in 1994. It was also the first building in the United States to feature the marble found in ancient Greek temples. As one of the largest savings banks constructed in the country, the institution played a critical role in the development and growth of Brooklyn and serves as a prominent gateway to the Fulton Street Mall shopping district. Decommissioned as a working bank, the space will become publicly accessible once again as a new retail flagship destination. The 115-year-old structure is being carefully restored and integrated with the tower through a new retail entrance at Flatbush Avenue Extension and a new residential entrance at Fleet Street (one of the tower’s two residential entrances). The bank is also ingeniously connected to The Brooklyn Tower’s amenity spaces on the 7th floor which will allow residents to swim and lounge around its historic dome. The development will feature 100,000 square feet of retail at its base – including the Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, one of Brooklyn’s most prominent landmarked buildings, which is being restored as flagship retail. The development is reshaping the fabric of Brooklyn which has yet to see a mixed-use development of this scale.

Residences by Gachot Studios

The Brooklyn Tower is, first and foremost, a collection of homes; a wonderful place to live, full of warmth and welcome, and thoughtful touches inspired by the unique design of the building they sit in. Each residence has been designed by Gachot Studios, an Architectural Digest 100 interior design firm, that created a refined aesthetic and radical sense of place for the tower.  Highly considered residential layouts leverage the building’s unparalleled vantage points and distinctive hexagonal form to maximize the transcendent city and water views through floor-to-ceiling windows, with many residences boasting multiple exposures. An intimate and tranquil interior experience is achieved through warm, richly layered finishes and custom design elements. Living spaces feature soaring 10’3” ceiling heights and European white oak flooring with a custom honey stain.

The kitchens are a custom design by Gachot Studios, featuring graphite matte black and etched bronze mirror cabinetry with Absolute Black granite countertops. These warm, richly layered materials are complemented by integrated brass, oil-rubbed bronze detailing, Waterworks fixtures in a matte black finish, custom matte black and bronze lighting, and integrated under cabinet lighting. Each kitchen features a fully integrated suite of top-of-the-line Miele appliances including a refrigerator, gas cooktop (with range hood by XO), convection oven, Bosch dishwasher, and Bosch washer and dryer.

Principal baths are wrapped in honed Bianco Venato porcelain tiled walls, brass and bronze accent trim, and custom Bianco dolomite hexagon mosaic floors with an Absolute Black granite border. Custom Gachot-designed vanities feature Absolute Black granite countertops and custom sconces, custom medicine cabinets with charging stations, and Waterworks fixtures in matte black finish. The shower floors are ornamented in hexagonal Absolute Black granite.

Secondary bathrooms feature tiled walls with an oil-rubbed bronze accent trim, custom vanity in a light Mahogany finish, Absolute Black granite countertops, Waterworks fixtures in a matte black finish, and Absolute Black mosaic flooring in a brick pattern. The powder rooms, located in select residences, are beautifully appointed with light mahogany millwork walls and a vanity with an oil-rubbed bronze base. Additional details include an Absolute Black granite countertop, Waterworks fixtures in a matte black finish, custom decorative lighting, and Bianco Dolomite marble and Absolute Black granite stone flooring in a custom triangular mosaic.

Condominiums for Sale

The condominium residences starting on the 53rd floor of the tower provide an astonishing new vantage point with long, uninterrupted views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn skylines, East River, and the New York Harbor. The residences start above most other penthouses in Brooklyn at an elevation of 535 feet and continue to soar to astonishing heights. Pricing for the condominiums ranges from approximately $965,000 studio residences to approximately $8 million for four-bedrooms, with a limited number of trophy penthouses.

Leasing and Pricing

Rental residences at The Brooklyn Tower range from studios to three bedrooms. Studios start at $3,411; one bedrooms at $4,371; and two bedrooms at $6,085. Advertised rents are net effective. Please contact the leasing gallery for the current incentives and details. Douglas Elliman is the exclusive marketing, sales, and leasing agent for The Brooklyn Tower.