Ratner to build first housing tower in Brooklyn

 
Forest City Ratner is building its first residential building in Brooklyn.

The developer announced today that it closed on financing for a 335,000-square-foot rental building at 80 Dekalb Avenue in Fort Greene.

The 34-story building, designed by Costas Kondylis, is planned to have 365 studio, one- and two-bedroom apartments. It won’t be far from Ratner’s massive Frank Gehry-designed Atlantic Yards project, which has been delayed and downsized.

The project is estimated to cost $200 million, and will have about 5,000 square feet of ground-floor retail space.

Preliminary construction started in early July, and the building is expected to be completed in summer 2009.

Seventy-three units will be for low-income residents making 40-50 percent of the area’s median income. The units will be affordable for 99 years, but residents making 90 percent of the area’s median income will be able to move into the units after 35 years. Amenities include a 24-hour doorman, concierge, and washers, dryers and terraces in most units.