Tobacco Warehouse and theater space rendering

The Landmarks Preservation Commission last week issued a positive advisory report to convert the 18,000-square-foot Tobacco Warehouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park in Dumbo into a theater and community space, CityLand reported. [more]

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Several big-name developers are clamoring for the right to develop three separate sites at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Crain’s reported. [more]

A rendering of Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park

Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group have revealed exterior renderings for the condominium component of Pier 1, their mixed-use development at Brooklyn Bridge Park, Curbed reported. [more]

One Brooklyn Bridge Park

A real estate crowdfunding startup wants to help New York developers attract more small investors and is already a partner on a project near Brooklyn Bridge Park, the New York Times reported.

The founders of Washington, D.C.-based Fundrise want Big Apple real estate companies to use their website to finance community-scale projects in the $500,000 to $1 million range. Daniel and Benjamin Miller of Fundrise partnered with Glauco Lolli-Ghetti of the New York developer Urban Muse to bid for rights to develop the John Street parcel on the northern edge of the park project in Brooklyn Heights, the Times said. [more]

From left: the Tobacco Warehouse, a rendering of its redesign (source: Curbed) and architect Jonathan Marvel

An overhauled Tobacco Warehouse in Brooklyn Bridge Park will include a “flexible performance space” and 1,000 square feet set aside for local artists in an 18,000-square-foot enclosed building, Curbed reported. The currently roofless structure was the home of theater troupe St. Ann’s Warehouse until about a year ago. [more]

From left: David Von Spreckelsen of Toll Brothers and a project rendering

Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park is a project that its developers are putting on a pedestal — literally, the New York Post reported. Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group plan to raise their 550,000-square-foot complex at least 3 feet to protect it from the kind of flood damage that Hurricane Sandy did to the neighborhood. [more]

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Con Edison has asked state regulators to approve its plan to sell a property in Brooklyn Bridge Park for $9.2 million, the City Room blog of the New York Times reported. Con Ed bought the land — 3.4 acres between John Street and the East River — 50 years ago for $250,000 and has invested roughly $600,000 in the property over the years. Half the proceeds of the sale to the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation will be split among Con Ed’s 3.2 million customers, who will receive $1.40 each. Park officials are awaiting requests for proposals to build a 13-story mixed-use complex with 130 residential units and retail space on a portion of the land, though concerns about flooding remain… [more]

The proposed site of the field house

The plan to develop a field house featuring a velodrome near Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park has fallen through, the New York Times reported. Joshua Rechnitz, the philanthropist who made a multimillion-dollar donation to fund the project, said that he and his team would scout other locations for the development. It was the cost, more than local opposition, that thwarted the project. Planners could not come up with a design concept that fit inside Rechnitz’s $50 million allotment for construction and maintenance of the velodrome at Brooklyn Bridge Park. [more]

Brooklyn Bridge Park

The Bloomberg administration’s plan to find a developer for a new luxury tower in Dumbo’s flood zone is facing criticism from politicians and locals alike, the New York Daily News reported. On Monday, Brooklyn Bridge Park officials unveiled plans for a plans 13-story complex with 130 residential units, ground-floor retail and up to 110 parking spaces on a vacant lot on John Street near the Manhattan Bridge. Despite plans to include state-of-the-art flood protections, such as a raised bottom level and an electric system on a top floor, the site saw more than four feet of water during Hurricane Sandy, causing some to question the wisdom of the plan. [more]

Brooklyn Bridge Park

Brooklyn Bridge Park Corporation has put out an RFP for a residential building on John Street, Curbed reported. The group was waiting to issue the RFP until the real estate market improved. The residential building will have up to 130 units over 101,000-square-feet, and will rise up to 130 feet tall. The site allows for retail on the ground floor and up to 110 parking spaces. The proposals must include green elements and incorporate flood-protection measures. Revenue generated by the building will be put towards park maintenance…. [more]