Construction is progressing on the first phase of Williamsburg Wharf, a 3.75-acre mixed-use development on the South Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn. Developed by Naftali Group and Access Industries and designed by Brandon Haw Architecture, COOKFOX Architects, Rockwell Group, and Hill West Architects, the two-phase masterplan will create five 22-story residential towers and nearly 1 million square feet of residential, commercial, and retail space. The project will yield a total of 850 condominium and rental units and will include a public esplanade stretching 525 feet along the East River. The property is bound by South 10th Street to the north, Division Avenue to the south, Kent Avenue to the east, and Wallabout Channel to the west.
Recent photographs show the first three buildings in complex already closing in on completion. The reinforced concrete towers at 480 Kent Avenue, 482 Kent Avenue, and 11 Wharf Way are almost fully clad in their façades with minor sections left to complete. The first photos below focus on 482 Kent, which features a light gray façade with geometric paneling surrounding floor-to-ceiling windows.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Work is also nearing completion on 480 Kent Avenue, which is known as One Williamsburg Wharf. The building features a darker earth-toned façade than its sibling at 482 Kent.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
The third tower at 11 Wharf Way is located at the northern end of the site along Kent Avenue and features a simpler fenestration.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Photo by Michael Young.
Landscaping work is also taking shape along the waterfront with most of the plants, stone seating blocks, pathways, and trees in place.
Photo by Michael Young.
The following image looks south at a partially excavated pit for the last two towers of the master plan.
Photo by Michael Young.
Below is an axonometric diagram showing the three structures from phase one. From left to right is 11 Wharf Way spanning 204,514 square feet with 183 rental units, 480 Kent Avenue touching the edge of the waterfront yielding 236,009 square feet with 89 condominium units and 86 rental units, and 482 Kent Avenue with 263,099 square feet with 249 rental units. The total commercial square footage will span 17,525 square feet.
One Williamsburg Wharf diagram.
The main rendering above looks north up the East River at 480 and 482 Kent Avenues, featuring a multi-story podium that will house the rental units. The condominium units will be located in the tower. The façades consist of bronze-finished metal paneling, a custom curtain wall system comprised of floor-to-ceiling windows, bronze mullions, and rectangular mechanical bulkheads clad in gray paneling above the roof parapets. Several upper setbacks are shown topped with private terraces for the penthouse units.
The second rendering shows the wood-framed porte-cochere entrance along Kent Avenue leading to a motor courtyard. Ground-floor commercial space flanks both sides, and the Lower Manhattan skyline can be seen in the background.
Rendering courtesy of Naftali Group.
The third rendering depicts a section of the public waterfront esplanade with garden beds, fountains, benches, walkways, newly planted trees and lawns, and views of the Midtown, Manhattan skyline behind the Williamsburg Bridge. Scape Landscape Architecture and Future Green Studio are serving as the landscape architects.
Rendering courtesy of Naftali Group.
Home in One Williamsburg Wharf at 480 Kent Avenue come in studio- to three-bedroom layouts, as well as a collection of six upper penthouse units. Apartments have white-oak entry doors with black hardware and a custom entry sconce, private gallery foyers in select residences, white oak flooring with 7.5-inch wide planks throughout. Units also feature solid wood interior doors with polished nickel finishes, laundry closets with Bosch washers and dryers, side-by-side Samsung washer and dryers in select residences, fireplaces with direct-vent gas technology with a custom marble mantlepiece, and staircases with roof terrace access in select apartments. SERHANT. New Development is handling sales and marketing.
Kitchens will be finished with custom millwork and cabinetry by Tiger and Brandon Haw Architecture, as well as honed Calcutta Gold Quartz slab countertops, backsplashes, and kitchen islands with curved oak bases, rounded corners, and beveled edges. Appliances include Miele oak-paneled refrigerators, freezers, dishwashers, gas ranges with a convection oven, and speed ovens, Miele oak-paneled warming drawers in select residences, Sub-Zero oak-paneled under-counter wine refrigerators (full height in select residences), Uline oak-paneled under-counter wine refrigerators in select residences, Ruvati stainless steel undercount kitchen sinks, InSinkErator garbage disposals, and Kohler faucets with pull-out sprays in a matte black finish.
Primary bathrooms get large operable windows in select residences, custom vanities with oak finishes, curved corners, and black matte hardware, custom medicine cabinets with integrated lighting, and custom full-height cabinetry with built-in hampers and shelving with lights in select residences. Additional features include custom honed Calacatta mosaic floor tiling, honed Bianco Dolomite marble-tiled showers with built-in niches, fluted honed Bianco Dolomite wainscoting, radiant floor heating with an adjustable thermostat, and Papillon Stone Forest freestanding soaking tubs in Limestone in selects units.
Amenities are designed by Ward + Gray and span over 20,000 square feet, with the majority concentrated across the ninth floor. These include a cinema with individual seating, a dining room with the ability to transform into a conference room with a chef’s kitchen and pantry, a state-of-the-art indoor/outdoor fitness center, a yoga studio doubling as a flexible fitness area with a connecting outdoor terrace, private changing rooms and lockers, and a juice bar. Other features include pet grooming stations, a fire pit, and a 60-foot long outdoor swimming pool that will double as a private ice skating rink in the wintertime using Glice, a synthetic ice technology, surrounded by cabanas and lounge seating. Additional outdoor amenities will include an open lawn, a dog run, a landscaped extension of the Williamsburg waterfront with walkways and cyclist routes, and a pedestrian boulevard connecting Kent Avenue to the waterfront featuring a large-scale sculpture by Lorenzo Quinn.
Other amenities include a 24-hour attended lobby lined with custom white terrazzo flooring and grain oak floor borders, a library with custom millwork and shelving, coworking lounges with outdoor spaces, private phone booths, and a wet bar overlooking the East River. There will also be a lounge with a pantry, a game room with a custom pong table, billiards table, and televisions, a basketball court, bike storage, storage available for purchase, and enclosed subterranean parking spots and electric charging spots available for purchase.
The swimming pool at One Williamsburg Wharf. Rendering courtesy of Naftali Group.
The swimming pool covered over and transformed into an ice skating rink. Rendering courtesy of Naftali Group.
Photograph of juice bar at One Williamsburg Wharf. Courtesy of Naftali Group
Photograph of fitness center at One Williamsburg Wharf. Courtesy of Naftali Group
The site was formerly occupied by a lumber yard owned by Abraham Rosenberg. Naftali Group acquired the property in 2020 and secured a $385 million financing package consisting of a $310 million senior mortgage loan provided by Bank OZK and $75 million in mezzanine financing provided by Barings. Naftali then purchased a second adjacent parcel in 2020 for another $105 million.
The complex is located in close proximity to the South Williamsburg Ferry Terminal. The nearest subways are the J, M, and Z trains at the elevated Marcy Avenue subway station to the east.
The first phase of Williamsburg Wharf is expected to cost $600 million and finish construction at the end of 2025. A construction timeline for the second phase has yet to be announced.
Subscribe to YIMBY’s daily e-mail
Follow YIMBYgram for real-time photo updates
Like YIMBY on Facebook
Follow YIMBY’s Twitter for the latest in YIMBYnews
Wow, so nice!
Stunning images and great update!!
It’s a good design facade that becomes monotonous because there’s so much of it with nothing else. I don’t understand this fashion to “detach” the upper tower with a bellly band of glass in the middle. It looks structurally weak. The third tower is… basic.
Love the facades and nice work capturing them!
Very nice to finally see blight replaced by living space on this prime waterfront parcel. It’s unfortunate that new buildings on that stretch are limited to 22 stories in height though. These should have been at least 40 stories tall.
So massive and square leaving no airspace between them i can’t imagine where they are going to jam another three buildings of the same height. Not to mention the traffic that six huge buildings will bring to Kent Ave. How do these things get approved?
Five buildings in total, not six.
Bathrooms and kitchens feature rounded corners, which are a beautiful even during power outages: Thanks to Michael Young.
welcome to New York where we thrive on density.
Garett there is whole country out there of subdivisions (and airspace!).
More folks walking the streets taking the metro, sounds good. and sure some more cars, heaven forbid!
That’s a lot of yipsters.
Wonderful job!