South Williamsburg’s latest upscale rental has emerged from its scaffolding at 282 South 5th Street, and photographer Tectonic recently swung by to give YIMBY shots of the construction progress.
Over the past few years, new building applications have been filed and construction even started on a residential portion of the five-tower, 3.3-million-square-foot mixed-use Domino Sugar Refinery mega-development in Williamsburg, located immediately north of the Williamsburg Bridge. Now, new details and renderings have been revealed of the lesser-known office component of the project, the New York Post reported. The office portion will be anchored in the existing 11-story Havemeyers & Elder Filter, Pan & Finishing House, also known as the Domino Sugar Refinery, at 292-314 Kent Avenue, which is an individual landmark.
In late 2014, Apple signed a 20,000-square-foot lease at 247 Bedford Avenue, in Williamsburg, located at the corner of North 3rd Street, four blocks from the Bedford Avenue Station on the L train. Then in April of 2015, the former two-story corner building was razed to its foundation to be rebuilt as a new two-story structure. Brownstoner now reports much of the exterior construction is complete, with work currently focused on the interior. Marin Architects P.C. is the architect of record. RedSky Capital and Waterbridge Capital acquired an assemblage of buildings on the block, including 247 Bedford Avenue, for $66 million in 2012. While Apple is setting up shop at 247 Bedford Avenue, the developers are moving forward with renovations on the adjacent two-story, 27-unit mixed-use building at 159 North 3rd Street. As for the Apple store, opening can probably be expected later this year.
Idan Cohen, doing business as a Queens-based LLC, has filed applications for a four-story, two-unit residential building at 113 North 9th Street, in northern Williamsburg, located three blocks from the Bedford Avenue stop on the L train. The structure will measure 5,310 square feet, which means its residential units should average a spacious 2,655 square feet apiece, indicative of condominiums. One unit will take up the ground and second floors, along with part of the cellar, while the other unit will be located in the third and fourth floors. Woody Chen’s Elmhurst-based Infocus Design & Engineering is the architect of record. The 25-foot-wide lot is currently vacant.
In early January, the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) kicked off for Heritage Equity Partners’ planned eight-story, 400,000-square-foot office/manufacturing building at 25 Kent Avenue, in northern Williamsburg. Now, the City Planning Commission is expected to support rezoning the block for the project, Crain’s reports. But the approval comes at the expense of the proposed neighborhood rezoning, which would establish an “Enhanced Business District” over most of the North Williamsburg Industrial Business Zone (IBZ), allowing for the surrounding blocks to be developed similar to 25 Kent Avenue. The rezoning would grant developers a boost in allowed commercial FAR in exchange for the inclusion of light manufacturing space, identical to a normal community facility FAR bonus. City Planning is expected to approve the application later this month, at which point the City Council will vote on the project. Mayor Bill de Blasio will complete the ULURP review if he decides to sign off on City Council’s pending approval. Rubenstein Partners is partnered in the project, and Gensler and Hollwich Kushner Architecture (a.k.a HWKN) is designing.
