The sleuths over at Wired NY have uncovered some additional renderings of 29 Flatbush, a proposed  tower that appears to have received partial approvals from DOB.  More renderings after jump.

In a symbolic transition for Downtown Brooklyn, the tallest building in the neighborhood is now a residential building.  111 Lawrence, under construction by the Clarett Group, is just one of several residential buildings under construction or in the planning stages in the area.  While construction appears halted currently due to stop work orders, the tower will upon completion be the tallest in Brooklyn, surpassing the Williamsburgh Bank Building.

Below is a great view of some of the other buildings going up downtown, viewed from the east.  From left to right these are Toren, Avalon Fort Greene, 111 Lawrence, and Oro:

Photo credit: WiredNY forums

Borough President Marty Markowitz called for shopping on the ground floor of the Brooklyn Municipal Building, in his recent state of the borough address, a proposal which had been first floated a while back.  Marty urged the city offices to relocate to the planned City Point building at the old Albee Square Mall site, to make way for retail space at the Municipal Building.  

“We can open up that corner of Joralemon and Court streets for major retail – solidifying Court Street as a bona fide New York City shopping destination. Which stores would thrive there? How about Crate and Barrel, Nordstrom Rack, Saks Fifth Avenue Off 5th? It’s all possible,” he said.  All excellent ideas, we think.  

• Markowitz Dreams Big for Brooklyn (NY1)

The tireless real-estate watchers over at Wired New York have uncovered another towering proposal for downtown Brooklyn, this one a 44-story residential building with retail, at 29 Flatbush.   The above rendering is from the Dermot Company’s website, and gives a flavor of the design.  Dermot says this will be a rental property, and construction may begin this year.  DOB records indicate 333 units.

According to the poster over at Wired, the last proposal for the site looked like this.  The latest permit application is available here.

Despite the difficult economic times, two groups of artists are looking to create permanent homes in downtown Brooklyn.  The ISSUE Project Room, an avant garde performance space, is raising funds to renovate the historic theater in 110 Livingston to put on a year-round selection of music, film, video, and literature.  Writers Jonathan Lethem and Paul Auster, as well as Marty Markowitz recently appeared at a reading in support of the move at Grocery on Smith Street.

Also coming to downtown is the Brooklyn Ballet, which will have a 200-seat black box theater in the new building at 160 Schermerhorn Street – aka Schermerhorn House.  Help support these worthy groups and bring the arts downtown.

• ISSUE Project Room
• Brooklyn Ballet

The Fulton Streetscape project is slated to begin construction next month, according to the Downtown Brooklyn Parternship and the City Economic Development Corporation.  The project will include updated bus shelters, seating, plantings, lots of trees, new sidewalks, and lighting.  From the renderings, looks like some nice cobblestones in the treebeds.  Albee Square will become “first class” pedestrian open space.  Construction will start at the east end of Fulton and move west in two phases, to be complete in 2011.   With the city now having title to the property for Willoughby Square Park, changes are on the way for downtown.

• Fulton Streetscape Project Announced (Downtown Brooklyn Partnership)
• Fulton Streetscape Project (DBP) 
• More info in PDF 

The building under construction here is 111 Lawrence Street, which is rising fast and when completed will be Brooklyn’s tallest building.  A project by the Clarett Group, it will be 50+ stories according to their site–DOB puts the number at 51 stories, or 514 feet tall.  According to Wikipedia, that’s two feet taller than the current tallest Brooklyn building, the Williamsburgh Bank Building.

Belltel Lofts–the Art Deco building  just to 111’s right–clocks in at 350 feet tall, so 111 Lawrence will be half again as tall as Belltel.  DOB’s records show that 111 Lawrence will have almost 500 residential units.   Click through for a closeup of the facade panels which have been installed so far, and a rendering.

The line of residential towers envisioned for Flatbush Avenue just off the Manhattan Bridge is materializing before our very eyes.   Oro I is fully decked out, and the Toren Condos at 150 Myrtle Ave. are rising to their 38 stories quickly.  Also, below, the first glimpse of Toren’s cladding peeks through–looks nice at this early stage from the shot below from the WiredNY forums. Full rendering of Toren here.

The Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has prepared a cool little animation of how Flatbush is changing – this is one of those planning visions which is actually happening, refreshing.  Check it out here.

Toren’s new cladding.

A quick search on Massey Knakal’s listings site (say that five times fast) revealed several large parcels up for sale around Downtown Brooklyn.  One parcel is four (count ‘em) buildings at 123-129 Livingston Street, yours for only $20 million–pictured above.  The bail bonds and “psychic studio” are not included–the buildings “will be delivered vacant.”  This could be the perfect location for a community center, arts studios, or heck, tear them down and build a park.

If you prefer you could be the proud landlord of Downtown Brooklyn’s Dallas BBQ at 180 Livingston–for only $40 million!  If you were holding out for 300 Schermerhorn, though, you missed your chance, that one’s already sold, you’ll have to make do with buying some air (rights)–up to 150,000 square feet are available floating around CB2, apparantly.  Happy shopping!

It’s official — Downtown Brooklyn is the latest outpost in NYU’s violet empire.  NYU had shuttered its engineering school in the early 70’s but has been looking to get back in the game. The state has now signed off on the schools’ plans to merge, the last hurdle in the legal process.

Technically, this means the Board of Regents of the State Department of Education has approved a plan for “affiliation” whereby Poly will become the “Polytechnic Institute of NYU.”  Within three to five years, it is expected, the schools will consolidate.  Skeptics have said it’s not only Poly’s tech prowess NYU covets, but its $213 million of real estate (according to a 2005 appraisal), including a good deal of air rights.

Welcome to Brooklyn, NYU!

• NYU Poly merger approved (The Real Deal)
• Amendment of the Polytechnic University Charter – Background Information