NEW YORK | River Ring | 710 FT & 560 FT | 64 + 49 FLOORS

[NYguy]

^ Updates here

https://www.riverring.com/press-updates

https://www.riverring.com/



https://www.therefineryatdomino.com/the-domino-campus

Once complete, the Domino Sugar Project and River Ring Project will collectively include over 4,000 residential units, 10 acres of world-class open space, 700,000 SF of office space and a myriad of independent retailers.

Located just two blocks north of The Refinery and set to break ground in 2026, River Ring will be a model for urban waterfront resiliency and transform the way New Yorkers interact with the water. The project is anchored by an extraordinary 4-acre waterfront park that employs leading-edge sustainable design principles to restore and enrich the natural habitat while protecting the adjacent communities from flooding.

The park will provide visitors with unprecedented access to the river’s ecosystem and the unique ability to enjoy a natural setting that does not exist elsewhere on the Williamsburg waterfront. The buildings will contain over 1,000 housing units, a YMCA with an indoor swimming pool, office space and local retail—expanding what is already a thriving neighborhood.

[BanBrokenChatBots]

Giddy up!!!

[chris08876]

The whole East River has been blowing up with construction. LIC and the surrounding waterfront from Astoria to Greenpoint is a hot bed of activity. An East River skyline that is set to be a major one in its own respect.

[NYguy]

https://nypost.com/2024/05/02/opinion/al...t-killed-a-magnificent-brooklyn-project/

Albany’s flawed new housing tax break just killed a magnificent Brooklyn project





By Steve Cuozzo
May 2, 2024

Hochul’s new 485-x program, announced as part of the state budget deal, supposedly will encourage developers to build more “affordable” and market-rate apartments in a city starved for them.

It’s been praised by many elected officials and civic boosters who should learn to read beyond the press release headlines.

The 421-a tax breaks spurred construction of 56,528 new housing units from 2014-2021 alone, of which 16,090 were affordable.

Although 485-x also provides tax incentives, it’s fatally booby-trapped with two provisions that will deter developers from even thinking about new projects in an age of punishing interest rates.

We can report that the misbegotten measure has killed plans for River Ring, a $1 billion, four-acre complex on Brooklyn’s East River waterfront that was to be built by Dumbo and Domino Park developer Two Trees Management.

Two Trees bought the land four years ago.

The site – now a truck parking lot – was to have two handsome apartment towers designed by acclaimed architectural firm BIG.

It would’ve had 1,050 rental apartments, of which 263 would be permanently “affordable” and enjoy the same amenities as market-rate units.

Two Trees would’ve also created a 3-acre public park, provided water-based recreation activities, paid for $100 million in new resilient-infrastructure features and built a 50,000 square-foot YMCA facility.

The park would’ve connected with Domino Park next door and eventually provided unprecedented public waterfront access from South Williamsburg to Greenpoint.

It was a win-win for the neighborhood and for the cause of new-home construction.

But the dream depended on state renewal or replacement of 421-a.

As a result, Two Trees development director David Lombino told The Post, “The goal posts were massively shifted.”

The devil lies in details of 485-x that Hochul threw in to placate advocates of forcing developers to give apartments away almost for free, and to appease politically potent union leaders.

Although 485-x doesn’t require a higher percentage of affordable units than 421-a did, it fatally lowers the income level for tenants to be eligible for affordable units to far below what they were under 421-a: from 130% of so-called “area median income” in the past to between 60% and 80%.

Since permissible affordable rents are based on those incomes, developers such as Two Trees would receive significantly less rental income from its apartments.

The program also untenably hikes construction costs in much of Manhattan and desirable sections of Brooklyn.

Lombino says that will have a “chilling effect” on all development in those areas, not only at the River Ring site.

Two Trees, which has always paid good wages for construction jobs, says it couldn’t afford the combination of additional labor costs and reduced rental income at River Ring that 485-x requires.

So unless a miracle happens, River Ring will remain a parking lot off-limits to the public — and New Yorkers be damned.

[Busy Bee]

Gee, why do I feel like this isn't the end of the story?

[streetscaper]

I get lowering threshold of income for affordable units, but does the construction industry really need more money... I feel like those guys make more compared with the average/median New Yorker. A lot of them make bank even

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Gee, why do I feel like this isn't the end of the story?

Because it likely isn't.

Originally Posted by streetscaper

I get lowering threshold of income for affordable units, but does the construction industry really need more money... I feel like those guys make bank compared with the average/median New Yorker. A lot of them make bank even

Everybody's always pushing for more. New York is one of the most expensive cities to build in, and that's just one reason.

[Doubleu1117]

Something will get done here eventually, but man it'd feel like a missed opportunity to miss out on a project with this height on the river, and design of the park/ waterfront. Hopefully it's not replaced with something much less substantive.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Doubleu1117

Something will get done here eventually, but man it'd feel like a missed opportunity to miss out on a project with this height on the ricer, and design of the park/ waterfront. Hopefully it's not replaced with something much less substantive.

Yeah, if things change, we could end up with something boring. There are other developments taking place along the east river waterfront, but this was the most exciting.



https://commercialobserver.com/2024/05/naftali-williamsburg-wharf-development/

Naftali Plots 5 New Residential Towers for Williamsburg Waterfront




BY ABIGAIL NEHRING
MAY 1, 2024

Luxury developer Naftali Group and private holding company Access Industries plan to build five 22-story residential towers along Kent Avenue between Division Avenue and South 11th Street, the companies announced Wednesday.

[Doubleu1117]

A model pic of the River Ring proposal in this article about Domino Site B. Hopefully this one's still in the plans, although it's not entirely clear to me where/ when these model pics are from.

https://newyorkyimby.com/2025/04/twin-sk...ent-avenue-in-williamsburg-brooklyn.html

[NYguy]

^ Hopefully they can move forward with this.

[NYguy]

https://gothamist.com/news/brooklyn-deve...reak-for-williamsburg-waterfront-complex

Brooklyn developer lands state budget tax break for Williamsburg waterfront complex


By David Brand and Jon Campbell
May 20, 2026

The developer of a major housing project on the Williamsburg waterfront will score a lucrative tax break worth millions of dollars thanks to a measure tucked into the New York state budget on Wednesday.

Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers agreed to include an extension of an expired tax break program to cover the sprawling River Ring housing complex in Brooklyn in the estimated $268 billion budget’s housing bill, which the state Legislature is set to approve later in the day.

The deal makes the project from influential Brooklyn developer Two Trees eligible for the tax break program known as 421a, which waives the bulk of a development’s property tax bill in exchange for some affordable housing commitments.

Two Trees will miss a 2031 deadline to complete its project and still qualify for the tax break. It needs the extension to make the project financially feasible, company spokesperson David Lombino said.

“We’re pleased that the River Ring project now has a clear path to completion,” Lombino said in a statement.

The City Council approved the River Ring project in 2021. The site, located between North 1st and North 3rd Streets along River Street, will include a pair of high-rise apartment buildings reaching 710 and 560 feet that tower above a circular boardwalk, beach and waterfront park.

About 30% of the proposed 1,200 apartments will be priced for low- and middle-income renters, Lombino said.

The first tower will likely not be completed until 2033, he said.

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...ont-development-climate-change-20260618/

Waterfront development surges across Brooklyn and Queens despite climate risks





ByJulianne Cuba
June 19, 2026

Two Trees Management, which closed on its acquisition of the Domino Sugar site just weeks after Hurricane Sandy in 2012, said climate considerations have shaped virtually every aspect of its waterfront developments.

“Sea level rise and climate change have impacted virtually all of our developments on the Williamsburg waterfront,” said David Lombino, managing director at Two Trees. “At Domino, we’ve made a number of changes based on those issues. We raised the platform that has the park on it by 12 feet. We pulled all of the building sites back considerably from the water’s edge. We put all of the mechanicals above ground level to be able to withstand flooding.”

The company plans to incorporate even more extensive resiliency features into River Ring, a mixed-use waterfront project approved by the City Council in 2021. The project represents roughly $150 million in private investment in resilient infrastructure, Lombino said.

Among them are offshore breakwaters designed to reduce wave action and help protect the shoreline from storm surges.

The project, located between North 1st and North 3rd streets along River Street, will feature two residential towers above a circular boardwalk, a beach and a waterfront park. The first tower is not expected to be completed until 2033.

Organizations focused on waterfront planning are also pushing developers to adopt higher standards.

The Waterfront Alliance administers the Waterfront Edge Design Guidelines, or WEDG, certification program, which is currently in its third iteration. The program is built on three core principles: resilience, ecology and public access.

“It focuses on how to design new buildings and infrastructure along waterfronts to make sure they’re resilient, ecologically sound and publicly accessible,” Raskin said.

Under the program, developers submit plans that are evaluated against a rigorous set of standards designed to exceed baseline zoning and building-code requirements.

“Our hope is that if a building goes through the WEDG process, it’s meeting a set of standards that goes above and beyond,” Raskin said.

Julie Raskin, president of the nonprofit Waterfront Alliance that advocates for coastal resilience, is welcoming the focus.

“It’s important for development to get it right from the start because it’s much more costly to go back and make changes later,” she said.

One of the most significant changes since Hurricane Sandy in 2012 has been the relocation of critical building systems, such as HVAC equipment and boilers, from basements to upper floors. As a result, many former basement spaces are now used for building amenities, like gyms, instead. Developers are also investing in stronger seawalls, expanded plantings and dunes to help buffer storm surges and wave action.

“I think the most significant change you’re seeing is moving utilities out of the basements,” said Cohen, who was named one of Crain’s Notable Leaders in Sustainability in 2025. “Typically, you would put them at low grade because that’s space you’re not going to rent or sell very easily. But now developers recognize that those systems need to be protected.”

Jeremy Shannon, director of sustainability and climate action at New York’s largest architecture firm, Gensler, said developers are increasingly looking beyond today’s flood map projections and are incorporating longer-term climate forecasts into their planning.