NEW YORK | 205-215 Montague St | 672 FT | 47 FLOORS

[chris08876]

Midtown Equities offers 205 Montague for sale

Developer Midtown Equities is hoping to sell a property in downtown Brooklyn in a deal that could help it buy one of the biggest development sites in Williamsburg.

The firm has put the large parcel it owns at 205 Montague St. in downtown Brooklyn up for sale for over $200 million. The site, currently home to a five-story retail and office building, allows for a 300,000-square-foot residential tower with affordable housing that could soar 700 feet or higher.

Midtown Equities has hired a sales team from Cushman & Wakefield led by Bob Knakal, Cushman's chairman of investment sales in the city, to market the site and arrange a deal.

Meanwhile, Midtown Equities is trying to complete a $200 million-plus deal to acquire a huge property on the waterfront in Williamsburg. That site achieved widespread attention earlier this year when one of two warehouses there that are occupied by the records archive business Citi-Storage burned to the ground.

Community activists have called for the city to deliver on a past promise to transform the Citi-Storage property into a section of Bushwick Inlet Park, but so far, the city hasn't made efforts to purchase it. Midtown Equities could build more than 600,000 square feet of manufacturing space as-of-right on the land. The company is rumored to be aiming for a deal with the city to convert a portion of the parcel into parkland in exchange for permission to develop retail, office and residential space on the inland portion.

A source familiar with the two deals said they weren't connected. Midtown Equities, the source said, plans to reinvest the proceeds from 205 Montague Street into retail space it plans to purchase in high-street locations in the city and around the country. Still, a sale of 205 Montague St. could give Midtown Equities a handy slug of cash that it could potentially pour into the Citi-Storage deal if need be.

According to city records, Midtown Equities purchased 205 Montague St. for $33 million in 2010, then paid another $3.2 million in 2012 to the city to remove previous development restrictions on the site. Midtown Equities subsequently purchased neighboring air rights to increase the amount of square footage that can be built on the site to 300,000 square feet. The company developed plans for both a 44-story and a 62-story tower at the site, according to marketing materials produced by Cushman & Wakefield. Renderings of Midtown Equities' plans show that the company wanted to preserve a portion of the commercial building currently at 205 Montague. That property is home to a TD Bank and has Cushman & Wakefield's Brooklyn office on its second floor. Midtown Equities' renderings show at least half of that building left intact and joined to a new residential tower that would rise adjacent to the preserved structure.

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http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...tague-for-sale

[chris08876]

Just a note, this could be 44 floors or 62 floors. There are two versions floating around. If we get the 700 foot + version, it could be 62 floors or greater depending on what they aim for. Either way, a big project for DoBro in the pipeline. I didn't put floor number in the title due to the uncertainty. Better to be prudent than to be inaccurate.

[dumbo]

In the above rendering, the building is tecnically on Pierrepont st. In any case, this'll be right outside bedroom window!

[chris08876]

Credit: http://www.brownstoner.com/blog/2015...-205-montague/

[chris08876]

Demolition Permits Filed For 192 Montague Street, In Brooklyn Heights

Full demolition permits have been filed for the four-story building at 192 Montague Street, also known as 200 Montague, in Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn. The 46,000 square-foot office building was built in 1960, and has a total of three units across the four floors. In 2007, Midtown Equities acquired 200 Montague from HSBC Bank. There is also a retail component at the ground level. James M. Patterson of Ancora Engineering is listed as the applicant of record.

200 Montague St is located on the borough’s strongest retail banking corridor, between Clinton Street and Borough Hall. Brooklyn Borough Hall and Columbus Park Plaza are both just steps away. The area features a major transit hub, with access to the 2, 3, 4, 5, and R subway trains.

It is unclear what plans are in store for the 10,000 square-foot lot as no permits have been filed. According to filings, Matthew Abreu of The Cayre Group is listed as the owner.

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NYY

[Hudson11]

the building being demolished is on the other side of the street.

[NYguy]

Filing for what’s likely to be another 700 footer for Brooklyn.

[Busy Bee]

A bit more history background from an old Brownstoner article here.

[NYguy]

https://therealdeal.com/new-york/202...r-in-brooklyn/

Jonathan Landau planning 47-story tower in Brooklyn Heights
Former Fortis CEO eyeing first NYC development since going solo


By Orion Jones
Research by Matthew Elo
March 21, 2024

Jonathan Landau is aiming high near Downtown Brooklyn.

For his first New York development since going solo, the former CEO of Fortis Property Group is planning a 47-story residential tower at 205 Montague Street in Brooklyn Heights, according to an application filed this week with the Department of Buildings.

Landau is seeking approval to build a 410,000-square-foot, mixed-use building with 136 apartments on the site. It would stand 672 feet.

Hill West Architects is the architect of record.

The application also points toward the possible use of a neighboring property, at 195 Montague Street, and puts the entire project’s sellable and leasable space at 525,000 square feet. That includes 285,000 square feet for residential use and 240,000 square feet of commercial space.

Plans call for a restaurant to occupy a portion of the proposed building’s first two floors and a parking garage below ground. The residential component would likely be a condominium if the state does not replace the expired 421a tax abatement for rental projects, but the filings do not show Landau’s hand.

The Cayre family’s Midtown Equities owns the site where Landau hopes to build his tower, having bought it in 2010 for $33 million. Midtown Equities did not immediately return a request for comment. The family had put the site up for sale in 2015, seeking $200 million.

At the time, the company had developed plans for both a 44-story and a 62-story tower at the site, Crain’s reported.

The new development project would sit near the Hudson Companies’ One Clinton, perhaps a comparable property where condos have sold for an average price of more than $1,700 per square foot, with recent contract signings topping $1,500 per square foot, according to StreetEasy. One Clinton was completed in 2020.

[Crawford]

Nice. Given the Brooklyn Heights location, this will be extremely lavish.

I really hope we get something at least 800 ft. or so, to really make a skyline presence.

[NYguy]

It would tower over the park from this angle...




https://www.nydailynews.com/2023/09/...oklyn-heights/



It borders the historic skyscraper district, so hopefully we won't get just a nice design.




https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/br...ortBy=relevant

[jackster99]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Nice. Given the Brooklyn Heights location, this will be extremely lavish.

I really hope we get something at least 800 ft. or so, to really make a skyline presence.

It would be cool if Brooklyn gets its own Robert AM Stern limestone beauty.

[Hudson11]

There were renderings of this leaked awhile back. I believe it was something akin to that, but not RAMSA.

[Busy Bee]

^Those renderings were preliminary and previous concepts for the site. Much has changed since then regarding buildable square feet and which lots this project encompasses.

I'm assuming you're referring to this from the 2015 Brownstoner write-up?

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Nice. Given the Brooklyn Heights location, this will be extremely lavish.

I really hope we get something at least 800 ft. or so, to really make a skyline presence.

From what I've gathered it seems they've achieved as much buildable sf as they can from acquisitions, air rights transfers, etc. so I think the 672' height is probably what we're going to see. That's plenty tall for this spot and will look great. For comparison 1 Clinton Street ("Library Tower") is only 409' and look how much presence that has.

Hoping for something stunning.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

From what I've gathered it seems they've achieved as much buildable sf as they can from acquisitions, air rights transfers, etc. so I think the 672' height is probably what we're going to see.

That would only be the height to the highest occupied floor. The tower itself would likely top 700 ft.






The larger, buildable sq footage would be the unoccupied space added to the total.

[Busy Bee]

Fair point

[NYguy]

This was on the Midtown website...

[Hudson11]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

^Those renderings were preliminary and previous concepts for the site. Much has changed since then regarding buildable square feet and which lots this project encompasses.

I'm assuming you're referring to this from the 2015 Brownstoner write-up?

No, a new design leaked in 2021 on Behance. I posted it on skyscrapercity but received a takedown request. The webpage no longer exists but the hyperlink metadata suggests it was designed by Marvel Architects, who has a sizable Brooklyn profile - including the flatiron tower around the corner at 280 Cadman Plaza West.

https://www.behance.net/gallery/1152...05-Montague-St

Nothing about that confirms it was the selected design, of course, but the renderings were very official-like so i won't be surprised if they resurface.

[Busy Bee]

^^^


__


I have no idea. Could have been a design exercise or a study commissioned by the developers. Either way, the recent filing says Hill West is the architect of record. That language is interesting because "architects of record" are often mentioned when they need a licensed NY state firm to sign off/work in conjunction with a non-NY state licensed architect. Could be a high profile star architect involved here?