Muni-Mall at Court and Joralemon?

By on December 6, 2010 11:05 pm in Commercial Real Estate, Development, Downtown Brooklyn, Government

BHB photo by C. Scales

Mayor Bloomberg and Borough President Markowitz today announced that the City is issuing a Request for Proposal to develop 37,000 square feet of space on the ground and second floors of the Brooklyn Municipal Building (photo above), at the corner of Court and Joralemon Streets, for commercial retail use. The space will become available when the city offices that now occupy it are moved to another location in the building. The Brooklyn Municipal Building, designed by McKenzie, Voorhees & Gmelin and completed in 1927, is reckoned “a fine piece of design” by Francis Morrone in his An Architectural Guidebook to Brooklyn.

Share this Story:

, , , , , ,

←  Older Comments
 →
  • Joe2: The Joe-ening

    Would I prefer independent stores? Yes.

    Can many non-established independent stores survive the high rents and property taxes that exist in most neighborhoods that would want independent stores? Unlikely.

    I’ve only been a resident in this neighborhood for a little over a year, but what drew me here was the more idyllic sense of community. However, sometimes those community needs aren’t met. I didn’t know there was a Loews in Red Hook – that changes my preferences more than a bit. But it doesn’t change the fact that empty store space kinda sucks – it is a lost rents to the building owners, lost taxes that can be reinvested in the community, and lost opportunities to service the neighborhood’s needs. If there can be some form of anchor store in the Municipal Building that drives up area commerce and un-shutters some of the storefronts on Montague, that’s just good all around.

    Well, good all-around as long as we don’t get Wal-Mart wine vending machines: http://gawker.com/5709249/walmart-wants-to-install-wine-vending-machines

  • Topham Beauclerk

    Joe2: It’s not true that the owners of vacant stores pay no taxes. Property taxes, which are high in New York and which were raised substantially in 2010, are not related to income.

  • http://bivforbrooklyn.com Doug Biviano

    How about a neighborhood middle school now?

    The location is close to all major transit to convenience parents and students instead of consumers.

    Council member Tish James is convening a middle school task force for District 13 because the situation is so bad.

    For Brooklyn Heights and DUMBO we don’t have a neighborhood middle school. The proposed Dock Street Middle School is at least 4 to 6 years out if it happens at all since market and finance dependent.

    Currently PS20 and Arts and Letters are battling it out over real estate. Eighteen PS 8 students enrolled in Arts and Letters this year. Arts and Letters will halve their middle school seats from 100 to 50 in expanding from k-8.

    District 13 is in desperate need of higher performing middles schools. Parents flee D13 left and right for other options. Keep them here. Fix D13.

    Read more:
    http://bivforbrooklyn.com/blog/130-cathie-blacks-1st-school-assignment-fix-d13

    http://bivforbrooklyn.com/blog/131-press-release-arts-a-letters-k-8-expansions-impact-negative-on-ps8-communitys-middle-school-options

←  Older Comments
 →