Skip to main content

Featured Post

Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park infographics: what's built/what's coming/what's missing, who's responsible, + project FAQ/timeline (pinned post)

Permits filed for B12 and B13 towers, with 798 units; total square footage does not add up

Permits Filed For 29-Story Building At 595 Dean Street In Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, YIMBY tells us this morning, but the description--a 298-foot-tall development with 925,851 square feet, including 650,966 square feet designated for residential space and 8,397 square feet for commercial space--does not compute.

That's because, as a closer look at the Department of Buildings (DOB) page shows, one new lot merges two previous lots, incorporating 595 Dean Street (B13) and 645 Dean Street (B12). The lot area is 116,535 square feet, or 2.68 acres, with a lot width of 457 feet. (Note that B12 was once designated 615 Dean Street, with the first filing in October 2015.)

The two towers were said to start in 2020, so it looks like developer TF Cornerstone is getting a jump on the process, even having the site cleared--see videos shot last night--during after-hours work that was not disclosed in the regular two-week Construction Update.

Units, height, square footage

The permit application, by Handel Architects, cites two sub-cellars and a cellar, then a 29-story structure.  There would be 798 rental units, with an expected 25% affordable.

Though the use of those sub-cellars is not explained, a fitness center and field house, involving 96,000 new below-ground square feet, was approved, controversially, by Empire State Development, the state authority overseeing and shepherding the project. It was said to be a swap for unbuilt parking.

The maximum building heights were designated as 287 feet (B12) and 241 feet (B13)--see document at right--and the perimeter wall height of the structure(s) is said to be 287 feet.

B12 was originally supposed to have a maximum of 317,185 square feet and B13 327,215 square feet, which adds up to 644,400. Later, 10,000 square feet were transferred to B12, which should mean a total of 654,400 square feet.

In this case, 650,966 square feet are designated for residential use, and 8,397 square feet are designated for commercial (retail) use, a total of 659,363 square feet, which exceeds the approved total by nearly 5,000 square feet.

Total = 925,851 square feet?

The document also suggests that the buildings' total square footage would be 925,851 square feet. Even adding 96,000 square feet for the fitness center and field house to 659,363 square feet of the building delivers 755,363 square feet.

So what's up with the remaining 170,488 square feet? Unclear, but it's possible that the 455 parking spaces are somehow being counted. At 200 square feet--as Empire State Development has said--they'd add up to 91,000 square feet. That leaves 79,488 square feet.

That said, the B14 tower, 535 Carlton, was approved at 283,971 square feet (see above) and the permit cited 273,408 residential square feet and 9,650 commercial square feet, for a total of 283,968 square feet.

The total construction floor area was said to be 364,080 square feet. With 303 parking spaces, at 200 square feet, there would be 60,600 square feet for parking. Add the latter to the approved square footage for residential and commercial space, and the total is 344,568 square feet.

That's not 364,080 square feet, but that's less than a 16,000 square foot difference.

Surely there's an explanation for both--maybe we'll hear it at the next Quality of Life meeting, on Nov. 19.

Comments