With Brookfield at the helm, and new investment, MetroTech becomes Brooklyn Commons. But that open space still won't be a "park." Subway stop changing?

Now that Brookfield Properties has owned the portfolio it acquired from Forest City Realty Trust/Forest City New York for a few years, since the late 2018 takeover, it's changing things up, renaming MetroTech--named for a once-planned but not executed technology park--Brooklyn Commons, an anodyne name for back office space.

(Similarly anodyne, Brooklyn Crossing, the largest building so far at Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park.)

Note that, according to the official map, the buildings are still named "MetroTech Center," plus a numeral. That might be hard to change.  (Another question, noted below: what happens to the Jay St MetroTech subway stop name?)

And while they can call the central green space, formerly MetroTech Commons, Brooklyn Commons Park, it's still privately operated and controlled, able to curtail some activities that would be allowed in a city park.

Brookfield Properties commences $50M redevelopment of Brooklyn Commons, REW told us 2/8/22, relying on a Brookfield press release:

Brookfield Properties today announced the official rebrand of the former MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn to Brooklyn Commons. The rebranding accompanies a $50 million investment by Brookfield Properties to renovate several of the office buildings within the campus and upgrade the central public park space, in addition to building out year-round arts and events programming that is free and open to the public. New renderings available here highlight the redesigned campus.

Rendering via Brookfield

I'm not sure how different it looks, but the posited eateries are not recognizable chains.

New placemaking, or is it building upgrades?

From the press release:

Taking lessons from its successful overhaul of the World Financial Center into Brookfield Place, Brookfield Properties is taking a multipronged approach with an emphasis on placemaking for its new vision of Brooklyn Commons. Built in the 1980s, the 16-acre, 12-building complex was originally designed as a self-contained office park for data-processing centers and back office for financial institutions. Today, Brookfield Properties aims to modernize the campus and weave it into the surrounding neighborhoods.

I'm not sure how easy it is to weave it into the surrounding neighborhoods without, say, new streets or open space, and much if the new investment seems aimed to position three buildings to better serve current and future tenants. 

That said, upgrades to the open space--er, Brooklyn Commons Park--include new seating and lighting, and the "robust calendar of free, public events" should do more to bring people in: 

The $50 million capital improvements entail renovations within 1, 2 and 15 MetroTech, including new lobbies, outdoor terraces, and modernized ground-floor retail. Upgrades to the 3.6-acre Brooklyn Commons Park will be led by acclaimed landscape architect James Corner Field Operations and include enhanced outdoor seating, new lighting, new signage and wayfinding, redesigned landscaping, seasonal gardens, and plantings. Arts Brookfield, Brookfield’s award-winning cultural and events program, will curate a robust calendar of free, public events and activations year-round, including theater performances, outdoor movie nights, exercise classes, a children’s book fair, live-music, an ice-skating rink, holiday celebrations and food festivals.

What about the subway stop?

Good question... what do you say, @MTA? https://t.co/Ljjq8CN3I7

— Norman Oder (@AYReport) February 11, 2022