180
Montague
Apartments
180 Montague Street
Brooklyn, NY
THE STORY:
In the face of challenging zoning restrictions and vocal community board opposition, turned a 2-story retail property on the main shopping street in Brooklyn Heights into a 33-story luxury residential rental building.
192 RESIDENCES
33 STORIES
BUILT 1998
KEY DETAILS
Total Cost: $54 Million
Total Gross Sq Ft: 212,000
USES:
-
190,000 sq. ft of luxury rental apartments
-
10,000 sq. ft. of retail
-
12,000 sq. ft parking below grade
AMENITIES:
-
24-hr Fitness center, outdoor roof deck, lounge
-
Walking distance of the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Brooklyn Bridge Park, Hillside Dog Park
-
Supermarket at base retail
-
Steps from the Subway (R,2,3,4,5)
PROJECT CHALLENGES
-
Existing development rights from the parcel were not large enough to create the critical mass and the views that would set the building apart from existing market inventory.
-
Property development required relocating a group of retail tenants led by Off Track Betting, a quasi-public entity that occupied much of the ground floor of the building.
-
There was opposition from community groups because the proposed 33-story building was in sharp contrast to the existing low scale development.
-
A subway tunnel located just a few feet from the proposed foundation, posed significant construction challenges and required government agency design and engineering approvals.
OUR SOLUTION
-
Successfully relocated Off Track Betting and the other retail tenants.
-
Procured air rights from 8 adjoining buildings resulting in an additional 27 floors and 360 degree unobstructed views of Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and New Jersey.
-
Development qualified for outer-borough 20-year tax exemption from increases due to property improvements.
-
Managed community opposition by meeting with neighborhood associations and community board members throughout the development process.
-
Rather than traditional excavation and foundation construction, a slurry wall foundation process was used. The system allowed the subway tunnel to remain “pressurized” and intact during excavation and foundation work.
