Construction set to begin on five-building Alloy Block development in Downtown Brooklyn

After securing $240 million in financing, Alloy Development announced construction will kick off this month on its huge mixed-use, multi-building project in Downtown Brooklyn. Formerly known as 80 Flatbush, Alloy Block includes five buildings with 850 apartments, 200,000 square feet of office space, 40,000 square feet of retail, and two public schools designed to meet Passive House standards. Since first announcing the project roughly four years ago, developers have cut the height of the residential towers, swapped out planned office space for additional residences, and pushed back the expected completion date.

With the construction loan secured, the first phase of Alloy Block can begin this month, as Crain’s first reported. This phase involves a 44-story mixed-use tower at 505 State Street that will have 441 mixed-income units, as well as the retail space at 100 Flatbush Avenue, and the public schools.

The residential building, which will be the city’s first-ever all-electric skyscraper, includes 396 market-rate apartments and 45 affordable apartments, which are developed in partnership with the local nonprofit Fifth Avenue Committee.

Homes range from studios to three bedrooms and will feature large windows and natural materials. All functions of the building usually run by natural gas will be replaced with electricity, offering induction cooktops and heat pump dryers. The goal of an all-electric building is to be carbon neutral.

Amenities include a fitness center, flexible workspace, and a rooftop pool, according to a press release.

“We are committed to making Brooklyn beautiful, sustainable and equitable and as the city recovers from the pandemic, we hope the Alloy Block will set the standard for progressive, thoughtful development,” Jared Della Valle, CEO and founder of Alloy.

“When it comes to taking the environmental impact of buildings seriously, building truly affordable housing in wealthy, transit-rich neighborhoods, and creating healthier school environments, we are proud to play a leading role as we begin construction on the Alloy Block.”

Rendering of the entrance to the Khalil Gibran International Academy

An elementary school will be built at 489 State Street with a new home for the Khalil Gibran International Academy at 380 Schermerhorn Street, both of which are designed by the Architecture Research Office. The schools will be the first Passive House public schools in the city, which means the buildings meet the highest standards of energy efficiency.

Construction of phase one is expected to wrap up sometime in 2024.

Alloy Block’s second phase includes the 840-foot-tall residential and office tower that will include most of the project’s affordable apartments. Two 19th-century structures on Schermerhorn will be preserved, with one serving as a cultural center. No timeline for this phase has been announced yet.

In September 2018, the zoning subcommittee of the New York City Council approved the rezoning application that would allow for the construction of the complex, but only after Alloy agreed to cut the height of two buildings, one from 986 feet to 840 feet and another from 560 feet to 510 feet.

Following the project’s approval by the City Council, the 400 & 500 State Block Association filed a lawsuit against the Council, the City Planning Commission, and the developers, arguing the zoning change was unlawful. According to Curbed NY, a settlement between Alloy and the block association was reached in September of 2019, allowing the project to move forward.

As Bklyner reported earlier this year, developers swapped 100,000 square feet of office space that was part of the original plan for nearly 200 additional apartments, increasing the total from 257 to 441 units at the first tower.

“The financing market for speculative commercial office space has been very challenging,” Alloy spokesperson James Yolles told Bklyner in May. “Given this context, we decided to rebalance the program between the phases.”

RELATED: 

• Boerum Hill residents sue to undo 80 Flatbush rezoning as tower plans advance
• City Council approves 80 Flatbush development in Downtown Brooklyn
• NYC Council committee approves 80 Flatbush project in Downtown Brooklyn after height chop

All renderings courtesy of Alloy