Those new, bold visions along the Brooklyn waterfront aren’t just luxury residential playgrounds. Despite record vacancies in Manhattan, developers are betting on prime office space that’s closer to the Kings County homes of the booming borough’s workers.
It’s another case where the old adage “location, location, location” pays dividends. Office tenants in Brooklyn don’t pay commercial rent tax and all these new buildings are eligible for various tax credits and energy programs that can slash as much as $30 per foot from the asking rents.
The reinvention of the derelict Domino sugar factory by Two Trees at 300 Kent Ave. along the East River waterfront is the prime example. The Refinery at Domino Sugar is a long-in-the-works labor of love where the developer has inserted a new glass cube containing 460,000 square feet of modern offices set several feet behind the restored façade.
Greenery cascades from both hanging pots and trees. Above, a dramatic glass atrium hosts amenity spaces. Views of the East River and Manhattan peek through the arched brick openings of the former factory.
Outside, a modern fountain attracts passersby along the esplanade while metal corkscrews that once carried sugar from floor to floor act as curlicue sculptures.
