The Brooklyn Paper / Julie Rosenberg

The tower at 16 Court St., at the corner of Montague Street, is for sale.

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The owners of one of Brooklyn’s tallest buildings — the 38-story office tower at 16 Court St. — are accepting offers to sell the historic icon, The Brooklyn Paper has learned.

A source told the Paper that the building is being shopped around for $130 million — though the source believes the building is worth between $60 and $80 million.

There is considerable interest in the property, one of many Downtown buildings riding a wave of luxury development and renovations throughout the area.

When the Downtown Brooklyn upzoning was approved in 2004, many planners believed that the new right to build taller structures would result in more office space construction. But in the past 18 months, the trend — at Albee Square, Willoughby Street and elsewhere — has been towards increased residential development.

In addition, old office buildings are being turned into luxury condos, such as the Belltel Lofts on Bridge Street, a historic telephone building where units range from $470,000 to over $3 million, said Hal Henenson, executive director of development marketing at Prudential Douglas Elliman.

“People who are savvy know what’s going on in Downtown Brooklyn,” Henenson said.

Savvy, but not necessarily talking; management and the owners of 16 Court St. declined to comment for this story.

The 1920s-era building is filled with offices — though at least one local official dreams of it following the residential trend.

“I’ve always had a fantasy of turning the tower into residential property and leaving the rest commercial,” said Rob Perris, district manager of Community Board 2, which includes Brooklyn Heights and Downtown. “You could have a residential entrance on Montague Street.”

Either way, some tenants look forward to new ownership.

“We hear all kinds of things and we hope for the best because the place is turning into a dump,” said Richard Goldberg, who has a law office in the building. “We need some new hands to get in here and put millions of dollars into much-needed refurbishments. The management now barely gets this place painted. We’ve been here 30 years, and I’d say it was about 20 too long.”

©2007 The Brooklyn Paper