They’re taking the Law into their own lands!
Developer Avery Hall Investments just bought Brooklyn Law School’s office building at the entrance to Fulton Mall for $76.5 million, and it may mean yet another high-rise for Downtown, as the company says it’s looking at tearing down the current four-story structure there and replacing it with a new tower.
“The development team is currently still analyzing options for the mixed-use site, which may include replacing the current structure,” said spokeswoman Laura Dolan.
The new building at 1 Boerum Place — part of a triangular lot also bounded by Fulton Street and Red Hook Lane — will likely be around 160,000 square feet and a mix of residential and commercial space, according to a Wall Street Journal report.
The firm won’t yet say exactly how tall that is, but for comparison, another developer is erecting a 21-story, 120,000 square-foot tower on the other side of Red Hook Lane on a lot that is two-thirds of the size.
Fulton Savings Bank built the current white-brick building at the entrance to Fulton Mall in 1955 with a branch on the ground floor — a space that most recently housed an outlet of borough-boosting graphic T-shirt company Brooklyn Industries — and Brooklyn Law bought it in 1984, according to city records.
The law school began selling off its portfolio of pricey area properties in 2013 when it had $75 million in outstanding debt — first unloading six Brooklyn Heights residential buildings to Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner for $36.5 million in 2014 and then selling a single primo Promenade property to Florida Panthers owner Vincent Viola for $35 million last year.
The school says its finances are looking good after the fire sale — its endowment will be around $225 million next year, twice what it was five years ago.
