Talk about the Manhattanization of Brooklyn: A new mega-development slated for the booming border of Fort Greene and Downtown is being built by the same real-estate giant that built a luxury Xanadu with a Whole Foods in the lobby on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
AvalonBay, a Virginia-based development group, will build a $250-million luxury “community” on the land bounded by Myrtle Avenue, Gold and Prince streets. The massive development will hold 600 market-rate rentals — more than three times the number of units in the iconic Williamsburgh Savings Bank building, the tallest building in Brooklyn.
“It will be similar to the Avalon on Chrystie Street,” said Joe Korbel, a spokesman for the developers. “I’m not sure there will be a Whole Foods, but there should be ground-floor retail. And there will be a lot of amenities.”
Korbel said that the building was still “in creative design,” so no renderings were available.
The $70-million land purchase was first reported in the New York Sun.
If the Lower East Side development is anything to judge by, this project should come laden with perks — for those who can afford them.
In addition to the Whole Foods, the Chrystie Street building has a rooftop sundeck, a fitness center, a resident lounge complete with billiards, and 24-hour concierge service.
And tenants pay through their organic-produce-loving noses for it.
According to the leasing office, the average studio runs $2,500 a month, the typical one-bedroom runs $3,500 and two-bedrooms run $5,000.
Construction will begin on the 42-floor Brooklyn project in September, and the units will be ready for occupancy by March 2009.
