NEW YORK | 182-188 Duffield Street | 438 FT | FLOORS

[chris08876]

New Rendering Revealed for 182 Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn

A new rendering has been released for 182 Duffield Street, a 30-story residential skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed by Hill West Architects and developed by Watermark Capital under the 188 Duffield LLC, the 323-foot-tall structure will span 102,224 square feet and yield 115 rental units with an average scope of 852 square feet. The project will also include 3,658 square feet for community facility space and a healthcare facility in the cellar level. The property is located between Myrtle Avenue and Willoughby Street.

The aerial rendering in the main photo shows the tower rising directly behind the row of four landmarked 19th century Duffield Street Houses, with a cantilever partially overhanging their roofs. The façade will be composed of tan brick framing floor-to-ceiling glass, and the massing features a series of setbacks just below the flat roof parapet. The footprint of the building is set to span 9,584 square feet.

Forest City Ratner sold the property to Cheskal Landau for $10 million in December 2022. Permits for the upcoming tower were originally filed in July 2024. The project will also include the restoration of the historic structures, but a timeline for this work has yet to be announced.

The closest subways from the development are the A, C, F, and R trains at the Jay Street–MetroTech station to the west; the 2 and 3 trains at the Hoyt Street station to the south; and the B, Q, and R trains at the DeKalb Avenue stop to the east.

An anticipated start and completion date for 182 Duffield Street has yet to be announced.

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NYY

[swipyfox]

very Toronto-ish

[NYguy]

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/real-estat...our-historic-buildings-downtown-brooklyn

Developer of 30-story Downtown Brooklyn tower seeks to combine 4 nearby historic buildings





Julianne Cuba
October 7, 2025

Williamsburg-based real estate firm Watermark Capital is proposing to fuse together a quartet of 3-story buildings, all designated as individual landmarks, between 182 and 188 Duffield St. and then erect the 345-foot tower behind them, according to a notice that appeared in the city record Monday.

The four buildings, all Greek Revival-style rowhouses, were originally built two blocks away on Johnson Street in the mid- to late-19th century and served as residential properties through the 1980s. They were picked up and moved to their existing location on Duffield Street in 1990 during the MetroTech redevelopment plan, according to a 2001 report from the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

It's unclear what will become of the four properties, including whether they will be restored for residential or commercial use or whether they will be connected to the tower slated to rise behind them on the roughly 10,000-square-foot lot between Metrotech roadway and Willoughby Street.

Watermark did not return a request for comment about its plans by press time.

A hearing with the Landmarks Preservation Commission is scheduled for Oct. 21.

Joel Werczberger, a representative for Watermark, last week submitted revised permits for the tower, which would include 99 dwelling units — a portion of which would be set aside as affordable. It would span a total of about 137,000 square feet, including 3,658 square feet of community facility space and about 550 square feet of commercial space, records show. The community facility would be located across the cellar level and first and second floors, which would also include retail, a residential lobby and bike storage. Apartments would start on the fifth floor, records show, with a green roof and terrace on the top floor.

An earlier iteration of the proposed tower included 115 dwelling units, Crain's reported last year. The reduction to fewer than 100 is likely an example of the way many developers are getting around one of the requirements of the affordable housing tax break 485-x, which mandates a $40-per-hour minimum wage on all projects with 100 or more units.

[mrnyc]

its especially worrisome because this is such a crap building.

but maybe they can make it work i dk.

ideally it could end up interesting if they use these cute houses as small street level retail and an apt tower entrance.

when i worked nearby i always worried about what would become of these houses with everything going on around there and that the ratners already had moved them around for metrotech.

[NYguy]

https://www.brownstoner.com/development/duffield-street-houses-landmark-tower-review/

Proposed DoBro Tower Would Block Neighbors' Windows, Alter Landmark Row
The plan for the 30-story glassy tower, already rejected by the local community board, is headed for Landmarks review next week.





by Cate Corcoran
10/15/2025

A developer who bought the landmarked row in Downtown Brooklyn known as the Duffield Street Houses is proposing to build a glassy 30-story tower in the petite backyard that will swallow up the back half of the houses and obscure windows of apartments in the converted BellTel Lofts on the other side of the block.

The developer, Watermark Capital, proposes to combine the interiors of the 19th century buildings and demolish their rear facades, according to the LPC and preservation nonprofit Historic Districts Council. At the CB2 meeting, HDC “strongly voiced our concern to CB2 and local elected officials that this precedent would suggest that every historic structure is only as meaningful as its facade, and thereby fair game to be window dressing for a tower,” the group said in an update about New York City landmarks at risk.

A resident of the BellTel Lofts had previously told Brownstoner they were concerned a tower at 188 Duffield Street would likely block the windows of rear units.

A permit application for a new mixed-use building filed with the Department of Buildings in 2024 said the tower will have 115 apartments and cover 50 percent of the site. It will be set back 36 feet — approximately the depth of some of the landmarked houses — and measure 323.32 feet tall, with a footprint of 9,854 square feet, as Brownstoner reported at the time.

The site previously belonged to Forest City Ratner, which moved the early 19th century houses from their original sites nearby and promised to maintain them as part of a deal to develop MetroTech.

The buildings were supposed to house offices and nonprofits but have sat empty for decades. These “important buildings” should “return to public use,” according to HDC.

[Busy Bee]

A solution here would be to lift these buildings up and move them.

[NYguy]

A lot of useful information here, can't get into it at the moment...

https://www.nyc.gov/assets/lpc/downloads...als/20251021/182-188-Duffield-Street.pdf

[Urbannizer]

Planned Tower for Duffield Street Houses Lacks Identity, Needs Work, LPC Says

While a tower will likely rise behind the landmarked Duffield Street houses in Downtown Brooklyn, it won’t be the one most recently presented to the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

At their meeting on March 17, commissioners sent the design team for the project at 182 through 188 Duffield Street back to the drawing board saying the tower presented lacked identity and relation to the historic wood frame structures, and hadn’t been significantly improved following a February meeting where the commissioners asked for changes to plans.

“I have to say the modifications overall made I find to be so subtle to be almost not noticeable, in general, across the entire project,” Commissioner Frank Mahan said.

[mrnyc]

yeah its still going to be hot garbage, no surprize, but if its any consolation its a decent site for that.

[Busy Bee]

This corner is really shaping up to be a zoning trainwreck.