DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN — A massive mixed-use complex will bring two new school buildings, 900 apartments, offices and retail space to Flatbush Avenue, a developer announced Monday.
The new high-rise project at 80 Flatbush Ave. will include the construction of a pair of towers on a 61,000-square-foot parcel of land located between Flatbush Avenue, Schermerhorn Street, Third Avenue and State Street owned by Alloy Development and the Department of Education, the developer said.
The project is part of the redevelopment of the Khalil Gibran International Academy at 362 Schermerhorn St.
The Khalil Gibran Academy will move into one of the new school buildings, which will increase the high school’s capacity from 260 to 350 students. The second school will be a brand-new 350-seat elementary school located on State Street.
The city’s Educational Construction Fund selected Alloy to redevelop the property after the agency issued a Request for Expressions of Interest seeking a developer last July.
A rendering of the new Khalil Gibran International Academy. Credit: Alloy Development. (Credit: Alloy Development)
The schools — which will take up a combined 120,000 square feet — will share a cafeteria, gymnasium and library. The schools are expected to be up and running by 2022, according to Alloy.
The first phase of the project will include construction of a triangular, 38-story residential, office and retail building on the east side of the property that will also open by 2022, the developer said.
The second phase will feature a 74-story residential, office and retail tower that’s expected to be completed by 2025.
The project is slated to bring 900 new residential units to the neighborhood, including 200 affordable units for households making 60 percent of the area median income, or AMI, under the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program, Alloy stated.
There will also be a 15,000-square-foot cultural facility, 200,000 square feet of office space and 40,000 square feet of retail space.
A rendering of the new elementary school at 80 Flatbush Ave. (Credit: Alloy Development)
Alloy will preserve the two existing buildings at 362 Schermerhorn St., which were constructed in the 1860s and 1890s, according to Alloy CEO Jared Della Valle.
One of the buildings will become the site’s new cultural center, while the other will include “community-oriented” retail and residential amenities, the developer said.
Instead of standard luxury-building tenants like pet grooming, the retail space at 80 Flatbush Ave. could include work space for artists, Alloy said.
“We’re trying to find something that has community-oriented relevancy and social relevancy,” Della Valle explained. “In this current political climate, celebrating the actual human culture of Brooklyn is particularly exciting for us.”
Alloy will design the project, which will go through the city’s uniform land-use review process, or ULURP, for final approval.
