Some people look at Brooklyn Tower—the supertall skyscraper in Downtown Brooklyn—and see the Tower of Sauron. To me, it’s more like a giant slug with movement so slow it’s nearly imperceptible.
Construction started in 2018 (earlier, if you count the demolition of the previous building) and residents started moving in in 2022. But slow sales caused JDS Development to default on its loan, stalling construction on this eye-catching building. Silverstein Capital Partners took over the building last summer in a $672 million foreclosure settlement and sales are re-lauching soon.
The reason for the slow sales, according to both real estate experts as well as common sense: outrageously high prices. We’ll see if the cost of the condos gets a haircut in this next round of sales.
As for those now living in the building? They’re apparently pretty happy:
The handful of owners I talked to — buyers, many on the younger end of the spectrum, range from consultants, doctors, and finance types to anonymous LLCs — seems to be floating above the industry chatter. Adam Chang’s…got “quite nice” views of Fort Greene Park and the New York Harbor from his Gachot Studios–designed unit, he says, and has been a regular at the Trader Joe’s across the street. He loves the “super-friendly” building staff, who have helped him move furniture and even haul a fridge up to his apartment. As to the dozens of unsold units sitting empty just a few stories above him? “There’s fewer people in the elevator, but I don’t know who’s complaining about that”…Life in a supertall ghost town has some other unexpected perks, residents say. Nosy neighbors have been able to poke around unlocked units, snooping to see how their views compare with the penthouses’.
Just one question: “haul a fridge” up to his apartment? Is it normal for luxury condos to sell sans fridge? Or was he just upgrading his stock refrigerator?
