Greenpoint

Simon Baron Development unveils plans for state of the art office building in Greenpoint

August 20, 2018 Brooklyn Daily Eagle
A new seven-story boutique office building in Greenpoint will help alleviate the dearth of Class A office space for small businesses in an area booming with residential development, dining and nightlife options. Renderings courtesy of FXCollaborative/Bezier
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Simon Baron Development announced plans on Monday for 12 Franklin St., a seven-story boutique office building on the Greenpoint/North Williamsburg border designed to help alleviate the dearth of Class A office space for small businesses in an area booming with residential development, dining and nightlife options. The project is bounded by Franklin Street, Meserole Avenue, Gem Street and North 15th Street. 

The announcement comes as the New York City Planning Commission is expected to certify the project, which requires a zoning text amendment and special permit, to begin the Uniform Land Use Review Process on Monday. Over the past several months, Simon Baron has met with a number of local and citywide stakeholders to solicit feedback on the proposal. 

“North Brooklyn is teeming with apartments, hotels, restaurants and nightlife — but what’s missing is enough high quality office space to meet the demands of the area’s growing workforce,” said Matthew Baron, president of Simon Baron.

“North Brooklyn residents increasingly want to work closer to home, and 12 Franklin will meet that need by providing modern, amenity rich office space that Brooklyn small businesses have come to expect. And at the same time, the project will preserve and enhance the neighborhood’s longstanding manufacturing job base by setting aside space specifically for those uses.  We’ve been encouraged by conversations we’ve had with local stakeholders thus far and look forward to continuing that dialogue as the official review process gets underway,” he said.

Twelve Franklin St. will comprise approximately 134,000 square feet of office, ground floor retail and rooftop amenity space, including roughly 23,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Office spaces will include window exposure on four sides, 15-foot floor-to-floor heights, two lobbies, outdoor terrace space for tenants on every floor, a shared conference room, bike valet and storage for 85 bikes and underground parking for 36 vehicles. 

Designed by FXCollaborative, the building was designed to reinforce the industrial character of the neighborhood. At the same time, the project will help create an active pedestrian and retail corridor across from the planned Bushwick Inlet Park. The building is just a five-minute walk from the Nassau Avenue G Train station, along with numerous Citibike stations, Revel electric mopeds, and a ten-minute walk from the North Williamburg and Greenpoint NYC Ferry stations.  Because 12 Franklin St. is designed to encourage public transportation use and help ease traffic congestion, Simon Baron has requested a waiver from the zoning requirement to reduce the number of parking spaces in the project. 

Evergreen is gratified that the team at 12 Franklin is committed to retaining a portion of the building for industrial tenants, and are delighted that they are willing to work with us as they shape their development,” said Leah Archibald, Executive Director of Evergreen. “We are looking forward to helping them design the space so it is appropriate for small manufacturers and will assist them in locating industrial tenants when the building is ready for occupancy.”

The building is expected to open in 2021. 

 

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