Brooklyn Neighborhood Gets First New Office Building in 50 Years
While business is booming in Brooklyn, much of the area's office space exists in older buildings. But this year, the Williamsburg neighborhood welcomed its first new commercial office building in 50 years.
Designed by architects Hollwich Kushner (HWKN) as design architect and Gensler as design development architect, the newly-constructed “spec" building at 25 Kent Avenue spans a full city block along the waterfront with stunning, unobstructed views of the Manhattan skyline, Bushwick Inlet Park, and the East River.
The building was designed as an urban campus in which tech entrepreneurs can nurture innovative startups in a collaborative workspace where each floor provides flexible space to grow. Smaller companies, for example, can occupy subdivisions of a floor and benefit from connectivity and interaction with other occupants, while larger, more established companies can occupy a full floor that connects their entire workforce.
“Global companies are flocking to Williamsburg to catalyze their creativity, test new concepts, and rebrand themselves," says a former senior advisor at Rubenstein Partners, a Philadelphia-based fund manager that was involved in the project.
The eight-story building includes 500,000 square feet of office space, as well as ground level retail and underground parking. Among the building's amenities are rooftop gardens, terraces, a fitness center, and floor-to-ceiling windows.
"25 Kent is a building that was designed from the outside in, and what emerged is a 500,000-square-foot office building that engages with the context and its inhabitants,'" says design architect Matthias Hollwich, co-founder of HWKN. "The sculptural impact of the stacked warehouse forms ripples through the entire building, reinventing the office interiors and the workplace of the future."
A pedestrian avenue runs through the structure, doubling its frontage and opening the building's core for social engagement. Moreover, a red brick facade and factory-sized windows connect to the historic architectural character of Williamsburg.
“The flexible floorplate can accommodate varied tenant size and layout, as well as offer the opportunity to create shared amenity and collaboration spaces through a glass link that connects the two trays," says Joseph Brancato, vice chairman at Gensler. "The design is respectful of the neighborhood's industrial heritage, and also engages the community with a public pedestrian walkway."
The new building is opening in the midst of a development boom for the borough.
“25 Kent offers companies a unique opportunity to plant their corporate flag in Williamsburg, a neighborhood recognized globally for its innovation and creative energy," says Jeff Fronek, director of investments at Rubenstein Partners.
Rubenstein collaborated with local developer Heritage Equity Partners on the project. Toby Moskovits, CEO of Heritage, says the development is transforming the neighborhood.
“Today, Williamsburg is leading an economic renaissance in this city that is driving global companies to incubate new ideas, products and approaches," she explains. “25 Kent provides an ideal space for transformative companies leading this movement."
Located between Wythe and Kent Avenues, 25 Kent is ideally situated in a neighborhood that is young, vibrant, and filled with entrepreneurs, artists, and artisans. The building is designed to be a hub of innovation for tech, creative, design, production, and light manufacturing companies.
In a design that blends the area's industrial past with its high-tech present, the building features a mix of traditional brick and glass, along with high ceilings up to 22 feet tall to maximize light exposure.
All of the design elements are intended to optimize the flow, aesthetic, and function of the interior work spaces. The stacked, flexible layout also provides modular space that can grow with its tenants. The developers hope to attract startup companies from incubation through the full lifecycle of their development, as well as offer larger spaces for more established businesses.
Offices within 25 Kent include terraces boasting views of the East River and Manhattan skyline. The property features a 70,000-square-foot ground-floor plaza and public art space complete with shops and a waterfront restaurant along the expanded Bushwick Inlet Park. Currently, the retail spaces are being outfitted with pop-up concepts and creative installations operated by Wallplay until long-term tenants move in.
With a host of energy-efficient features, the building earned a LEED Gold certification for factors including location and transportation access, water efficiency, heating and cooling technologies, indoor environmental quality, and more. The new development also has a Wired Certified Platinum rating, which is granted to commercial office buildings based on the property's digital infrastructure.
