Brooklyn Bridge Park Developers To Be Revealed

The team selected to develop a residential building and a hotel at Pier 1 in Brooklyn Bridge Park will likely be made up of Toll Brothers and Starwood Capital Group. The Pier 1 development will be made up of a hotel with up to 225 rooms, an 180-unit apartment complex, 300 parking spaces and a 17,500-square-foot restaurant/café. Construction will begin early in 2013.

Earlier this year, the number of developers competing to build and operate the site was winnowed down to three from seven.

The three finalists were teams led by The Dermot Company, Toll Brothers, and Starwood Capital. Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., the entity responsible for the planning, building and maintenance of the 9.5-acre waterfront park, is still negotiating closely with all three teams and its final decision may result in a combination of different submitted plans.

The search for a developer of Pier 1 began in August, when the Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp. issued a request for proposals. The winner is expected to be announced at the board of directors meeting next week.

In November, the Brooklyn Bridge Corp. released renderings and site plans for the seven proposals that were submitted ahead of the Oct. 24 deadline. Toll Brother's hotel partner was Hampshire Hotels and Resorts, which is behind the Dream Hotel brand in Manhattan. Starwood Capital, whose hotels include the St. Regis in Manhattan, teamed up with Alloy Development. Each group also has its own design team and architect. Toll has Rogers Marvel and Starwood has Bernheimer Architects and n Architects. It could not be determined what design was selected.

The Pier 1 development will be made up of a hotel with 170 to 225 rooms and a 150- to 180-unit apartment complex. The number of hotel rooms would decrease proportionately as the number of residential units increase and vice versa, according to the request for proposals. The project is also required to include 300 parking spaces and will boast a 17,500-square-foot restaurant/café. The developer would also have to follow maximum height guidelines of 100 feet for one portion of the site and 55 feet for the other, adjacent portion as well as observe square footage limits.


Construction is expected to begin early in 2013 and be completed two years later. The Pier 1 development is expected to play an important role in funding the maintenance and operating expenses of the entire park.

Rounding out the seven developers that submitted proposals to develop the site were Extell Development, RAL Companies, SDS Procida and Two Trees Management. Those groups did not make the final cut, according to sources. Two Trees is currently negotiating to buy the troubled Domino Sugar factory site.

Images from each proposal appear in the slideshow below./a>

Pier 1, which opened in March 2010, is Brooklyn Bridge Park's largest pier and the only one built on landfill as opposed to the others which are built on piles. The pier features two large lawns, which hosts free summer movies and other events. Last week, the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy hosted its fundraiser, called Sunset Bhangra, there.