Lendlease Plans 14-story Mixed-use Building in Greenpoint

A waterfront property in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood is set to be developed with a 14-story building with almost 500 apartments and 12,000 square feet of retail space, according to the plans filed by Lendlease, the Sydney-based global construction, property and infrastructure company.

The 2.9-acre site at 1 Java Street has been owned by Lendlease and Australian pension fund Aware Super since October, when they bought it for $110.8 million in an all-cash deal. The seller was JZ Capital Partners, a London-listed investment firm, along with RedSky Capital-owned entity Stiles Properties, according to property records.

At the time, the partnership was said to be planning to build a mixed-use tower with 800 rental apartments. The latest plans, filed with the city’s Department of Buildings, shows a 482,700-square-foot building with 477 residential units along with the retail space.

Even so, the original vision for the project for the site hasn’t changed, according to a statement from Isaac Henderson, development director at Lendlease. The completed building will include about 850 rental units, some 30 percent of which would be set aside as affordable housing. He also said it will include about 15,000 square feet of retail space and a new public waterfront esplanade.

“Our latest filing did not account for all of the allowable square footage and will be amended to reflect what will actually be built and submitted to the city later in the year,” Henderson said in the statement.

Lendlease plans to break ground in late 2022 or early 2023, with an estimated completion date of early 2026.

The site, also known as 18 India Street, was part of a portfolio owned by RedSky Capital and JZ Capital Partners. It was put up for sale after JZ Capital became concerned about the gap between the market value and the book value of the property.

RedSky, co-founded by Benjamin Bernstein and Benjamin Stokes in 2006, was once among Williamsburg’s biggest retail landlords. But the firm started facing financial difficulties about two years ago as stores suffered from the rise of e-commerce. Most recently, RedSky handed over ownership of 14 properties near North 6th Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg to BlackRock, a mezzanine lender on the properties, in a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure.