Checking in With Dumbo's Next Big Luxury Rental, 181 Front Street

Workers were putting in the foundation at 181 Front Street in Dumbo when we passed by recently. Retaining walls are up in some places, and workers were fashioning the rebar reinforcements throughout the site.

This is a large and prominent project that will transform this block of Dumbo when it’s finished. It takes up a good chunk of the block and will rise 12 stories with 105 luxury rentals and retail on the ground floor.

Twenty percent of the units will be affordable, according to The Real Deal. It will also house a gym and children’s playroom, according to permits.

The foundation of the building is so deep, in part, to make room for a parking garage — a rare amenity in this neck of Brooklyn, where the cost of parking has reached $425 a month.

181 Front Street is actually part of a bigger project to convert a landmarked day light factory at 200 Water Street, on the other side of the block, into condos. The architect on both projects is Ariel Aufgang and the developers are Megalith Capital Management and Urban Realty Partners. Both properties belonged to the Jehovah’s Witnesses, as we have reported.

Construction at 181 Front Street started last year, following the demolition of an existing warehouse building on the site. A stop work order may have slowed things down earlier this year, but now it’s been lifted, according to DOB records.

Construction at 181 Front Street, which spans several addresses from 177 to 183 Front Street, is supposed to wrap in 2016, according to NY YIMBY.

The previously published rendering shows large, carefully placed windows on a red brick facade. The design should fit in well with the surrounding warehouses in Dumbo. The ground floor shops will also help enliven the block.

Architect Ariel Aufgang founded his eponymous firm in 1971. Based in Suffern, N.Y., it specializes in adaptive reuse of historic buildings, landmarked or otherwise, and affordable housing.

Megalith Capital Management is a large real estate owner and developer specializing in New York City. Founder and CEO Samvir Sidhu previously worked in investment banking and private equity at Goldman Sachs.

Urban Realty Partners LLC was founded in 1979. The principals, Shelly & Stan Listokin, have worked on other Brooklyn developments including The Arches in Cobble Hill and the Brooklyn Heights Mint Factory apartments.

200 Water Street and 181 Front Street Coverage [Brownstoner]
Rendering by Aufgang Architects