Take Me Down Like I’m A Domino

Eye On Real Estate: Demolition update for Williamsburg's Domino Sugar site

January 28, 2015 By Lore Croghan Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The Domino Sugar Refinery stands tall as surrounding acres are cleared for development. Of course, we took these pictures the other day before the Nor'Beaster hit B'klyn. Eagle photos by Lore Croghan

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Take Me Down Like I’m A Domino.

(Thank you, Jessie J, for that lyric.)

Day by day, the demolition draws closer to an end.

The task of clearing 20-some structures from Williamsburg’s waterfront Domino Sugar Refinery site should be completed in March, David Lombino, director of special projects at Two Trees Management, told Eye on Real Estate.

The gargantuan tear-down is a prelude to the Walentas family firm’s planned construction of glam new residential buildings and transformation of a landmarked 1880s-vintage refinery — which is not being demolished, of course — into an office for techies.

Before you know it, construction will start on the first new apartment building in the planned 2.95 million-square-foot development.

Workers will start digging its foundation during the first quarter of the year, Lombino said.

It will be a rental property with 500 apartments, 100 of which will be affordable-housing units. The building should be ready for residents to move into by spring 2017.

The city Buildings Department currently uses 329 Kent Ave. as an address for the new building’s location, which Two Trees refers to as Site E. The lot, which is on the east side of Kent Avenue between S. 3rd and S. 4th streets, was used until last fall as a temporary community space with bicycle trails.

Two Trees doesn’t know yet what address the new apartment building will have.

Other construction will get underway soon at the other side of the 11-acre Domino site.

“Work will also begin this quarter on replacing and upgrading the quarter-mile-long waterfront bulkhead to accommodate the 5-plus-acre public park that will incorporate many of the industrial artifacts that have been preserved from the original factory,” Lombino said.

Of course, what Brooklynites most want to know about the development site is what has become of the beloved 40-foot yellow neon “Domino” sign that has been removed from a now-demolished building.

“The sign and a number of other artifacts have been preserved and stored in containers,” Lombino said.

“It will eventually live on top of the restored refinery building,” he added. “When finished, it will be one of the largest and most ambitious historical renovations in the borough.”