Real Estate Brooklyn Boro

Alloy gets $240M in financing for energy-efficient downtown development

Residential tower will be all-electric, two schools will meet stringent 'passive house' standards

July 19, 2021 Scott Enman
Alloy’s planned all-electric tower. Rendering courtesy of Alloy
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Alloy Development, in partnership with the New York City Educational Construction Fund, on Monday announced that it has closed on $240 million in financing for the first phase of the Alloy Block (formerly known as 80 Flatbush) development. 

Construction is expected to begin in the coming weeks on New York City’s first all-electric residential tower, along with the city’s first two public schools designed to meet passive house compliance, the highest standards of energy efficiency and indoor air quality. 

These schools are the state-of-the-art Khalil Gibran International Academy high school, currently in an outdated building, and a public elementary school. 

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Goldman Sachs, Related Companies and funds managed by the Real Estate Group of Ares Management provided the financing package for Alloy. The financing was brokered by JLL. 

Additionally, Educational Construction Funds floated $152 million of bonds to Barclays to fund the construction of the two schools on the block. Construction of the first phase of the Alloy Block is expected to be finished in 2024. 

The planned entrance to the new building housing the Khalil Gibran International Academy, the city’s first Arabic language-centered school. Rendering courtesy of Alloy

The first phase of the Alloy Block will include two components: the aforementioned residential tower and the two schools. The 44-story, 480-foot-tall tower, designed in-house by Alloy, will include 441 mixed-income residences at 505 State St. and 30,000 square feet of retail at 100 Flatbush Ave.

The residential portion will include 396 rental apartments and 45 affordable residences with rents starting as low as $750 per month, developed in partnership with Fifth Avenue Committee, a well-known Brooklyn nonprofit specializing in community development corporation. 

Common space for residents will include a fitness center, flexible workspace, and a rooftop pool. The retail portion of the building will feature 20-foot ceilings and floor-to-ceiling glass fronting Flatbush Avenue. 

The adjacent public elementary school will be located at 489 State St., and the new Khalil Gibran International Academy will be at 380 Schermerhorn St. The new facility for the Khalil Gibran school, the city’s first Arabic language-focused high school, will provide a new cafeteria, gym and library. 

This aerial rendering of the Atlantic Tower-Barclays Center area shows Alloy’s planned all-electric residential tower as well as the venerable Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower. Rendering courtesy of Alloy

The elementary school’s gym and auditorium are positioned along State Street and will be accessible to the community. Both schools were designed by Architecture Research Office.

“The two Passive House schools that we designed as a part of the Alloy Block embody the rarest of opportunities—a new public building that combines an emphasis on design and urbanism with innovative sustainability,” said Stephen Cassell, principal at Architecture Research Office.  

 All functions within the tower that are typically run by natural gas will be replaced to run off electricity. For example, residential units will feature induction cooktops and heat pump dryers. Hot water heating and HVAC will be completely electric. These improvements will allow the building’s operations to be carbon neutral upon completion.  

When completely finished, Alloy Block will comprise five old and new buildings with roughly 850 residences, including approximately 200 permanently affordable apartments, 200,000 square feet of Class A office space, 40,000 square feet of retail space, the schools and more than 500 parking spaces for bikes. 

The project’s second phase will include a roughly 840-foot-tall residential, office and retail tower designed by Alloy that will also include a home for a local cultural institution, along with two preserved historic structures.

 “The Alloy Block will address critical fair-housing needs by creating truly and permanently affordable housing in one of the wealthiest parts of Brooklyn – something we’re sorely lacking,” said Michelle de la Uz, executive director of the Fifth Avenue Committee. “We’re proud to partner with Alloy on this visionary project and excited to get started.” 

“We are committed to making Brooklyn beautiful, sustainable and equitable and as the city recovers from the pandemic, we hope the Alloy Block will set the standard for progressive, thoughtful development,” said Jared Della Valle, CEO and founder of Alloy. 

 “Sustainable, inclusive residences are the future of New York City, and we are proud to invest in the Alloy Block’s all-electric, mixed-income, mixed-use tower that will become the new model for environmentally-conscious urban living,” said Alfred Trivilino, managing director, Related Fund Management.  

The Alloy Block will be located next to Atlantic Terminal, the city’s second-largest transit hub. It’s also next to the Brooklyn Cultural District and Barclays Center. 

The project, which is bounded by Flatbush Avenue, Schermerhorn Street, Third Avenue and State Street, was approved through the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure in September 2018.


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