Institute of Design And Construction Building To Be Demolished For 44-Story Tower

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN – The modest three-story building that formerly housed the Institute of Design And Construction in Downtown Brooklyn will soon be demolished to make way for a new mixed-use tower.

Last Monday, October 22, NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a permit to demolish the building at 141 Willoughby Street bounded by Willoughby, Gold Street, and the Flatbush Avenue Extension, Brownstoner first reported.

The building was constructed in 1919 and served as the printing plant for the American Law Book Company, according to the real estate website. The Institute of Design and Construction purchased the building from the publisher in 1968 and remained there until the school closed in 2015.

The school managed to avoid having the property seized by the city via eminent domain as part of Downtown Brooklyn’s 2004 rezoning, Brownstoner adds. The Institute of Design and Construction later sold the building to 385 Gold Property Investors LLC for $28 million in 2014.

Renderings for a new 49-story glass tower designed by Morris Adjmi were revealed in 2014, however the rezoning needed for the building was approved with a FAR (Floor Area Ratio) of only 15 instead of the requested 18, shrinking the project down to 44 stories, The Real Deal reported in 2016.

The rezoning allows the developer, Savanna, to erect a 44-story, 310,000-square-foot building with 124,000 square feet of commercial space, according to the article. 141 Willoughby would include 203 residential units with 61 reserved as affordable apartments as part of Mayor de Blasio’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.

A new building application has not yet been filed for the site.