The corner of Driggs and Grand was quiet for a while, after Karl Fischer’s proposed 16-story tower in Williamsburg was quashed in March 2008 when the City Council downzoned the block, as well as 12 others. The developers of the site tried to lay a foundation before the Council vote, which would have allowed the tower to go forward, but failed. Fischer is still attached to the project, however, and construction has begun, albeit slowly, on what filings seem to indicate will be a four-story, 50-foot retail building. Curbed dubbed the new version “Hot Karl Mini”, which will have “8,339 square feet of retail or office space on the first and second floors and 6,000 square feet on a lower level and 6,000 square feet of rooftop space.” We took this picture on one of the rare days when we saw construction workers at the site—work might be slow, in part, due to the partial stop work order still active for hazardous conditions and working without a permit. GMAP P*Shark DOB
Development Watch: 681 Driggs Avenue [Brownstoner]
Downzone Not So ‘Grand’ to Some [Brooklyn Paper]
Grand Street Tower Comes Back as Hot Karl Mini [Curbed]