Steel Skeleton for New Brooklyn Jail Reaches Eighth Floor in Boreum Hill
At least two years behind schedule, the borough jail rising on Atlantic Avenue will stand 15 stories and contain 1,040 beds.
A construction worker on the steel structure of 275 Atlantic Avenue. Photo by Susan De Vries
The steel structure for the new borough jail has climbed to eight stories. Originally slated to open in 2027 and behind schedule, 275 Atlantic Avenue will stand 15 stories and contain 1,040 beds.
The frame has sprouted up since May, when two shafts — possibly elevators or chases for mechanicals — but nothing else stood above ground. Since the spring, neighbors have complained of noise and construction at all hours.
The new lockup is part of a citywide plan to decrease and shift the prison population to jails in the five boroughs and permanently shut the troubled Rikers facility, which is now under a federal monitor.
At last count set to open in 2029, the $3 billion jail will resemble a luxury apartment complex, renderings show. Occupying a whole block, it will tower above the largely 19th century low-rise neighborhoods of Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, and Brooklyn Heights.
Architecture firm HOK designed large, comfortable spaces inside for visitors and, inspired by nearby brownstones, broke up expanses of the facade with vertical panels in warm brown tones, the firm said at design presentations in 2023. Above the 15th story will be roof decks on the 16th and 17th floors, renderings show.
The 11-story Brooklyn House of Detention was demolished in 2024.
[Photos by Susan De Vries]
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