Storied Borough Institution Brooklyn Music School Looks to Expand as Part of Fort Greene Skyscraper

Fort Greene’s Brooklyn Music School is looking to grow.

The music school, one of the most important art institutions in the borough for over a century, will be creating a 20,000 square-foot facility as part of a proposed development at 130 St. Felix Street, currently a parking lot being used by the Brooklyn Academy of Music next door.

Permits have yet to be filed. According to the development’s website, the proposed building, if approved, will reach 24 stories, with the Brooklyn Music School occupying the first two floors. Above the school will be 120 new residential units, 30 percent of which will be affordable housing intended for households making 70 to 100 percent of area median income.

Before anything begins, the project would have to go through the city’s ULURP process required for rezoning, as well as go in front of the Landmarks Preservation Commission.

FXCollaborative is the architect behind the project, and the developer is Gotham, both of which are working in collaboration with the Brooklyn Music School. The parking lot, which is used by BAM for loading equipment, is owned by parking-garage operator iPark, according to public records.

The music school’s current building at 126 St. Felix will remain intact, the renderings show. The school, which has many famous graduates, including Risé Stevens, has outgrown its current facilities, which could also use some mechanical updates. Notably, the school has been racially integrated since it was founded in 1909 with a mission to provide musical education to those who would not be able to afford more expensive schools or private lessons.

According to a timeline the developers have posted on their website, the projected completion of the project won’t be until the middle of 2023. The new school will cost $15 million, according to a story in NY1, which was the first to cover the project, with $7 million coming from the school’s sale of air rights to the developer.

Related Stories

• Building of the Day: 126 St. Felix Street
• Fort Greene’s Long-Delayed BAM Park Is Finally Open
• A 19-Story Building Now Stands on Prominent Corner of Flatbush Avenue in Fort Greene

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