What a difference a few windows can make! Or, in this case, a lot of windows.

The remarkable transformation of the Navy Yard’s Building 77 is nearly complete on the exterior, as this photo above from a Brownstoner reader shows. To the uninitiated, the building pictured may look pretty ordinary — a no-frills storage facility — but consider its past — and future.

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The building in March. Photo by Hannah Frishberg

Extremely large at 1 million square feet, the former Navy storage facility had no windows on most of its floors, making it “essentially uninhabitable for non-vampiric workers,” as we put it last year.

Now the windows look like they’ve always been there. As our reader said, “it’s almost better than a rendering.”

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Building 77 rendering via Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation

The revamp is part of the Navy Yard’s effort to create more low-cost space for the borough’s creative makers.

When finished, Building 77 will add 1,000,000 square feet of workspace and an estimated 3,000 jobs — expanding the Navy Yard’s workforce by more than 40 percent.

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The building before its light-enhancing makeover. Photo by Google Maps

Leading the makeover is architect firm Beyer Blinder Belle, which specializes in repurposing historic buildings for new uses. The transformed building will open in 2017 and house a food manufacturing facility, offices and a food hall with iconic Lower East Side appetizing speciality shop Russ & Daughters.

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The bottom floor of Building 77, which will be the home of a future high-end food hall. Photo by Hannah Frishberg

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Brooklyn Navy Yard Aims to Boost New York’s Creativity Cred [Photos]
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