Domino Critics: Brooklyn Isn't Dense Enough

The same guy who argued zoning is to blame for high real estate prices in Brooklyn is back, this time at the New York Observer, where he takes issue with the new SHoP design for the Domino Sugar Refinery conversion. He argues that tall buildings right on the edge of the Brooklyn waterfront make no sense without medium-height buildings behind them, and implies the low-rise houses of Williamsburg and other parts of Brooklyn should be torn out to make way for medium-rise apartment buildings, much as Manhattan was remade in the early decades of the 20th century, both for aesthetics and to relieve overcrowding.

It’s not hard to see how it ended up this way. The rezonings took the path of least resistance between the pro-development wishes of the Bloomberg administration on the one hand, and the anti-growth attitudes of vast inland neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint on the other. Manufacturing districts, where there weren’t existing residents to bother, were upzoned. Development in established residential neighborhoods, on the other hand, was restricted. The result is an awkward hybrid that pleases nobody. There isn’t enough supply allowed to meet demand and temper the wave of gentrification shooting over northern Brooklyn, but what supply is allowed comes in the form of towers so out of place that they spark resentment throughout the community.

Meanwhile, The Real Deal isn’t happy with the SHoP design either, also citing height, but also because each building’s surface treatment is different from its neighbors. In any case, as the column savvily points out, it remains to be seen if the execution will live up to its promise on paper. So far, the community seems to like the SHoP design. What’s your take? Would the cure proposed by the Observer’s Stephen Jacob Smith be worse than the purported disease?
Warring Williamsburg Mandates Leave Waterfront Out of Whack [NY Observer]
A Look at Two Trees’ “Daring” Vision for Domino Sugar [TRD]
Two Trees’ Ambitious New Proposal for Domino [Brownstoner]