Development

Office Tower Addition Above Downtown Brooklyn Macy's Gets Glassy

The scaled glass facade that faces Fulton Street is almost complete, and work on the rest of the building is progressing steadily.

Photo by Susan De Vries

by Craig Hubert

02/26/2019 3 minute 0

The glassy, modern 10-story tower rising above Macy’s at 418 Fulton Street in Downtown Brooklyn is close to topping out.

A recent visit revealed the building is beginning to take its final shape. The scaled glass facade that faces Fulton Street is almost complete, and work on the rest of the building is progressing steadily.

Dubbed the Wheeler in honor of the complex’s 19th century developer, it will consist entirely of offices — no residential. There will also be a landscaped roof terrace, a separate bike entrance, bike storage, locker rooms and showers. The office tower’s address will be 181 Livingston Street.

The new addition is designed by Joey Shimoda of Los Angeles-based Shimoda Design Group along with Perkins Eastman, a global firm known for apartment towers and hotels.

The original cast-iron building was constructed by Andrew Wheeler before it was purchased and significantly remodeled in 1881 by Wechsler & Abraham (the retailer later became legendary department store Abraham & Strauss). The Art Deco addition at 422 Fulton was constructed in 1929-1930, designed by Starrett & Van Vlecht. The combined buildings became Macy’s Downtown Brooklyn store in the 1990s.

In September 2017, the iconic green mansard roof on the oldest part of the building was temporarily removed to make way for construction of the tower.

The developer is Tishman Speyer, who also purchased the parking garage next door at 11 Hoyt Street that once boasted artist Stephen Powers’ iconic “Love Letter to Brooklyn” on the outside. A 51-story building with 476 apartments, all condos, is currently rising.

When completed, both will join an increasingly cluttered Downtown Brooklyn. The 35-story office tower around the corner that will eventually be called One Willoughby Square is currently rising; the same for Brooklyn Point, next to City Point, two blocks away. The supertall at 9 Dekalb Avenue has recently broken ground.