Municipal Building: From Marriage Licenses to Lattes?
The clerks and accountants who currently occupy the two ground floors of the municipal building at the corner of Joralemon and Court could be moving out to make room for cafes and home design shops if the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has its way. The group, which is both publicly and privately funded, thinks converting the…
The clerks and accountants who currently occupy the two ground floors of the municipal building at the corner of Joralemon and Court could be moving out to make room for cafes and home design shops if the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership has its way. The group, which is both publicly and privately funded, thinks converting the 22,000 square feet of space to retail is a “no-brainer,” according to Joe Chan. While City Hall tries to figure out if moving the paper-pushers to a new location is realistic, civic and preservation groups are weighing in. “The place where you once went to get your public documents is now where you’re going to buy your latte,” said the Municipal Art Society’s Lisa Kersavage. “That changes the character. That’s not always a tragedy, but it’s something we all need to consider.” The Brooklyn Heights Association’s Judy Stanton likes the idea of retail but is wary of the Bed, Bath & Beyonds of this world. “I would rather see a lot of smaller shops,” she said. What about you?
Two Floors of Municipal Building May Get Shops [NY Daily News]
Photo by wallyg
Joe Chan & Co — are you reading this?
Citarella would do extremeley well.
the 14000 new residents of downtown brooklyn will need somewhere to shop…
The parking issue is ridiculous. There is enormous foot traffic there every day and all sorts of subway and bus connections. I hope the don’t go downmarket and put in a K-Mart, although I guess I would go there if they did. An Apple store would be useless for me. It needs to be a store people go to at lunch, Bed bath & Beyond would be perfect or Pottery Barn. But I’m not sure the demographics there will support it. Most civil servants don’t make a lot of money and the Heights crowd has lots of money but they never spend it in the neighborhood.
the no parking issue is ridic.
and there is plenty of light and exposure — all across court st side and also on flatbush-facing side.
I can not think of a store I’d rather have more than a Restoration Hardware or Apple!!!
Is anybody listening??
um, there’s no parking at any of the chains in manhattan like bed bath and beyond, apple, crate and barrel or restoration hardware in manhattan…
there’s no metal detector in that bldg now. why would there be if there was retail?
there is a post office there?
and, as long as I’m being a grump, I’m sick of “artisans”. I don’t need fine art shopping or govt-subsidized work space. I’d much prefer a restoration hardware, a citarella, and a BLT Brooklyn!
No way a big chain would go there with the absolute lack of parking, and departmental parking on all sides.
Surrounded by the courts, the law enforcement parking is already all wily nilly all over the place there.