The Brooklyn Tower: Brooklyn’s Supertall, After the Foreclosure
Photo above: The Brooklyn Tower rises above the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, seen from Albee Square. Photo by BrokenSegue via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Brooklyn’s only supertall is complete and fully occupied, but a 2024 foreclosure reshaped who owns it. After original developer JDS Development Group defaulted on a $240 million loan, lender Silverstein Capital Partners took control of the building’s unsold condos, rentals, and retail in a $672 million deal. Under Silverstein, the address changed from 9 DeKalb Avenue to 85 Fleet Street and condo sales relaunched in 2025 with Corcoran Sunshine — studios now list from $965,000, and the 92nd-floor penthouse was asking roughly $16.75 million as of mid-2026.
Current View
The Brooklyn Tower’s facade, photographed in January 2025, well after topping out:
The Brooklyn Tower, photographed January 2025. Photo by Kidfly182 via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0.
At a Glance
- 1,035 feet to the roof (widely marketed as 1,066 feet), 93 marketed stories — the first supertall building in Brooklyn and the tallest building in New York City outside Manhattan.
- Designed by SHoP Architects, built into and around the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn (1906-1908), whose Pentelic-marble banking hall is now retail space.
- Developer JDS Development Group defaulted on a $240 million mezzanine loan in 2024; lender Silverstein Capital Partners took over the building’s income-producing components in a $672 million deal.
- Renamed from 9 DeKalb Avenue to 85 Fleet Street under Silverstein ownership as part of a 2025 sales relaunch.
What Is The Brooklyn Tower?
The Brooklyn Tower is a 93-story, mixed-use supertall designed by SHoP Architects for developer JDS Development Group, standing 1,035 feet to its roof (1,073 feet to its architectural crown) — Brooklyn’s first supertall building and the tallest structure in New York City outside Manhattan.
The tower holds roughly 550 residential units: about 150 condominiums beginning around the 52nd floor, and a mix of market-rate and income-restricted affordable rental apartments below, with roughly 30% of the rental units set aside via a state affordable-housing lottery.
Built Into a Landmark
The tower’s base incorporates the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn, designed by Mowbray and Uffinger and completed in 1908, then expanded in 1931-1932 with a hexagonal rotunda. Both the building’s exterior and its ornate interior — a rare combination — were individually designated New York City landmarks in 1994.
9 DeKalb Avenue (now The Brooklyn Tower) under construction, August 2021, looking north from Bond Street. Photo by GrissJr via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
SHoP’s hexagonal tower form deliberately echoes the bank’s own rotunda geometry, and the tower’s vertical mullion spacing was designed to match the historic building’s column spacing. The bank’s roughly 160-foot-square, 40-foot-ceilinged banking hall — originally finished in seven types of marble beneath a stained-glass dome — is now roughly 50,000 square feet of retail space, with three outdoor pools built onto the bank’s own roof.
From Site Assembly to Topping Out
JDS Development Group and Chetrit Group assembled the site in stages, buying the main parcel for $43.5 million in June 2014 and the Dime Savings Bank building itself from JPMorgan Chase for $90 million in December 2015. Construction financing closed in April 2019: a $424.1 million senior loan from Otéra Capital and a $240 million mezzanine loan from Larry Silverstein’s Silverstein Capital Partners, totaling $664.1 million.
The tower topped out on October 28, 2021, surpassing Brooklyn Point (about 720 feet) to become the borough’s tallest building. Condo sales launched in March 2022, with developer Michael Stern telling reporters the design would avoid the wind-sway problems that had affected some Manhattan supertalls — a claim that aged poorly once time-lapse videos of the tower visibly swaying in high winds began circulating in 2024.
The 2024 Foreclosure
By early 2024, JDS Development had sold only 18 to 23 of the tower’s 148 condominiums, and in March 2024 the company defaulted on its $240 million mezzanine loan to Silverstein Capital Partners — the same firm that had helped finance the tower’s construction five years earlier.
Silverstein scheduled a UCC foreclosure auction for June 10, 2024, which would have stripped JDS of the project’s remaining value entirely. Rather than let the auction proceed, the two sides reached a settlement: in June 2024, Silverstein Properties paid $672 million to take ownership of the building’s unsold condominiums, 368 rental apartments, and retail space — effectively acquiring the tower’s income-producing components while JDS retained its original development credit.
A New Address and a Sales Relaunch
The tower received its permanent certificate of occupancy on April 25, 2025. Under Silverstein’s ownership, the building’s marketing address changed from 9 DeKalb Avenue to 85 Fleet Street, and Corcoran Sunshine relaunched condo sales in 2025 with studios listed from $965,000.
Sales have continued into 2026: Penthouse 92, a 5,891-square-foot, four-bedroom unit spanning the entire 92nd floor with 360-degree views, listed for roughly $16.75 million — Brooklyn’s highest residence.
Timeline
JDS Development Group and Chetrit Group purchase 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension for $43.5 million.
JDS and Chetrit buy the landmarked Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn from JPMorgan Chase for $90 million, setting up its integration into the tower's base.
A $664.1 million debt package closes: a $424.1 million senior loan from Otéra Capital and a $240 million mezzanine loan from Silverstein Capital Partners.
Main construction phase; the tower surpasses Brooklyn Point (about 720 feet) in July 2021 to become Brooklyn's tallest building.
Structural completion at 1,066 feet as originally planned (later measured at 1,035 feet to roof, 1,073 feet to its crown) -- Brooklyn's first supertall.
Studios priced from $875,000, four-bedrooms up to $8 million; developer Michael Stern claims the tower's design would avoid the wind-sway problems affecting some Manhattan supertalls.
Allows partial occupancy while remaining work continues.
Time-lapse videos of the tower visibly swaying in high winds circulate on social media, contradicting Stern's earlier claims.
JDS Development fails to repay the $240 million mezzanine loan held by Silverstein Capital Partners; only 18-23 of 148 condominiums have sold to date.
Silverstein Capital Partners schedules a UCC foreclosure auction for June 10, 2024, threatening to strip JDS of the project entirely.
Rather than let the auction proceed, JDS and Silverstein reach a deal: Silverstein Properties pays $672 million for the unsold condominiums, 368 rental apartments, and retail space, taking effective ownership of the tower's income-producing components.
The tower receives full, final occupancy approval.
Under Silverstein, the building's marketing address changes from 9 DeKalb Avenue to 85 Fleet Street, and Corcoran Sunshine relaunches condo sales with a new marketing campaign; studios list from $965,000.
Penthouse 92, a 5,891-square-foot, four-bedroom full-floor unit with 360-degree views, lists for roughly $16.75 million -- Brooklyn's highest residence.
Location
The Brooklyn Tower sits at 85 Fleet Street (formerly 9 DeKalb Avenue), at the corner of Flatbush Avenue Extension and DeKalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, adjoining Brooklyn’s Fulton Mall shopping district. View on Google Maps.
“The Rise of Brooklyn’s First Supertall Skyscraper,” The B1M’s engineering and construction documentary on the tower.
Sources
Sources: Wikipedia; Bisnow (foreclosure threat); Bisnow ($672M deal); The Real Deal; Brooklyn Eagle; 6sqft (sales relaunch); 6sqft (penthouse); The B1M; SHoP Architects; 6sqft (Dime Savings Bank history).
Hush Street Editorial researches and reports on the projects, permits, and physical changes reshaping Brooklyn — and, more broadly, New York City. Reporting draws on primary-source city records — Department of Buildings filings, land-use and planning applications, agency and community-board documents — verified and cross-checked against independent reporting where it exists. Coverage is continuously updated as new filings and decisions are recorded, and confirmed facts are distinguished from open questions.
