Lendlease JV Tops Out Pair of Brooklyn Towers

A joint venture between Lendlease and Aware Super has topped out 1 Java St., a two-tower property in Brooklyn, N.Y. Total development costs for the 834-unit, mixed-income community amounted to $865 million. Completion is expected in 2026.

Lendlease paid $110.8 million for the 2.6-acre development site in 2020. Two years later, the developers landed a $360 million construction note issued by Bank of America, Mizuho Bank, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. and TD Bank. Additional funding included $4 million from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority’s Heat Pump Systems Pilot Program.

1 Java St. will benefit from the Affordable Housing New York Program, which grants a construction-period exemption, as well as either a 10-, 20- or 25-year post-construction exemption, from increases in taxes. In exchange, 30 percent of the units will be set aside as affordable.

A design crew consisting of Marvel, INC and Crème provided architectural services. The former designed the units, while the latter two provided interior design for the public areas and townhouses, respectively. Construction began in 2023. The two buildings will be interconnected and will occupy an entire city block. The two East River-facing towers will be 36- and 20-stories tall.

The property will offer one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments and townhouses, with rentable space at the property totaling 611,000 square feet. Moreover, 1 Java St. will include roughly 13,000 square feet of retail space. Amenities will comprise rooftop gardens, a courtyard, a swimming pool and a 36,700-square-foot parking garage.

In addition, an 18,000-square-foot, public waterfront esplanade will integrate the project with the surrounding area. The boardwalk is also designed to protect the site from flooding events.

Located along the Brooklyn waterfront, 1 Java St. neighbors Brookfield Properties’ 22-acre master-planned development Greenpoint Landing, which will include 5,500 multifamily and 1,400 affordable units.

Developing environmentally-conscious projects

In tune with Local Law 154 — which mandates the latest construction in New York City to be all-electric — and Local Law 97, which imposes strict decarbonization legislation, the development will rely upon geothermal technology. The project also aligns with Lendlease’s Mission Zero, aiming to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2025 and absolute zero by 2040 through green building practices.

Its vertical, closed-loop geo-exchange system will decrease annual carbon emissions from cooling and heating by 53 percent compared to a typical residential system. When supplied by clean electricity, the geothermal system will allow the project to reach net zero carbon emissions.

The development is designed and built to meet LEED Gold, WEDG Waterfront, Fitwel, and ENERGY STAR certifications. Upon completion, 1 Java St. is expected to be the largest residential geothermal building in the State of New York, according to NYSERDA, as well as one of the largest in the U.S.

Lendlease to exit U.S.

The project marks the sixth development inside Lendlease and Aware Super’s Americas multifamily portfolio, which reached net zero carbon in 2021. However, Lendlease took steps to exit the U.S. and U.K. markets in May, reducing its overall risk profile.

As part of the firm’s objective to divest its construction business, Lendlease began procedures to sell its East Coast construction operations — which consisted of roughly 45 current, under contract and pre-construction projects — to Consigli Construction Co.

Brooklyn’s solid multifamily pipeline

Brooklyn’s supply pipeline amounted to 25,233 units under construction in June, according to a recent Yardi Matrix report. The borough surpassed both Manhattan (12,700 units) and Queens (13,010 units). An additional 33,000 units were in the planning and permitting stages.

Developers brought online 2,447 units in the first half of the year, the same source shows. The deliveries accounted for 1.5 percent of total stock — 40 basis points higher than the average U.S. percentage. Should market conditions hold, the borough is on track to reach an annual average of 4,035 debuted units between 2016 and 2023.