The skyline of Downtown Brooklyn is on its way to rival that of Manhattan’s, just across the East River. When Brooklyn Paramount opened last year, it brought thousands of music goers inside a historic venue just across the street from a new, gleaming supertall by SHoP Architects. Alloy Block, and its accompanying passive house school by ARO, further bolstered Downtown Brooklyn’s burgeoning skyline as has 11 Hoyt by Studio Gang. At 395 Flatbush Avenue, not far from these recent projects, where a 1970s office tower currently resides, plans are circulating for a new skyscraper, poised to become the second tallest in the borough. TenBerke is behind a proposed design to replace the dated office building with a 72-story residential tower. Dencityworks Architecture is also on the project team. Senior principal Noah Biklen is the project lead at TenBerke. The existing 7-story building at 395 Flatbush Avenue was built in the 1970s. (Courtesy Rabina) The tower by TenBerke could contain 1,200 residential units. The developers Rabina and Park Tower Group said between 25 and 30 percent of those units will be permanently affordable through the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing (MIH) program, meaning these flats will be for households earning an average of 60 to 80 percent Area Median Income (AMI). Josh Rabina, president and CEO of Rabina, said the overall goal is replacing “the dark and outdated office building at the corner of Fulton Street and Flatbush Avenue with a light and airy mixed-use development.” “395 Flatbush will respond to the city’s urgent housing needs, while anticipating and supporting future growth by overhauling the public realm for the thousands of people that pass through every day,” Rabina added. There will be approximately 66,000 square feet of retail space, 75,000 square feet of commercial space, and 4,750 square feet of open space. The podium level will have a grand entry to the Dekalb Avenue Subway Station below grade. According to documentation submitted to the Public Design Commission in March, ground-floor retail spaces will be clad in a pre-cast concrete with reddish hue that evokes the brick masonry on the upper portion of the structure. In elevation, the tower portion of the building will be setback from the podium, helping reduce shadow lines. When it’s built, the tower will be all-electric. Portions of the existing structure will be retained and reused in the new design, the design team said. The new building will have a grand entry to the Dekalb Avenue Subway Station. (Binyan Studio and TenBerke Architects) All in all, the tower will reach 840 feet. The rezoning necessary to make the tower’s height possible is thanks to City of Yes. The project was recently made public by Mayor Eric Adams at Real Deal NYC Forum 2025. Adams said it represents the “future of housing in New York City.” A construction timeline hasn’t yet been released. A public scoping hearing for the project’s environmental review is scheduled for June.