He has a background in real estate and a name linked with entertainment, but the developer behind the borough’s newest proposed luxury high-rise says he’s no Donald Trump — and he’s not building a garish, Trump-like tower.
Douglas Steiner insists his proposed 720-unit, 52-story rental building, which could begin rising at the corner of Flatbush Avenue and Schermerhorn Street early next year, will offer Brooklyn a refined, modern skyscraper that “will be more interesting than the typical rental box.”
“I’m the anti-Trump, starting with the hair,” said Steiner, who along with running the development company Steiner NYC oversees the Navy Yard movie lot Steiner Studios. “Nothing we do is gaudy but has an industrial and clean aesthetic.”
One story taller than Lawrence Street’s The Brooklyner, the borough’s highest building, and just steps away from the Barclays Center and the historic 37-story Willamsburgh Savings Bank tower, the planned $325-million high-rise — called “The Hub” — could reshape the borough’s skyline.
But Steiner says his design of masonry and glass will pay tribute to the nearby Williamsburgh Savings Bank — Brooklyn’s answer to Manhattan skyscrapers — with a series of architectural setbacks.
“We didn’t want to build a monolith,” said Steiner, who also owns 58 and 80 Metropolitan, a condo project in Williamsburg, and 25 Washington Ave., an extension of Steiner Studios.
The development is slated to replace a state parole office and set of low-rise properties.
Market-rate units will rent for between $40 to $50 a square foot, with 1,000-square-foot pads going for about $4,000 per month.
Residents will enjoy a giant landscaped sun deck, health club, dog run, grilling terrace, and bike storage, Steiner says.
The building will also boast about 144 units of “affordable housing.”
But it’s the 50,000 square feet slated for retail — including second-floor store space on Third and Flatbush avenues — and that has Downtown real estate gurus excited.
“This is great for the appearance of our gateway into Brooklyn,” said real estate insider and broker Chris Havens. “Good retail is needed to improve the feeling of the street.”
Steiner joked that his enviable location at the crossroads of Boerum Hill, Prospect Heights, Fort Greene, and Downtown could be the magnet that finally lures the borough’s first Apple store — retail outposts that often pop up in eyecatching modern constructions or historic buildings.
“I’m sure Marty Markowitz will be calling Apple to come on over,” he said.
Reach Kate Briquelet at kbriquelet@cnglocal.com or by calling her at (718) 260-2511.
