One Willoughby Square, styled as 1WSQ, is an office building proposed for the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The building is being developed by JEMB Realty, and current plans have been drafted by FXFOWLE.
History
The developer purchased the main site at 420 Albee Square for $38.5 million in 2014 and bought the rest of the development area from the New York City government for $18.3 million in 2017. The Girard family had owned it for years and operated the site as a parking lot. The developers also purchased of development rights from the neighboring 217 Duffield Street, in exchange for financing a park on the site. In September 2014, the developers filed plans for a 65-story, tall mixed-use tower named 420 Albee Square, designed by SLCE Architects. The planned tower would have been one of the tallest in Brooklyn and featured of space with devoted to office and the rest spread among 620 apartments. However, by November 2015 these plans had been scrapped in favor of a shorter 35-story tower featuring of office space. Kohn Pedersen Fox was brought on as design architect and their design featuring a glass and masonry facade was revealed in June 2017. However, FXFOWLE later replaced Kohn Pedersen Fox and redesigned the building entirely. One Willoughby Square will be the first major ground-up office project to rise since Downtown Brooklyn was rezoned in 2004 and will also become the tallest office tower in Brooklyn. Permits for the office development were filed in September 2017. Construction at the site began in early 2018. The building topped out in October 2019. Otera Capital, a Canadian real estate lending company, provided a $235 million construction loan for the project in July 2018.
Architecture and design
Because of an existing hotel and apartment tower built around the perimeter of the site, One Willoughby Square will have an irregular T-shaped floor plan. Current plans for the building include blue glazed bricks and a pleated pattern in two shades. The building features factory-style windows to maximize light. Additionally, the mechanicals, elevators and bathrooms of the building will be offset to the side of the tower to reduce the amount of interior walls and maximize open floor space. Every other floor in the building will have an outdoor balcony. In addition, there are three “super floors” that will have 18-foot ceilings heights and terraces and loggias. In front of the building, the developers are constructing a 700-car underground parking garage topped by the new Willoughby Square Park at 217 Duffield Street, designed by Hargreaves Associates.
