Two Trees’ flourishing former office buildings in DUMBO just got a 21st-century bonus: a re-imagined, user-friendly, tech-driven lobby designed by Bonetti/Kozarski Architecture.
According to sources, the developer’s three office spaces comprising around 1.5 million sq ft are over 90% leased. Now, the properties — 45 Main St., 55 Washington St. and 20 J St. — all feature new lobbies warmly lit in earth tones and equipped with technology-enabled access control powered by two Tree-branded apps.
The app will also connect tenants to amenities such as conference rooms, roof decks and bike rooms. The buildings’ diverse tenant lineup includes Bjarke Ingels Group, Fortis Group, Amplify, BPCM, Woven Planet and Red Antler.
The lobby renovation uses a brick-and-concrete texture with the addition of leather and wood “inspired by the materials and architecture of Dumbo,” said Dominic Kozerski, the firm’s co-founder.
They transform a decades-old look that was merely “catchy,” says David Lombino, Two Trees’ managing director of exterior affairs, keeping the tongue a bit in cheek.
Although the lobbies represent a significant capital upgrade for the predecessor trio, Alyssa Zahler, managing director of Two Trees Commercial Leasing, said their “biggest, flagship facility” is the DUMBO neighborhood itself.
She said many Dumbo tenants are leased to companies whose principals live in Nearby, Brownstone-Brooklyn Nebs, Rent demands in DUMBO range from $38-58 per square foot, with averages in the mid-$40s.
Meanwhile, not far away, work continues apace on Domino Sugar Refinery’s audacious adaptive-reuse transformation of two trees State-of-the-art office building on the Williamsburg waterfront,
Construction should be done by fall, including a massive glass envelope wrapped around the landmark’s 150-year-old brick façade.