This week, The Observer took a look at the future of the Brooklyn waterfront, which after a few choppy years, seems to be doing rather well, with numerous projects set to break ground soon. Here, we take a tour of many of them, traveling from north to south.
Park Tower Group expects to break ground on the first of its 10 towers next year.
Developer Dean Palin also said he will start work on his project in 2012.
Developer Jonathan Bernstein is working on a project with Rafael Pelli, and he has already built a new pier serving the new East River Ferry.
The site of the old WNYC transmitter, this park is currently under construction and due to open next summer.
Most of the projects on the southern end of Greenpoint are in limbo.
The city has put plans for this new park, a marquee piece of the 2005 rezoning, on indefinite hold, due to budget shortfalls, a move that has angered many in the community.
Some of the only waterfront towers to be completed since the area was rezoned. Initially, they had trouble selling but have since become some of the most popular developments in the city.
The former Austin Nichols warehouse, it was almost torn down by a developer, but those plans were dashed by the recession. It has since been converted into luxury rentals, which were quickly rented up.
The 11-acre development, with eight luxury towers and an office building, is the second largest project on the waterfront. It has struggled due to an expensive rezoning.
Another contentious rezoning, pitting two factions of the Chasidic community against each other, has held up this development on the south side of the Williamsburg Bridge.
Perhaps best known for its rooftop light show, Schaeffer's Landing, on the far southside of Williamsburg, was the first towers to rise on the waterfront.
The Navy Yards are experiencing a bit of a renaissance at the moment, with boutique artisans taking up spaces, green renovations underway, and even hope of building the Carnegie Mellon tech campus here.
The park has been in the works for decades and is finally taking shape along the Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights coasts.
The first section of the park opened last summer and has been a huge success.
The latest addition to the park is a carousel donated by Jane Walentas, wife of Dumbo developer David Walentas. The shed was designed by Jean Nouvel, but it has drawn complaints of park privatization.
Another example of privatization is the hotel and apartment tower planned next to Pier 1, a competition for which wrapped next week and has drawn interest from a number of top developers.
Developers and city planners see Red Hook as the next frontier, but industrial uses still cling to the waterfront, despite competition from big box stores and condos.
