Property of the Month: Alcon Builders Group is creating 4,742 s/f Family Center for Brooklyn Friends School

According to Patrick Boland, president of Alcon Builders Group, the Manhattan-based firm has begun work on the Family Center for Brooklyn Friends School at one of the new properties near downtown Brooklyn's cultural and commercial hub, be@schermerhorn at 189 Schermerhorn St. The Alcon team will transform the 4,742 s/f space of the mixed-use building into an area that will accommodate two-year-olds, the youngest students of the Brooklyn Friends School, with three classrooms, a reception area, an indoor playroom, a pantry and a conference room. The space is scheduled to open for classes in the fall of this year. Founded in 1867, Brooklyn Friends School, an acclaimed Quaker school serving a diverse population of students in grades preschool through 12, has approximately 685 students housed at the main campus at 375 Pearl St. and at 66 Willoughby St. The school is expanding its educational footprint in downtown Brooklyn. Alcon Builders Group was selected for the project by Brooklyn Friends School and its head, Dr. Larry Weiss, due to its reputation and expertise in new construction and renovations of educational institutions including the School of American Ballet at Lincoln Center, the United Nations International School and the Harlem Day Charter School. Boland said, "We are delighted to play a role in making this neighborhood an even more sought after destination and to be affiliated with one of New York City's most esteemed educational institutions."