RKTB Architects tops out 60,000 s/f One Sullivan Pl. and completes 26-unit 1425 Fulton St.

Brooklyn, NY RKTB Architects marks milestones for two multifamily projects. In Crown Heights, near Prospect Park, construction has topped out on One Sullivan Pl., according to Peter Bafitis, AIA, managing principal of RKTB. This 60,000 s/f residential project features large steel trusses that cantilever the structure over portions of an adjacent building, an architectural solution that makes such a large development on the site possible. “It also capitalizes on the proximity to the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens, making sweeping views possible from the expanded upper floors,” said Bafitis.

The design for One Sullivan Pl. features 52 apartment units (a mix of senior, affordable, and market-rate apartments) plus amenities like recreation rooms and rooftop terraces on the cantilevered portions. Construction is expected to be complete by November 2022.

Meanwhile, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood, construction is complete and residents are moving in at 1425 Fulton St. RKTB’s design for the nine-story mixed-income residence is turning heads with its frontage composed of brick masonry and full-height multi-paned windows that pay homage to the neighborhood’s industrial heritage.

“The real innovation at 1425 Fulton was in making it possible at all,” said Bafitis, a longtime co-chair of the AIA New York Housing Committee, “accomplished through a complex and multi-faceted zoning feat that wrangled air rights and developable floor area from multiple adjacent sites.” He said that eight of the 26 apartments are earmarked as affordable housing, and that all residents have access to amenities such as the shared lounge, fitness room, laundry, and bike storage, plus a roof terrace with 360° views of Brooklyn and Manhattan.

This latest spate of project milestones follows the completion of 700 Manida Ave. in the Bronx, where the firm achieved a multigenerational affordable housing solution by pioneering the use of a new Zoning for Quality and Affordability modification. The resulting 102,000 s/f mixed-use development includes 108 affordable units for families and seniors, and a rear courtyard for residents to enjoy, and street-facing community space currently hosting art galleries.