Unveiling History on Williamsburg's East River | Domino Park
Background on the Domino Sugar Redevelopment
Following the closure of the Domino Sugar Factory in 2004, this 11-acre site sat dormant as plans for redevelopment were debated by the City, community stakeholders and the development team that purchased the site from Domino. Ultimately, the City approved a residential rezoning in 2010. This plan had not yet been executed when Two Trees Management Company acquired the land in 2012. In an effort to create an improved redevelopment plan that better served the needs of this diverse community, a new public approval process was initiated by Two Trees in 2013. As a result of broad and inclusive outreach, new development plans were approved in 2014. These improved plans include the adaptive reuse of the Landmarked Domino Refinery for creative office space, four new mixed-use residential buildings that will house 700 units of affordable housing, and a five-acre linear park reconnecting the community to the waterfront and providing much-needed open space for local residents, while honoring and celebrating the history of the sugar trade in NYC.
Progress
The June 2018 opening of Domino Park represents the early fulfillment of a pledge by Two Trees Management Company to deliver 6-acres of public open space to the North Williamsburg community. Conceived by Two Trees in partnership with landscape architecture firm James Corner Field Operations, the lead designers of the High Line, Domino Park is an unrivaled quarter-mile public park located just north of the Williamsburg Bridge that celebrates the history of one of New York’s most iconic industrial waterfront sites.
The first mixed use building, 325 Kent, was designed by SHoP Architects and opened in 2017. It includes 520 apartments, 105 of which are occupied by low income residents, as well as exceptional local retailers like Sky Ting Yoga, Mekelburg’s, a restaurant by Michelin-star chef Missy Robbins, Modern Chemist, and a local wine store. The second mixed-use building, comprised of the residential One South First and the commercial Ten Grand Street, opened in 2019. This building on the North end of the park, designed by COOKFOX Architects, includes mixed income apartments, office space and neighborhood retail favorites including the eateries Roberta’s and Two Hands and the design store Beam.
About Two Trees Management
Since its founding in 1968, Two Trees Management Company, a Brooklyn-based real estate development firm, has owned, managed and developed a real estate portfolio that includes more than 6,000 mixed-income apartments and over 3 million square feet of office and retail space. Two Trees is known for its role in transforming the Brooklyn neighborhood of Dumbo from a neglected industrial waterfront into a vital mixed-use community with innovative technology companies, art galleries and performance venues. Recent Two Trees developments — which contain well over one thousand units of affordable housing — include 300 Ashland in Fort Greene, Mercedes House in Hell’s Kitchen, the Wythe Hotel and the first phases of the Domino Sugar Factory redevelopment in Williamsburg.
Two Trees believes that successful neighborhoods in New York City feature a wide variety of uses and attract diverse groups of people. Furthermore, our corporate philosophy is founded upon the principle that developers and property owners play a fundamental role in cultivating this environment and that they have a responsibility to support uses that lead dynamic and sustainable neighborhoods.