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Williamsburg, Brooklyn: The Domino Sugar Factory

Learn about the Domino Sugar Factory redevelopment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, the proposed plan featuring affordable housing and retail space, objections, favored opinions, and resident interviews shaping a mixed-use space proposal.

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Williamsburg, Brooklyn: The Domino Sugar Factory

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  1. Project By: Jacquelyn Lekhraj, Ioana Paunescu Williamsburg, Brooklyn: The Domino Sugar Factory

  2. The Domino Sugar Factory The Domino Sugar Refinery is located on Kent Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It was officially closed down in 2004.

  3. Proposed Plan • Community Preservation Corp. (CPC), has created a $1.5 billion dollar plan. It will include: • 4 acres of open space • 2,200 new apartments • 30% of the new apartments would be affordable housing units • 274,000 square feet of retail space

  4. Objections to the Plan • City Council Member Steve Levin, Democratic Assemblyman Vito Lopez and the Community Board of District 1 in Williamsburg are opposed to the plan due to the heavy influx of daily commuters on the L train • Ashley Thompson is the legislative director for Levin and released a statement stating that Levin is supporting Community Board 1 (and residents of Williamsburg) who oppose the plan because of the strain it would put on the “already inadequate transit system”. • The project is simply too big. CPC’s plan would introduce over 6,000 new residents to the neighborhood – a nearly 25% population increase for the ½ mile area surrounding the site.

  5. CPC Plan is Favored • Brooklyn Borough President Markowitz and Mayor Bloomberg have ruled in favor of the housing project plan. This has come as a surprise for many who believed the Brooklyn Borough president was likely to rule in favor of Councilman Levin.

  6. Map of the Area The following is a satellite image of the factory and the surrounding area:

  7. Our Findings On our walking tour along Kent Ave there were several vacant developments and in progress construction zones

  8. Our Findings • The structural integrity of the Domino Sugar Factory building has been compromised. It’s surrounded by scaffolding, the windows are broken, the building is barricaded and under 24 hour video surveillance, and it emits a molasses like stench

  9. Photographs of the Area • View of the Domino Sugar Factory from Kent Avenue. • The Domino Sugar sign will be landmarked • The refinery building itself will be converted into a museum with open space for visitors to create and display artwork of their own. These would be called artist rooms and are modeled after the Tate Museum of London.

  10. Photographs of the Area Alternative angles and views of the buildings

  11. Interviews With Local Residents • We conducted approximately 30 interviews. We gave the interviewees the following information: • Community Preservation Corp., has been commissioned to create a plan for the Domino Sugar Refinery. Their $1.5 billion plan includes: • 4 acres of open space • 2,200 new apartments, 30% of which are affordable housing units • 274,000 square feet of retail space • Community Board 1 and City Councilman Steve Levin object to the plan for the following reasons: • Not enough affordable housing is being provided • It will cause a 25% population increase leading to a huge influx on the L train

  12. Results • The following are various quotations from interviewees demonstrating the diverse opinions of Williamsburg residents on what to make of the space: • “I definitely want to see the building landmarked if it’s practical from a safety perspective” – Zack (hipster employee of K-Rock Screen printing) • “The housing project is pretty boring. I’d like the freedom to go into the factory. Art or studio space would be cool”- Tim and Aaron (residents and photographers) • “I don’t want to see any more affordable housing. I’m not a fan of city-funded housing, but I wouldn’t mind condos”- Greg (Williamsburg resident) • “That many more housing units is just not feasible, there aren’t enough trains. If there were fewer units that were all affordable and an improvement to the transit system”- Liz (Williamsburg resident) • “Bloomberg wants everyone to work in midtown and commute outward. The trains are already congested in the morning and a ferry won’t help unless you work downtown. They should use the space for small business interests, retail and industry. I’m sick of seeing bars here. Money should stay in Brooklyn”- J.D. (Williamsburg Resident and manager of the local Oslo Coffee Shop)

  13. Analysis of Interview • Conclusions drawn based on interviews: • Certain demographics of people wanted similar projects to be undertaken • i.e. young (twenty-something) artists [aka hipsters] wanted to see studio space • The space can accommodate the varying ideas, however, in smaller scales.

  14. Our Plan • Our plan would incorporate aspects of several suggestions provided by interviewed residents. • We propose a mixed-use space: • Instead of 2,200 apartment units we would have 1,100, 80% of which would be affordable housing. Overwhelmingly, people did not want to see more condos, therefore more affordable housing and less housing in general adheres to the wishes of residents. • Extension of existing bus lines would alleviate most stress over the L-Train influx • Landmark the Domino Sugar Refinery sign • Remodel the factory building into a mixed-use building. It would include a mini-museum on the first floor as a ode to Brooklyn’s industrial history and studio spaces in the elevated portion of the buildings • We will maintain the original 4 acres of open space as proposed by the CPC • We will use the remaining square footage not used for housing for retail/ industry purposes.

  15. Housing The housing units will be located here

  16. Transit • Existing bus and subway lines: The B62 and the B59 bus lines (which the arrows indicate) would be extended. www.mta.info/nyct/maps/busbkln.pdf

  17. Museum Space The Bankside Power Station was an oil-fired power station that operated from 1952 to 1981, generating electricity for the city of London. In danger of being demolished, this building was converted into the Tate Modern Museum, Britain’s national museum of modern art. The conversion of the Domino Sugar Refinery building to a museum would likely be a great tourist attraction. The refinery will be made into a museum

  18. Open Space and Retail The open space will be on the periphery The retail space will be located here

  19. How the Space Will be Divided:

  20. Conclusion By incorporating the wishes of various residents of Williamsburg we have created a plan that is suitable for the needs of a growing city. Many factors have been taken into account, the personal wishes of Williamsburg inhabitants, the transit congestion, the wishes to develop the economic competiveness of Brooklyn while maintaining the artistic features of the neighborhood.

  21. Bibliography Bibliography For Photos Slide 1 American Sugar Refining Company. http://www.nyc-architecture.com/WBG/wbg025.htm The AIA Guide to New York. Accessed 25 April 2010. Slide 2 McBrooklyn. http://mcbrooklyn.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html. Accessed 24 April 2010. Slide 10 The Williamsburg Waterfront. http://www.travelogues.net/Brooklyn/ index_js.htm?page=photos_waterfront.htm. Accessed 25 April 2010. Slide 17 American Sugar Refining Company. http://www.nyc-architecture.com/WBG/wbg025. htm The AIA Guide to New York. Accessed 25 April 2010. Slide 15, 17, 18, 19 The Gowanus Lounge. http://gowanuslounge.blogspot.com/2007/07/domino-plans-shows-tall-dense-future.html. Accessed 25 April 2010.

  22. Bibliography for Sources Bibliography for text and information Calder, Rich. “Local Councilman Sour on Domino Project”. 11 March 2010. http://www.nypost.com/p/local_councilman_sour_on_domino_Xynz9p9xGzOQETXJAgXEHP. Accessed 1 April 2010. Cambell, Andy. “A Big Domi-NO from CB-1”, The Brooklyn Paper. 10 March 2010. http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/33/11/33_11_ac_domino_no.html. Accessed 1 April 2010. Del Signore, John. “'New Domino' Project Gets Big Thumbs Down from Councilman”. The Gothamist News. 18 March 2010. http://gothamist.com/2010/03/18/new_domino_project_gets_thumbs_down.php?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+crainsnewyork%2Flatestnews+%28Crain%27s+New+York+Business+-+Breaking+News+Feed%29. Accessed 1 April 2010. “The Domino Must Not Fall”. The Daily News. 3 April 2010. http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/ 2010/04/03/2010-04-03_this_domino_must_not_fall.html . Accessed 5 April 2010.

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