[NYRebel]

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article...TATE/150809951

Brooklyn may soon get a tower nearly as tall as the Empire State Building

Brooklyn could soon have a residential skyscraper as tall as the Empire State Building.

Developer Michael Stern, the builder of one of the tallest luxury condo towers on Manhattan's Billionaires' Row, and real estate developer Joe Chetrit have struck a $90 million deal to acquire the former Dime Savings Bank of New York, located adjacent to the famed restaurant Junior's in downtown Brooklyn.

The bank at 9 Dekalb Ave. is a 150-year-old landmarked Neo-Roman building with a domed roof and an ornate interior. But perhaps more important than the building, which could become a prime retail location for an upscale brand like Apple, are the development rights that come with it: roughly 300,000-square-feet.

Mr. Stern could use them to build a tower next door at 340 Flatbush Avenue Extension, a property he owns in partnership with Mr. Chetrit. Combined with existing air rights, a nearly 600,000-square-foot tower could rise there.

No building has ever eclipsed 1,000 feet in any of the boroughs outside Manhattan and only a handful of towers have crossed that mark in Manhattan, though that list is growing. One source familiar with the deal suggested that Mr. Stern could build a tower potentially higher than the Empire State Building, whose spire stands at 1,454 feet. Only one other residential tower plans to soar that high, a 1,775-foot-tall building being developed by Extell Development, which is currently under construction in Manhattan on West 57th Street, known as Billionaires' Row.

A more likely outcome is a tower that is as tall as the Empire State Building itself, minus its antenna. That's a cool 1,250 feet. A source familiar with the deal said the tower will likely be between 1,000 feet and 1,200 feet tall.

According to published reports, the tallest tower in Brooklyn is 388 Bridge St. at 590 feet tall—half the size of what Mr. Stern may have planned for his site—followed by The Brooklyner, which is 514 feet tall.