Proposal for Brooklyn’s second-tallest tower to include two schools

Plans released yesterday for 80 Flatbush Ave. show the proposed development reaching 986 feet tall. The height would make it the second-tallest building in the borough; it’d be the tallest building in the city if it were in Philadelphia, Seattle or Dallas.

Interestingly, the plan also calls for 80 Flatbush to include two schools at the base of the building, on top of which about 900 rental units will be stacked. One of the schools will be a new home for the Khalil Gibran International Academy, which is located nearby and crammed into an 1800s-era building. The other will be a new elementary school for the quickly-expanding neighborhood.

The plan also includes four other buildings, one of which is also a tower, which will be 38 stories tall, and three smaller buildings, according to a report in the New York Post. The proposal will now head through a review under the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, which is to begin in the next few weeks.

Adding public value to new development is not new, to be sure, but adding a school building certainly is a new way for super tall developments to sweeten the deal for concerned neighbors.