November 15–21, 2019 Brooklyn Paper • www.BrooklynPaper.com • (718) 260-2500 AWP 11
Communal living coming to Bed-Stuy
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By Kevin Duggan
Brooklyn Paper
A pair of international development
firms plan to erect
a so-called “co-living” and hotel
complex in Bedford-Stuyvesant
next year, which will offer
dorm-style living at apartmentpriced
rents that one builder
described as “the way of the
future.”
“It’s different to renting your
typical bedroom in New York
or Brooklyn, where you have to
do long term leases, where you
have to put up money for furniture,”
said Kevin O’Sullivan,
who heads up Irish-American
development outfit Tower Holdings
Group. “This is a completely
modern way of living
because you don’t have to make
those commitments.”
The residential complex
ARM...
convey to a wide audience a
myriad of ideas about individual
and collective identity,
ambition, and perseverance.”
The Fort Greene artist
said he was inspired to create
the 22.5-foot installation
— which lives near Tillary
and Adams streets — by both
the Statue of Liberty’s iconic
pose and by a photo of a basketball
player spinning a ball
on his finger.
“I thought by removing
the basketball, all of a sudden
this piece can take totally
different interpretations and
meanings,” he said.
Thomas used a three-dimensional
scan of Philadelphia
76ers all-star Joel Embiid’s
arm as the blueprint
for the piece, officially entitled
“Unity” — which will
stand in America’s Downtown
for at least 30 years,
according to Kendal Henry,
the art director behind the
project.
The $284,000 project is
part of the Department of
Transportation’s ongoing
renovation and revamp of
the busy Tillary Street corridor,
where the agency has
also installed pedestrian islands
and a two-way bike
lane leading to the Brooklyn
Bridge.
Passersby marveled at the
newly erected work, with one
Bedford-Stuyvesant student
seeing it as a symbol of Kings
County’s confidence.
“When people look at it
they might think that they
want to soar higher and
achieve more in life,” said
Jordan Newman.
An out-of-state recruiter
for the U.S. Army said the
sculpture symbolizes the borough’s
prowess.
“It’s powerful,” said Sgt.
Cameron Petty, of Kentucky.
“New York City is the biggest
city in the country. Everybody
has something in their life
they should be proud of.”
One southern Brooklynite
saw religious symbolism in
the gesture, which reminded
him of a papal visit of decades
gone by.
“It might be a religious
symbol, evoking pointing
up to heaven, pointing up to
God,” said Jim Wise. “Many
years ago, Pope John Paul II
came off the Brooklyn Bridge.
It was raining and as he turned
off to St. James Basilica the
sun came out and the pope
pointed to the sky.”
Continued from page 1
planned for Fulton Street
near Bedford Avenue —
which Tower Holdings will
build in partnership with London
based co-living company
The Collective — will feature
two 10-story and one sevenstory
towers stuffed with 400
fully furnished bedrooms connected
via shared facilities,
such as kitchens and bathrooms.
The three-tower development
will feature an interior
courtyard open to the public.
Tower Holdings declined
to share any information regarding
the layout, or pricing
of its upcoming co-living facility,
but looking at The Collective’s
London holdings offers
some insight into the novel,
European living standards the
builders hope to sell Brook-
lynites.
The firm charges £1083 per
month ($1,384) for an “ensuite”
— a roughly 100-square-foot
room with a private bathroom
and a kitchenette shared with
another tenant— or £1,300
($1669) per month for a 130-
square-foot studio with a private
kitchenette and bathroom,
according to its website.
The rooms may not be spacious,
but the developers are
optimistic that a host of hotel
style amenities will more
than make up for the meager
lodgings. These include utilities,
room cleaning service,
and gyms, along with common
and co-working spaces. And
residents won’t even have to
worry about managing their
own social calendar — the
landlord plans on scheduling
cultural events and activities
to keep tenants occupied.
Leases at the co-living facility
are offered month-bymonth,
making them ideal as
extended-stay hotels, but will
likely feature reduced rates for
tenants looking for more permanent
quarters.
The Fulton Street development
will feature several common
spaces.
While the co-living trend
was born in the old country, it
has already taken root in recent
developments across the city. A
yearlong resident of a Boerum
Hill co-living facility, called
Common, on Baltic Street between
Third and Fourth avenues
said she was attracted to
the no fuss housing deal, which
came complete with furniture
— and roommates.
“The model is really great,
you don’t have to rustle up
friends or people that you can
establish a house with, you can
have your own room,” said the
tenant, who only gave her name
as Linda.
Linda claims that the social
activities — such as wine
tastings, cooking classes, and
holiday-themed get-togethers
— offered by her landlord
helped her get to know
her neighbors, who she described
as mostly recent college
grads seeking easy accommodations.
“The tenants tend to have
a community feel about them,
like we get on the lifts and we
become familiar with each
other and get to know each
other’s dogs,” she said. “A lot
of younger people graduating
from college are finding a very
easy option to get into as far as
independence goes, the barrier’s
not too high, you can just
rent a room.”
The three-tower development will feature an interior
courtyard open to the public.
Courtesy of Tower Holdings Group
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