Carter's Review

This complex, known as The Edge, is directly south of the East River State Park in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and will eventually include five buildings from 8 to 30 stories high with 1,432 units of which 1,085 will be condos and the remainder rentals.

It is a project of Douglaston Development, of which Jeffrey E. Levine is chairman. 

The 15-story North Edge tower is located at 34 North 7th Street and the 30-story South Edge tower is located at 22 North 6th Street.

Bottom Line

The North Tower of the Edge complex offers many unobstructed and spectacular views to the west of the sun setting on the other side of Manhattan and to the north of the large riverfront East River State Park.  This large development has amenities galore and also is just to the north of the handsome two towers of the Northside Piers development that was built at about the same time.

Description

A would-be city-in-miniature, the Edge spans two full city blocks, or seven acres, between North Fifth and North Seventh Streets, from Kent Avenue to the East River.

It is crisscrossed by streets lined with 60,000 square feet of retail space.

Residents have access to 34,000 square feet of parks; 27,000 square feet of indoor recreation space, including a spa and a video-game room; and two garages, for 550 cars. Under the terms of the city’s 2005 rezoning of the area, the Edge, like neighboring developments, must also provide parkland for nonresidents, and so 21,000 square feet of the property, mostly on two piers, are open to the public, Mr. Levine said.

By 2012, the first phase of the complex, which is about a half a mile north of the Williamsburg Bridge, was complete, with two shiny and impressive towers with a total of 575 condominium apartments and a group of low- to mid-rise buildings with 375 subsidized rental units. 

The Edge’s two towers are each topped by a curved roof element, which rise in different directions, very similar to the one atop 325 Fifth Avenue, a residential condominium tower at 32nd Street in Manhattan erected by Douglaston Development and designed by the Stephen B. Jacobs Group, the architectural firm also for the Edge.

This section of Williamsburg is one of the city's most interesting architectural enclaves.  The Edge is just to the north of the quite modern Northside Piers complex whose low-rise buildings are highlighted by rows of foot-high glass blocks and which has a stunning sculpture on a long pier. 

While the cream-colored towers of this development have façades rhythmically punctuated by many large balconies with dark blue railings, the low-rise buildings are very nicely staggered in height and alternate in façade colors.

In 2008, Mr. Levine was quoted in an article as stating that "while the price might be very appealing, it's not the number one factor.  The number one factor for young people to move to Williamsburg is lifestyle," he said, emphasizing the focus at The Edge on health and fitness and its LEED certification as it is the largest property in Brooklyn to seek that environmentally friendly certification.

On the other side of Northside Piers is 184 Kent Avenue, a stunning, large and impressive, mid-rise former factory designed by Cass Gilbert. 

Just to the south of the handsome project, a large Con Edison facility on Kent Avenue and South 1st Street will be razed and sold to a developer, according to a October 14, 2011 article at ny.curbed.com.

On the north side of Kent Avenue there are three more excellent mid-rise buildings.

Amenities

A very large amenities area on the second floor has a glass-enclosed indoor open-air pool, a lounge with fireplace, screening rooms, a game room, a party room, a communal fire pit, children's playroom, spa treatment rooms, outdoor terrace with barbecue, and waterfalls.  It also has men’s and women’s lounges with wood lockers, and private showers, a shallow pool adjacent to the large pool, virtual golf, video game consoles, a party room, and chef’s kitchens.  

There is also an indoor court for team sports.

The development is within walking distance of subways and buses and water taxi to Manhattan.

The towers have 24-hour doormen and concierges.

Common areas have occupancy sensors for lighting.  About 70 percent of the building's energy is purchased from renewable sources and the building exceeds the state's energy conservation code by about 15 percent. 

The development is three blocks from the subway and there is on-site Zipcar service. 

The Brooklyn Flea and Smorgasbord is next door.

Apartments

Some apartments in The Edge’s north tower overlook the south edge of the very handsome East River State Park.

Some penthouses have double-height ceilings and fireplaces.

Kitchens have Miele refrigerators and dishwashers, Bosch cooktops and wall ovens, white quartz countertops and garage disposal units.

Some one-bedroom apartments have large wrap-around terraces with three entrances and large living/dining areas with open kitchens.

Other two-room units have very large living/dining areas with two walls of windows and a long, open kitchen.

A 500-square-foot studio in the south tower has an entrance foyer that opens into a kitchenette that leads to a large living room.

A three-bedroom in the south tower has a very long gallery that leads past an open kitchen to a living/dining area.

A two-bedroom in the south tower has an entrance foyer that leads to an open kitchen with a large dining area with a large, angled balcony adjacent to a large living room.

History

In an August 26, 2007 article in The New York Times, C. J. Hughes wrote that "The East River is still polluted, from sewage runoff and a long-ago oil spill, according to the city s Department of Environmental Protection, so it is probably not quite fit yet for doing the backstroke."

"But that hasn't altered its role as a selling point for developments springing up along its banks in Brooklyn and Queens, where a recent rezoning has allowed housing to take the place of warehouses. How popular are developers expecting the waterfront to become? Well, the sheer size of some projects provides an indication."

In 2005, the Bloomberg Administration passed a rezoning plan for the neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint in Brooklyn in an attempt to transform about 50 acres of derelict or vacant land into new parkland with a 1.6-mile public esplanade.

The transformation has been quite remarkable and several major new residential developments have sprouted up around a state waterfront park. 

In October, 2011, it was announced that Douglaston Development would build a 40-story rental tower on a site within the neighboring Northside Pier complex with construction scheduled to bring in March 2012. 

Other partners in the $1.2 billion project include UBS, the investment bank, and Louis Silverman, the former owner of the site that used to house a trucking business.

Mr. Jacobs has long been one of the most prolific and busy residential architects in New York City and in recent years he has developed a flair for snazzy and slick buildings such as the Gansevoort Hotel in the Meat-Packing District between the West Village and Chelsea.