The largest office tower in Brooklyn could be built as part of the massive 22-acre Pacific Park (formerly Atlantic Yards) development, if the development rights for the project can be secured.

Greenland Forest City, a partnership between Forest City Ratner and Chinese real estate firm Greenland Holdings, is responsible for the $5B Pacific Park project.

GFC says it would need to transfer nearly 1.1M SF of development rights from the plaza in front of Barclays Center to 590 Atlantic Ave—across the street from Barclays Center—in order to make the proposed 1.5M SF office tower work, according to Crain's.

The tower would be the first office building at Pacific Park, which currently has six residential buildings underway. If it works out, the tower would also be the largest ever built in Brooklyn, but not for long—a 90-story residential tower in downtown Brooklyn planned by JDS and Chetrit would dwarf the GFC tower if and when it gets the green light. 

GFC says the move makes sense given Pacific Park’s original vision, and the strong market for office space in Brooklyn. GFC will need the state-controlled Empire State Development Corp to sign off on a change to Pacific Park's General Project Plan in order to move forward, and will also have to complete an environmental impact statement for the project. 

Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, an important local business group, supports the project and says the office vacancy rate in downtown Brooklyn has fallen to a historic low of 1.6%. He says the area risks losing significant investment and future job growth if additional inventory does not come online in the immediate future. [Crain’s]