A New York developer has spent more than a decade transforming land that once housed a sugar factory into a residential tower. Now, the living spaces that sit atop One Domino Square tower are looking for their first owners.
The first of six penthouses at 8 S. Fourth St. in Brooklyn has hit the market with a $7 million price tag, according to a Homes.com listing. The space has the tallest waterfront view in Brooklyn, according to the architect who designed the tower. Aaron Goed of Two Trees Management, the home's listing agent, said the view of Brooklyn and Manhattan from the penthouse windows make the property worth every cent.
"You’re getting river views to the north and to the south," Goed said in an interview. "The perspective you get of the Williamsburg Bridge is something you'll never get" elsewhere.
Though One Domino Square isn't the tallest building in Brooklyn, it's the closest tower to the East River.
The penthouse features three bedrooms and three-and-a-half bathrooms that stretch across a 2,113-square-foot space. It also has floor-to-ceiling windows and a spiral staircase that leads to a private rooftop terrace.
The ideal owner of the penthouse would be someone prominent in the arts scene or someone in finance with operations across the United States but uses it "as their New York crash pad," Goed said.
"It's the jewel box on top of the building," he said. "It definitely has the master of the universe vibes up there."
One Domino Square, which opened in June, is one of three residential towers that Brooklyn developer Two Trees has erected in the borough's Williamsburg neighborhood. One Domino is made of two towers — one with 160 condominiums and a second with 399 apartments.
Not long after the tower opened, New Yorkers began buying units quickly. A condo inside One Domino sold for $5.8 million last year, making it one of the most expensive residential sales in Williamsburg. Goed said more than one-third of all condo units in One Domino have been sold and those that remain are being priced at around $1.85 million.
Two Trees will begin selling a second penthouse at One Domino later this month for $5.9 million, Goed said.
Neighborhood changes
The land that now sits below One Domino once held a sugar factory owned by Domino Foods. Dating back to 1855, New Yorkers could glance across the East River and see the yellow, neon Domino Sugars sign atop the factory building. The factory eventually closed in 2004 and the sign is now part of an art installation.
Two Trees bought the 11-acre land in 2012 for a reported $185 million.
The Domino land has changed its identity as the years passed, as did the Williamsburg neighborhood itself. Williamsburg historically began as the home to Jewish, Polish, Puerto Rican and Ukrainian immigrants. It later became a bohemian enclave for artists and musicians, then a hipster hot spot and these days, it's a haven for trendy restaurants and high-end boutique shopping.
Newer condo buildings and conversions have become most prevalent as Williamsburg’s popularity has grown, though there is more inventory in rental buildings. A one-bedroom condo in Williamsburg costs between $680,000 and $1.4 million, according to Homes.com data. In a waterfront conversion such as the Austin Nichols House, formerly a Wild Turkey bourbon distillery, a one-bedroom can cost between $1 and $1.6 million.
"It changed from its hipster, startup roots in the early 2000s to now Chanel and Hermes outposts," said Goed, who has lived in the neighborhood for decades.
"It's always been a neighborhood that mixed the best of New York," he said. "It's amazing dining but most of that is still these independent chefs and things feel experimental. The shopping is an eclectic mix of independent boutiques with some of the world's biggest luxury brands right next door. You can get the same quality of shopping you’d get on Fifth Avenue but in a neighborhood."