With a Promise of Benefits For All, Development Execs Hail City Point

It was all smiles and handshakes on Thursday as development executives and elected officials gathered to celebrate the signing of City Point's first major tenant.

will fill the mixed-use project's first completed space at 1 Dekalb Ave.—adding yet another recognizable brand to nearby Fulton Street's exploding shopping district.

"Downtown Brooklyn is truly on the rise," said Seth Pinsky, president of the city's Economic Development Corp. "We believe that the future of this neighborhood is bright and can only get brighter."

However, the timeline for construction of perhaps the most anticipated component of City Point—a 680-foot residential tower that would surpass Fort Greene's One Hanson Place as the borough's tallest building—was far from certain.

According to sources with knowledge of the effort, construction on what would be Phase 3 of the City Point development is dependent on a highly volatile real estate market.

Still, one of Downtown Brooklyn's biggest boosters was still bullish on the CityPoint's potential as an economic gamechanger on the borough's doorstep just over the Manhattan Bridge.

"There's a tremendous amount of varied stakeholders in Downtown Brooklyn, so the idea that in one project you can provide a retail use with affordable shopping options, market-rate residential to help activate these streets 24/7 and a affordable housing component," said Tucker Reed, president of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership. "It's a very rare thing."

With groundbreaking of City Point's residential component still up in the air, continues to make creative use of the space—while it still lasts.

"We want to set the conditions in Downtown Brooklyn for all sorts of public markets," Reed said. "Whether it's Dekalb Market at that location or something similar, it's an environment that we want to see here."