Unidentical Twin Towers for the New Millennium

It won’t be identical to its neighbor, but a new 77-story mixed-use tower is set to rise at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, shoulder-to-shoulder with an 80-story luxury condo tower. Think of them as the Unidentical Twin Towers for the new millennium.

JDS Development Group and SHoP Architects have announced plans for the new tower at 247 Cherry Street, next door to Extell’s One Manhattan Square, The Lo-Down reports. JDS is also developing Brooklyn’s first supertall, the 1,066-foot tall, brass-clad needle set to rise above the iconic Dime Savings Bank.

The Cherry Street tower will house 600 rental apartments, 150 of them permanently affordable, as well as retail space. The building will stand on property currently owned by the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council and Settlement Housing Fund, which reaped about $51 million for the land and development rights.

Extell’s tower, which is under construction, triggered a sharp backlash among local activists, who objected to its massive scale and power to gentrify a lower-income neighborhood. The planned JDS tower is already raising eyebrows. Assembly member-elect Alice Cancel says she objects to its scale and would like to see zoning restrictions put in place to block it. Stay tuned.