Making Way for "Hip" Restaurant, CB2 Committee Approves Sale of Municipal Building

If you want to shop and eat in an historic and grand Brooklyn property, you're in luck. Retail and dining in the Brooklyn Municipal Building is just around the corner.

Efforts to turn the Building in Downtown Brooklyn into a retail destination moved forward Wednesday when the Land Use Committee of Community Board 2 approved the sale of part of the property at 210 Joralemon Street to Atlas Equities.

In December, the city's Economic Development Corporation announced plans to , and in mid-August,

Transforming parts of city buildings into commercial space is part of an ongoing citywide plan to renovate government buildings and turn them into "usable space."

According to NYCEDC representatives at the Community Board meeting Wednesday, the city sold ten percent of the municipal building for $10 million. The remaining 90 percent of the building is still owned by the city.

The amount of space sold is approximately 49,000 square feet. It consists of the basement, as well as the first and second floors of the historic building.

"It will serve as a prime retail corridor for Court Street," said EDC representative Sangeeta Reddy.

Community Board 2 Chair John Dew agreed.

The board is "looking forward to having additional retail on Court Street," he said. "We think it will enliven the block."

The space will eventually consist of multiple retail shops as well a restaurant.

Before moving forward, the Economic Development Corporation needs approval from the Brooklyn Borough Board, which includes Borough President Marty Markowitz, all the Brooklyn City Council members and the chairpersons of each of the borough’s community boards.

This plan has been hailed by Brooklyn elected officials and Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

“Downtown Brooklyn is now more alive with people than ever,” Bloomberg recently said.