Domino Sugar Factory Reopens In Brooklyn As Office Building

WILLIAMSBURG, NY — The iconic Domino Sugar Factory site on Williamsburg's waterfront reopened Wednesday as a sleek office building nestled inside the factory's original facade.

The building, built in 1884 and closed since 2004, turned into a 15-story office space on part of the 11-acre site of the former sugar factory.

Retail space, retail fitness club, indoor pool, full service gym, dedicated bike lobby and bike parking. food and beverage shops on the ground floor

The star of the show — besides the yellow Domino Sugar sign — is the glass dome poking out over the factory facade, which will be used as a work and event space.

The space was dramatically broken in with the Hermès Menswear Runway Show during New York Fashion Week.

Two Trees Management — which also did the DUMBO Equinox and apartment buildings across Brooklyn — bought the property in 2012. They also manage already opened residential and office buildings on the 11-acre former factory site.

“Our vision for the Domino site has always been to cultivate a vibrant mixed-use community on the Williamsburg waterfront," said Jed Walentas, CEO of Two Trees Management, in a news release.

The building was landmarked in 2007, and much of its original structure remains. The new, all-glass office building sits inside the original factory's brick facade separated by a 12-foot gap full of plants and greenery.

"The transformation of The Refinery entailed three major design moves," said Vishaan Chakrabarti, Founder of PAU.

"Inserting a contemporary building in the sleeve of the historic structure similar the machinery it once housed; creating a glass barrel
vault form that pays homage to the American Round Arch style of the original; and opening the ground floor to the park and the surrounding Williamsburg neighborhood."

The brick facade holds decades of history, and at its peak produced over a million points of sugar per day, according to Two Trees. By the 1900s, 60 percent of America's sugar would pass through the factory, according to the New York Times.

Sugar production was Brooklyn's "most important industry" in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the Domino Sugar Refinery is one of the few artifacts to remain, according to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission.

Beyond its staying power, the building was also celebrated at the time for its outstanding height and massive size, the commission said in its 2007 report.

"The reddish brick elevations tower above the narrow Williamsburg streets," the commission wrote.

The building, now all electric, was among the first buildings in Brooklyn to use electric, according to Two Trees.