14-Story Office Building On Fleet Place Would Close Preschool

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN -- A 14-story office building could replace a local preschool next year that has struggled to keep up its enrollment. Duffield Children's Center has agreed to move out of its Fleet Place building to make way for the owners to build something new, officials said.

Development company The Laser Group, which owns the 101 Fleet Place building, have filed a rezoning application with Community Board 2 to construct a new mixed-use building. The application isn't fully complete yet, but the most recent plans would create a 14-story building mostly to be used as office space, said Rob Perris, the community board's district manager.

The project has been in the works for a while, Perris added, largely because the developers originally wanted to keep space for a school in the new plans.

But, the shape of the building and other constraints ultimately meant they were turned down by school construction officials, meaning the children's center or any other school will not be part of the new space.

Shutting down Duffield, though, seems to have been a long time coming, too, he said.

"According to the owner's representative, (the school) has wanted to leave for a while," Perris said. "The developer has given them sweeter and sweeter lease extensions to keep them there, but they are going to leave in June 2019."

The children's center, which teaches about 63 students age 2 through 5, has struggled to use the large building to its full capacity, Perris said. It's unclear whether the center will move somewhere else when they leave Fleet Place.

Perris and others have been working with school officials to find new locations for Duffield, but so far have been unsuccessful, he said.

The developers hope to have their application finalized in January, which will then send it to a public hearing and for review by the full board, Perris said.

Photo from Google Maps.