Caesura

Organization Name: Jonathan Rose Companies

Project Title: Caesura

Project Location: Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District, Brooklyn NY

Project Description:
A caesura is a break in a line of poetry or music. Caesura, the building, is a break from the intensity of the city, a thoughtful balance of the retreat and community, the natural and cultural. It’s a distinctively modern, human-scaled building that stands out from the surrounding high-rise apartments in the Brooklyn Cultural District. The dynamic mixed-use building features 123 modern residences with a mix of market-rate, middle-income, and affordable apartments, two cultural spaces for Mark Morris Dance Center and Center for Fiction, and a restaurant that complements the Arts Plaza. As a pioneer in the burgeoning micro housing market, Caesura contains a mix of micro units to two-bedroom apartments, accommodating the breadth of modern urban households. In addition to a rich array of social and amenity spaces, Caesura is also made for green, holistic living. The property’s many green features include extremely quiet, energy efficient HVAC systems, a rooftop garden lounge that duplicates Brooklyn’s pre-settlement with a healthy ecosystem of indigenous plants that attracts pollinating insects and birds, and invites residents to socialize, grill, eat or work in the fresh air and sunshine.

Community Impact:
Anchoring a key corner across from the Brooklyn Academy of Music Opera House and beside the Mark Morris Dance Center and Theater for a New Audience, Caesura engages these existing institutions, energize street level experience by introducing a lively residential and commercial presence in the heart of the Brooklyn Cultural District.

Caesura focuses on the creation of an intimate and sharing community. It’s thoughtfully designed where the living space extends beyond the apartment into the Caesura community, encouraging interaction of neighbors, the sharing of goods and ideas, and the convergence of housing and life. Unique to the area are the 34 micro-units, which are delivered with space-saving furniture, such as a sofa and shelving unit that coverts to a bed, and a coffee table / desk that expands to a dining table. Complimentary WiFi and TV with cable services are included to make them a truly turn-key experience. Caesura also introduces a library of “Common Goods” - thoughtful assortment of items that residents might need occasionally but don’t need or have the space to own, such as folding chairs and tables, kitchen appliances, and musical instrument.

Organization Description:
Jonathan Rose Companies is one of the country’s leading developers and investors in sustainable, affordable, and mixed-income multifamily real estate, with nearly 15,000 units owned or managed. Founded in 1989, Jonathan Rose Companies is a mission-driven company focused on enhancing the health and wellness of our residents, through its Communities of Opportunities programming, while also developing innovative real estate solutions that build value, enhance resilience, and cultivate wellbeing.

Team Members:

Developer: Jonathan Rose Companies
Architect: Dattner Architects
Associate Architect: Bernheimer Architecture
Structural: Silman
MEP: Rodkin Cardinale
Landscape: SCAPE
Contractor: Lettire