This 51-story residential condominium tower beat out One Hanson Place by two feet to earn the title of tallest building in Brooklyn when it was completed in 2009.

Known as the Brooklyner, it was developed by The Clarett Group and designed by Randy Gerner of Gerner Kornick + Valcarel Architects.

Mr. Gerner also designed two other major buildings for Clarett; the 22-story residential condominium at 2770 Broadway on the southeast corner at 104th Street; and Chelsea House at 130 West 19th Street, a mid-block, mid-rise residential condominium,

The Clarett group is best known for best known for Sky House, the 55-story residential condominium at 11 East 29th Street on the grounds of the Little Church Around the Corner designed by FXFowle, and that team also created the Forte at 230 Ashland Place near the Brooklyn Academy of Music.

Other major Clarett projects include Plaza 57, a 36-story, angled, reflective glass residential condominium tower designed by Ismael Levy at 205 West 57th Street, and 200 West End Avenue at 70th Street, a 29-story residential condominium designed by Costas Kondylis.

The 2010 "Fifth" edition of "The A.I.A. Guide to New York City by Norval White, Elliot Willensky and Fran Leadon called the Brooklyner "a non-descript slab fastened to the hip of Daus' New York and New Jersey Telephone Building," a reference to the 1898 "grand Beaux Arts Renaissance Revival palace designed by Rudolph L. Daus."

The tower is a simple, thin slab form but unlike the great dark and mysterious black monoliths of Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece, "2001," it actually tries to make some contextual gestures to its surroundings. A mid-block building, its long sides are not only not monochromatic but a colorful, complex pattern of brown and red paneling and windows.

In a November 16, 2009 article by Gersh Kuntzman in the New York Daily News, the architect said that "It's a handsome building that relates nicely to the cityscape," adding that "if you look closely, you'll notice that the building gets lighter in color as it rises from the street." "It gives the sense that the sun is shining, like looking at a mountain from far away," he said, adding that "We did a pattern of different colors so that the facade would feel as it was woven together."

The building is located at 111 Lawrence Street near the MetroTech Center.

The 491-unit rental building is made up mostly of studios and one-bedroom apartments. According to the Commercial Mortgage Alert, Clarett borrowed $181.5 million from the Bank of America, J. P. Morgan and ING Real Estate for the $280 million project, according to an article June 10, 2009 by Bonnie Kavoussi in observer.com.

The article noted that "the high-rise's most desirable apartment sits at the top: a majestic duplex penthouse overlooking New York City from all four sides of the 51st floor" with three bedrooms, four bathrooms and a kitchen.

The studios, it continued, "are small: 350 to 400 square feet apiece."

The building has a garage, a concierge and a roofdeck and a gym, party room and laundry room on the fourth floor.