As of late February 2026, the Department of City Planning is reviewing an application to convert Panorama Brooklyn, a Brooklyn Heights office/commercial project at 25-30 Columbia Heights, to a mixed-use development with a sizeable residential component overlooking the East River and the Manhattan skyline. The application comes at a time when both buildings sit vacant, Brooklyn's office market is cooling, and office-to-residence conversions all over New York City show no sign of slowing down.
Applicant CIM Group seeks to enlarge the 12-story 25 Columbia Heights to 17 stories and convert its interiors to 14,850 square feet of commercial/community facility space on the ground floor with 392 residential units on top. The 13-story 30 Columbia Heights would be expanded to 14 stories and contain 269 residential units, commercial or community facility space, and residential parking. Approximately 25% of units in each building will be designated as affordable. If the ULURP goes smoothly, construction could begin in early 2027 with an estimated completion of 2029.
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The application comes about ten years after developers CIM Group, LivWrk, and Kushner Cos. acquired the early 1900s manufacturing buildings for $340 million and sought to transform them into an entertainment and creative office complex with retail at the base and terraced outdoor spaces for tenants (h/t Crain's New York Business). Many architectural details were carefully preserved, including a skybridge between 25 and 30 Columbia Heights, and the red "Watchtower" sign at the top of the building, a holdover from its time as part of the Jehovah's Witnesses campus, was changed to read "Welcome." But for all the updates, leasing momentum never happened, and LivWrk and Kushner Cos. are no longer involved. And sadly, the skybridge will not be part of the residential conversion.
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Panorama Brooklyn
Skybridge between buildings
The application comes at a time when other residential conversions are in the works for Brooklyn Heights. In June 2025, investment and development SomeraRoad purchased the Hotel Bossert, located at 98 Montague Street and described as "the Waldorf-Astoria of Brooklyn," with plans to restore the historic building and convert it to residences. More recently, Landmarks just approved an application to remove fire escapes from 29 Willow Street, a tenement building in the Brooklyn Heights Historic District, in preparation for a conversion to a two-unit luxury condominium.
Meanwhile, waterfront buildings in Brooklyn Heights are proving popular among luxury buyers. A $20 million penthouse at Quay Tower, a high-rise in Brooklyn Bridge Park, still holds the record for the most expensive condo sale in the borough years after closing in April 2020. In May 2025, Grammy Award-winning singer Ed Sheeran purchased an apartment at Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park years after renting there. And 360 Furman Street, a former printing warehouse owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses, is now One Brooklyn Bridge Park, a luxury condominium with waterfront views and high-end interiors.
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Or call us at (212) 755-5544
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