No Con-Do

I suppose it should come as no surprise that in this potentially shrinking housing market no developer wanted to take a chance on building on top of a jail:

An eyebrow-raising plan to build luxury apartments, office space or even a hotel alongside the unpopular Brooklyn House of Detention to make it blend in better with the trendy neighborhood has been scrapped for lack of interest.

The city floated the novel idea this spring as a way to tamp down widespread community outrage over plans to reopen and expand the jail, which has been shuttered since 2003.

But this month, city officials acknowledged the ambitious plan died because developers just didn’t bite.

“We’re disappointed, but we’re not surprised,” said Angela Ferrante, the head of a coalition of local groups fighting the jail reopening. Ferrante attended a Jan. 2 briefing on responses to the city’s Request for Expressions of Interest issued in May.

“It always seemed like a long shot that a developer would want to built right next to a prison,” she added, though luxury condos already have gone up across the street.

Correction Commissioner Martin Horn told advocates at the meeting there was only one response — from a developer who wanted to tear down the existing jail, which wasn’t part of the plan.

Correction officials yesterday said they would still be open to development if a viable proposal was made, but said they are moving ahead with plans to reopen the jail and add a $240 million addition to double its capacity from 749 inmates to 1,469.

Earlier: Just Think How Low The Monthly Maintenance Will Go If We Get Whole Foods As The Tenant!

Location Scout: Brooklyn House of Detention.