NYU is exploring expansion options with the Brooklyn Academy of Music and within Downtown Brooklyn, a neighborhood which has drawn an increasingly young, college-age population following its major rezoning in 2004.

Despite the recession, property owners in Brooklyn are successfully renting units. Additionally, stalled construction projects are restarting, as contractors and developers are coming return to the sites. Buildings in Downtown Brooklyn, Boerum Hill, and Fort Greene are continuing to attract residents.

After opposing the downtown Brooklyn House of Detention plan three times, Controller William Thompson (D) finally approved the $34 million contract. Thompson once considered the plan a wasteful tax expenditure and did not explain why he changed his mind.

The Capital Resource Corporation approved $20 million in stimulus funds to restart development of the CityPoint project on Fulton Mall. The mixed-use space has long been a subject of controversy in the area. Many have expressed concerns about the true affordability of housing and the possible influx of national chain stores.

Developers of Forte, a residential tower in Downtown Brooklyn, officially transferred the deed back to its lending bank.

Prices of condominiums located in the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank Building were cut significantly – by as much as 23%. One thousand square foot luxury units are now being listed at $675,000.

The Brooklyn Eagle highlighted a few plaza and park construction projects that are greening Downtown Brooklyn. One will be an urban public plaza at Columbus Park, which will hold an arrangement of trees and plants. Other public plazas include one at Willoughby and Adams streets and another at Fulton Street and DeKalb Avenue.

The Brooklyn Paper disagrees with the City’s allocation of $20 million in federal stimulus funds to save the CityPoint tower (also known as the Albee Square Mall Tower) project in Downtown Brooklyn.

Columbus Park and the plaza adjoining Brooklyn Borough Hall will be renovated to create a new mixed-use outdoor public space. The stalled City Point project will received a $20 million infusion through federal stimulus funds. Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz is pushing for the City’s Department of Finance to relocate to the City Point Tower.

Mayor Bloomberg and the Economic Development Corporation have decided to allocate $20 million in tax-exempt bonds supplied by federal stimulus funds for the City Point development project in downtown Brooklyn. City Point was previously slowed during the downturn of the economy.