A Brave New Affluent Downtown Brooklyn

Make no mistake about it: the developers who shelled out $120 million to buy the Gallery at Fulton Mall (a.k.a., the Albee Square Mall) are serious about bringing dough to downtown Brooklyn. In a promotional brochure circulating among prospective tenants (or “tenents” as the drawing above says), the new owners say that “Albee Square will dramatically change the profile of the area, providing opportunities for larger scale national retailers as well as smaller local entrepreneurs.”

The drawings, according to spokesman Jimmy Lappas, are for illustrative purposes only; no architect has been chosen. No matter, the copy is the good part: “Albee Square will offer a retail experience that will finally attract the affluent surrounding populations of Brooklyn Heights, Fort Greene, Carroll Gardens, Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill, DUMBO, Park Slope and others.”

The other interesting take-away is how many of the imaginary customers pictured in the brochure are African-American, a point the marketers are no doubt eager to stress given the sensitivities in this area. The Gotham Gazette, in an article published Monday, said that the new building, which will also include a little office space and a 58-story tower, “would remake what is now an urban, discount-oriented mall into a sleek new tower with upscale retail and apartments.”