Metrotech Center

Citing sanitary concerns, the Metrotech BID has barred dogs from frolicking on the Metrotech Commons, depriving Downtown Brooklyn pooches access to one of their favorite pieces of real estate, reports The Brooklyn Paper.

“[We are] certainly willing to have people sit there on a blanket — that’s not prohibited — but it conflicts with the dog thing because if the dog is doing his number on the lawn, it could be unsanitary,” Michael Weiss, executive director of the BID, told The Paper. “You can just clean up so much, and you can’t clean up wet stuff.”

According to the reporter:

As new residents move in to the predominantly commercial area, so too are residents’ dogs, and, in an area unaccustomed to the needs of a 24-7 population, there are very few places where residents can walk — and relieve — their Fidos and Fifis.  read more »

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The Brooklyn Eagle is reporting that the developer at 101 Willoughby Street (or 7 Metrotech Center) is trying to woo Whole Foods over to the former Verizon building. It's currently being converted into a 250-unit luxury residential tower. The landmarked 27-story building, at the corner of Bridge Street, has 64,000 square feet of retail space on three floors.

The Real Estate called up Whole Foods to see if they are eyeing the space, but they wouldn't comment on it, saying only, "We're looking at the best possible location." But they did tell us that their Park Slope location is currently being cleaned up from the toxic sludge discovered earllier at the site, and groundbreaking for construction should begin in two and a half months, with a completion date in about 14 months.

-Matthew Grace