A new high-rise is lining up for North Williamsburg. Permits are in with the New York City Department of Buildings for a 17-story mixed-use building at 277 North 8th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with developer David Grunfeld of GW Infinity LLC listed as the owner. The proposal calls for 99 residential units and a sizable community-facility component, and demolition permits for the existing low-rise structure on the lot were filed last month. If the plans move forward as filed, the project would rank among the larger infill developments on this stretch of North 8th Street.
What the filings show
The filings describe a 165-foot-tall, masonry-based tower spanning roughly 142,842 square feet. That total includes about 73,411 square feet of residential space, 66,718 square feet of community facility space, and 2,713 square feet of commercial area. The 99 apartments average roughly 741 square feet, and the plans do not include any accessory parking. Kao Hwa Lee Architects is listed as the architect of record, according to documents summarized by New York YIMBY.
Site, zoning and prior marketing
The development site sits between Meeker Avenue and Havemeyer Street and has already been on the radar for builders. A prior listing from JLL marketed the parcel as a development opportunity, describing it as a roughly 6,519-square-foot lot with about 94.5 feet of frontage on North 8th Street and mixed M1-2/R6 zoning. That marketing positioned the property as a long-standing redevelopment play in North Williamsburg, and the listing material lays out background on the parcel along with its development potential.
Where this fits in the citywide picture
The 99-unit count drops this project squarely into a trend that has emerged since changes to the city's 485-x tax abatement rules. Developers have increasingly steered toward sub-100-unit buildings to avoid new prevailing-wage requirements tied to larger abatement deals. The Real Deal reported that architects and developers have pivoted toward more 99-unit filings, with firms such as Kao Hwa Lee particularly active in that slice of the market.
Transit access and next steps
If built as planned, the tower would sit a short walk from the Metropolitan Avenue-Lorimer Street subway station, which is served by the G and L trains, placing the address inside the broader L train corridor redevelopment zone. Department of Buildings records and public property databases show new-building applications for the site in late 2025 and early 2026, and demolition permits for the existing two-story building were posted recently, according to PropertyShark. The filings do not yet list an estimated completion date.
What to watch
So far, no construction timeline or community board filing appears in public records. The next moves will come through additional city filings and any formal notices from the development team, which will show whether the proposal advances from paperwork to active construction.
