Jed Walentas

All the pieces fell into place for Two Trees Management as the company welcomed office tenants into its Domino Sugar Refinery complex along the Brooklyn waterfront, an area that the Walentas family-led firm is continually modernizing, not just with premium office space, but with luxury condos and rentals as well. 

“Despite an obviously sluggish commercial leasing market, the Refinery building is 50 percent leased just one year after opening,” Walentas said via email. “Four full floors of beautiful prebuilt offices are already fully occupied, with two more floors under construction.”

It hasn’t been an easy road as the office market continues to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic. Walentas noted that the demand is there — it’s just that you “have to work harder for your deals today.” (Walentas probably had a better view of the problems in the market than a lot of his developer peers — he’s also the chairman of the Real Estate Board of New York.)

The Refinery has drawn a diverse mix of tenants that includes tech firms, design companies and architectural businesses.

On the residential side, Two Trees has leased all 260 market-rate apartments at One Domino Square. And Two Trees also finished the final phase of nearby Domino Square, a public gathering spot adjacent to 5-acre Domino Park on the East River. Domino Square will host cultural events and experiences throughout the summer, and in the winter be turned into an ice rink.  

“The strength of demand and market reception to One Domino Square has been overwhelming,” Walentas said. “Our first for-sale product at Two Trees in a generation is exceeding all of our expectations. The building had a monumental year as the fastest-selling new condo development in the city. We have sold 60 units for more than $157 million since launching sales early last summer.” 

Two Trees will soon break ground, too, on the last element of the Domino site, which will feature 1,200 new housing units. 

“As this neighborhood continues to grow and engage the community, we expect leasing at the Refinery and condos at One Domino Square to reach 80 percent by the end of 2025,” Walentas said. “We anticipate continued momentum around the office resurgence in Dumbo’s design district with more firms joining this home base for the creative class.”