‘A Uniquely Brooklyn Product’ — How City Point Became The Borough’s Buzziest Destination

Bright colors and “contemporary but urban” woodblock typeface will be recurring design elements.
Brooklyn is a mix of old and new. It’s ethnic enclaves and artisanal goods, Hasidim and hipsters. Which is why this borough, this great city within a great city, attracts visitors from all over the world.
Considering its incredibly convenient location, it seems only natural that Downtown Brooklyn would eventually make its mark as a global brand. Enter: City Point, a large mixed-use development — 1.8 million square feet of retail, office, entertainment, and high-rise residential buildings — that remains Brooklyn to the core. City Point is taking the neighborhood, recently anointed DoBro, from a local spot — albeit one studded with gems like BAM and the Transit Museum — to a destination for natives and tourists alike.
From the beginning, the companies behind the complex, Acadia Realty and Washington Square Partners took into consideration Brooklyn’s unique character with its particular community needs and spirit. As construction moved forward, the developers were looking to local sources for their workforce, as well as making special efforts to work with women- and minority-owned business.
Architecture studio COOKFOX, renowned for its commitment to the highest standards of design and sustainability, infused a respect for the community into the design of the complex. Led by Richard A. Cook, the COOKFOX team took a sweeping approach to the project, with the architects expressing the strong desire to tie together “Downtown Brooklyn’s grand past with its thriving future.”
It’s a past that goes back farther than many realize: COOKFOX designed City Point’s three towers to echo the Native American agricultural practice known as the “Three Sisters,” in which corn, beans and squash are planted to ensure a more sustainable harvest. The architecture also pays tribute to local history, with the tower facades echoing the grand marble of the historic Dime Savings Bank, built in 1908.
Brand architects at Pentagram Studio, an independently-minded design firm known for its passionate approach to graphics and brand identity, were key players in the development phase.
“We’ve been working with [developer] Paul Travis and COOKFOX from the early days to help find a way to make this a uniquely Brooklyn project,” said Michael Gericke of Pentagram. “City Point is in the heart of Brooklyn, it has a curated food hall, and a collection of many local Brooklyn-based tenants. We wanted its graphics to convey that sense of being you’re proud of where you come from and what Brooklyn has to offer. To celebrate that pride.”
Pentagram created an authentic visual identity for City Point, using bright colors for the elevators and signage, and selecting a “contemporary but urban” woodblock typeface, a visual reminder for visitors of old-time playbills and posters.
Change is in the air. DoBro is burgeoning and Brooklynites — and all New Yorkers — are pleased. Regina Myer, President of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership, enthused about the respectful and innovative changes City Point is bringing to Downtown Brooklyn.
“Downtown Brooklyn is part of the resurgence of American urban life, and City Point is a really exciting destination. It’s an amazing combination of residential, office, retail and food that serves the local neighborhood and is a destination for visitors and tourists. It’s very well located and it’s got great Brooklyn-born brands like Century 21. It has residential appeal, office appeal, tourist appeal — it’s part of an amazing revitalization of urban life, and people are drawn to it.”
From the sophisticated screens at Alamo Drafthouse to global eats at DeKalb Market Hall to its popular pop-up markets, City Point is making DoBro the borough’s buzziest destination.
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
2X match on all Passover gifts!
Most Popular
- 1
News A Jewish Republican and Muslim Democrat are suddenly in a tight race for a special seat in Congress
- 2
Film & TV What Gal Gadot has said about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict
- 3
Fast Forward The NCAA men’s Final Four has 3 Jewish coaches
- 4
Culture How two Jewish names — Kohen and Mira — are dividing red and blue states
In Case You Missed It
-
Film & TV Val Kilmer was the voice of my generation’s Moses (and God)
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker spoke at a synagogue on Yom Kippur. Its rabbi says Jews should learn from his 25-hour Senate speech.
-
Fast Forward Cory Booker’s rabbi has notes on Cory Booker’s 25-hour speech
-
Fast Forward Naftali Bennett is back: Former Israeli prime minister will make another run at Netanyahu
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.