Rendering Revealed For 394-402 Mother Gaston Boulevard In Brownsville, Brooklyn

A 13-story mixed-use building comprising roughly 87,000 square feet, developed by TOT Developers as one of several projects the firm has underway in the neighborhood. The program combines 62 rental apartments with commercial space, community facilities, and an enclosed parking garage for 80 vehicles. J Frankl Associates revealed the first rendering, which shows a dark gray façade with intersecting white bands outlining a simple punched window system. A completion date has not yet been announced, and several program details — including how the commercial and community spaces will be used — remain to be specified.

Residential is the largest component, carrying the building’s 62 rental apartments across its 13 stories. Permit applications filed with the Department of Buildings specify 16,902 square feet of community facility space — the second-largest component — and 15,136 square feet of commercial area, ranking third. The developer has not yet clarified whether the commercial floors will be offered exclusively to retail tenants or opened to office users, and the activation plan for the community facility has not been announced. An enclosed garage for 80 vehicles rounds out the program, a meaningful parking ratio for a transit-served Brooklyn location.

The J Frankl Associates rendering shows a restrained, contemporary massing: a dark gray façade crossed by intersecting white bands that outline a simple punched window system, giving the elevation a legible grid rather than a curtain-wall expression. Above the fifth floor, the structure sets back from the street elevation, creating an outdoor terrace level at the setback. It is not yet clear whether that terrace will be programmed as a communal amenity deck or reserved as private outdoor space for select residences — a decision that meaningfully affects both the building’s marketing position and the design of its amenity package.

That has not been determined publicly. The developer has not specified whether any of the building’s 62 rental apartments will be marketed as affordable or income-restricted homes. Given the project’s Brownsville location and the mixed-use program — with nearly 17,000 square feet of community facility space filed with the Department of Buildings — the affordability mix will be one of the more closely watched details as the project advances. A completion date was likewise unavailable at the time the rendering was revealed, so leasing structure, pricing, and timeline all remain open questions.

Three, in our experience designing mixed-use and multifamily interiors. First, the terrace level: whether the fifth-floor setback becomes a shared amenity deck or private outdoor space changes the building’s entire amenity story and its lease-up positioning. Second, activation of the 16,902 square feet of community facility space — a well-programmed community component can anchor the street and differentiate the building rather than sitting dark. Third, the ground plane: lobby, retail frontage, and arrival sequence determine how the building reads to prospective renters in a competitive Brooklyn market. These decisions reward early interior design involvement, before the shell locks the options down.