Upscale food hall will open in the landmarked hall of Brooklyn’s Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower
Renderings courtesy of Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment unless otherwise noted
A high-end food hall is coming to a Brooklyn landmark. Miami-based hospitality brand Casa Tua will open Cucina by Casa Tua inside the former banking hall of the Williamsburgh Savings Bank Tower, also known as One Hanson Place, bringing Italian fare and fine goods to Downtown Brooklyn. The Landmarks Preservation Commission on Tuesday voted to approve designs for the new food hall, which will preserve the landmarked interiors, keeping its cathedral-inspired design, and add new spaces for dining and gathering.
Designed by Halsey, McCormack, and Helmer, the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building was constructed in the late 1920s in a Romanesque Revival design. The 512-foot-tall tower was the tallest in Brooklyn for 80 years until 2009. With its domed clock tower, it remains an integral part of the borough’s evolving skyline. LPC designated the tower an individual landmark in 1977 and as an interior landmark, including the banking hall, in 1996. The office skyscraper was converted into 175 apartments in 2006.
Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment (BSE), the parent company of the Barclays Center, acquired the retail portion of One Hanson Place in October 2024 for $10.3 million. In May, BSE announced plans to bring Cucina by Casa Tua to the ground floor of the tower, marking its first hospitality expansion beyond the Barclays Center, as Crain’s reported.
The banking hall, described by the LPC in their designation report as “basilica-like,” has over 60-foot ceiling heights, nearly a dozen types of marble, and ornate mosaics.
The project, designed by Acheson Doyle Partners Architects and Hapstak Demetriou, adaptively reuses the space, which has been vacant for years. New mezzanines will be installed, which will overlook the food hall. According to the presentation, there will be a main bar, a raw bar, and a sushi/crudo kiosk in the center. There will be pizza, pasta, a bakery, a salad grab-and-go section, and a cafe.
According to BSE, additional features of the building include a “lounge, private dining and special event spaces on the lower level, marking a significant expansion in how Cucina, and the group more broadly, will host and engage with its community.”
Casa Tua currently has locations on the Upper East Side, Miami Beach, Aspen, Paris, and Capri; the Cucina format is currently only in Miami.
Cucina is expected to open at One Hanson Place in 2027.
“Growth has always been very deliberate for us. It’s about extending our version of hospitality – our quality, connection, and care – to a wider audience without losing the intimacy that makes Casa Tua special,” Miky Grendene, co-founder, Casa Tua, said in a May press release.
“One Hanson Place is a remarkable, historic setting, and with Brooklyn Sports & Entertainment, we share a clear vision for how to approach it: with the utmost respect for the landmark building, the neighborhood, and the people who will bring it to life every day.”
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