Here's the Frank Lloyd Wright-Inspired Tower That Will Rise Above South Williamsburg

(Renderings courtesy of Fogarty Finger)

Nearly a year ago, we brought news that a 22-story tower was set to rise above the Dime Savings Bank in Williamsburg. Now architects Fogarty Finger have sent over renderings of The Dime, as the project is being called.

Their description: “The Dime tower takes cues from art-moderne architecture, with a streamlined machine aesthetic defined by rounded corners, ribbon windows, and white terra cotta cladding. Inspirations included Frank Lloyd Wright’s Johnson Wax Building, drawing from its curvilinear horizontal-vertical forms, and New York’s Starrett-Lehigh Building, with its long strips of industrial windows.”

The 342,451-square-foot tower, at 263 South 5th Street, does indeed evoke Wright’s Johnson Wax Administration Building, in Racine, Wisconsin– right down to the nipple at the top. And with the architect getting a major retrospective at MoMA on this month of his 150th birthday, why not. Much like Wright’s aborted East Village skyscraper, The Dime towers over pretty much everything else near its location at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge. Which should make for some pretty sweet views.

As for the Beaux Arts bank building, that’s staying put and may be used as a retail space, judging by the rendering showing off the obligatory fixie bikes.

The ’60s-era drop ceilings and finishes will get the heave-ho and fixtures like the skylight will be revitalized. The building might also serve as a showroom or office lobby for the tower’s tenants, according to the architects.