R
ockrose Development has filed permits to transform a former college site in Brooklyn Heights into housing. The project involves converting three buildings on the former St. Francis College campus, which once housed dorm rooms and lecture halls, into 747 residential units. Rockrose acquired the site for $160 million in 2023 after St. Francis relocated its campus to another location.

    The development will include retail space on the ground floor, underground parking for 131 cars and 375 bikes, and stretch across an entire block between Court and Clinton streets. Estimated costs are around $207.6 million, according to permits filed by Rockrose's senior vice president of construction.

    One of the buildings involved is a historic landmark, 176 Remsen Street, which was originally built in 1914 as the headquarters of the Brooklyn Union Gas Company. The plan is to partially demolish this building and add four new floors, with proposals approved by city preservationists in July. The other two buildings will be demolished and rebuilt as residential properties.

    The project has faced controversy due to Rockrose's partnership with Alba Services, a nonunion demolition contractor accused of labor rights abuses. Several union laborers were arrested in August for protesting the partnership, but were later released.