Jail with Condos is Dead, but Not Jail with Retail & Classrooms

The plan to build condos and retail around the Brooklyn House of Detention, what McBrooklyn calls a "supersize jail-aganza," may be dead due to lack of developer interest, but plans for a reopened and bigger jail are moving forward. Sarah Ryley reports in the Brooklyn Eagle that there are still plans to double the jail's capacity:

Spokesman Steve Morello said the Department of Correction remains “committed to have an expanded jail [with roughly 1,400 beds] there. The only question is, will there be additional uses of the parcel, and if there are, will it include retail on Atlantic Avenue, which obviously we would like to see in the interest of the neighborhood’s point of view.”

The Daily News reports that the $240 million expanded jail would open in 2012. Another idea for the space is to include a school, an idea that also appears to have a lead balloonish quality to it, particularly with parents and residents.