The Dime Savings Bank Building contains a white-marble facade with colonnades; a diagonal entrance portico on Albee Square; and a domed roof.

The tower section accommodates approximately 150 condominiums and 425 rental apartments, totaling roughly 466,000 square feet (43,300 m2).

The original building, which operated as Dime Savings Bank's main branch for over a century, was expanded by Halsey, McCormack and Helmer in 1931–1932.

The southwest corner faces a pedestrian plaza at Albee Square, and the Brooklyn Tower wraps around a structure at 33 DeKalb Avenue to the southeast.

[20] The only sections of the bank without a marble facade are the rear (north) wall, as well as an attic on the eastern end of DeKalb Avenue.

[34] At the southwest corner of the building, a tetrastyle entrance portico faces the pedestrian plaza at Albee Square.

[20][31] Behind the columns, a stoop leads from the plaza to a multi-story opening, framed by a marble surround with acanthus leaf, bezant, and bead molding motifs.

[20] Above the colonnades, the attic level contains window openings, which are separated by pilasters and topped by a frieze with a Greek key pattern.

Rams' heads and garlands of fruit are carved at the top of each end bay, and the capital of each pilaster contains a Greek key pattern.

[25] The base of the residential tower is clad in stone to complement the bank,[12][41] and the facade gradually becomes darker as it rises.

[37] The mullions are extruded from the glass curtain wall[29] and contain sharp edges at certain locations, giving the impression of a staggered facade.

[21] The bank's original design included a gray Vermont marble floor and a cream-colored plaster wall.

The DeKalb Avenue lobby has walls with marble wainscoting and scalloped pilasters, above which runs a cornice with a Greek-key pattern.

[34][65] To keep up with this growth, the bank hired Halsey, McCormack and Helmer (now Mancini Duffy) to design a significant expansion of its central branch, which was built from 1931 to 1932.

[15][68] For this expansion, Halsey, McCormack and Helmer received an "outstanding building" award from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, as did general contractor William Kennedy Construction Company.

[71] The Dime Savings Bank opened a permanent exhibit for homebuyers on the sixth floor of its building in 1944,[72] with more than 42,000 visitors in its first year.

[91][92] JDS and Chetrit also planned to acquire a two-story building at DeKalb and Flatbush Avenues, occupied by cheesecake restaurant Junior's, to use its air rights.

[97][98][99] Meanwhile, JPMorgan Chase had expressed interest in selling the Dime Savings Bank's air rights to JDS and Chetrit in April 2014.

[93][94] According to The New York Times, if JDS and Chetrit were able to acquire all the air rights on the block, then a skyscraper of more than 1,000 feet could be erected on the site.

[102] The same month, JDS and Chetrit acquired the Dime Savings Bank Building from JPMorgan Chase for $90 million using the money from the refinancing.

[104] JDS and Chetrit released a modified plan in early 2016, increasing the height slightly while reducing the amount of retail space.

[115] JDS invested an additional $60 million in equity in August 2018 to purchase Chetrit's stake in the property, obtaining full ownership of the project.

[57] Unidentified real-estate professionals, interviewed by the website Curbed, expressed skepticism over whether people were willing to pay the average asking price of $2,300 per square foot ($25,000/m2) for 9 DeKalb Avenue's apartments.

[11][55][52] At the time, real estate consultants said potential buyers might have had some concerns because of mechanical and safety issues at another supertall building in Manhattan, 432 Park Avenue.

[44] A CNN reporter wrote: "The building has had a striking effect on the borough's architecture, from its soaring height to its bold exterior of fluted black stainless steel.

"[58] Kim Velsey of Curbed said that, when the building was being built, it garnered criticism from real-estate professionals who felt that the tower would be more suited to Billionaires' Row in Manhattan.

[61] Writers from The Architect's Newspaper and The Financial Times said that many locals have compared it to the Tower of Sauron from the Lord of the Rings franchise, saying that it "exudes a certain menace.

"[149][150] Architectural critic Justin Davidson wrote for Curbed in August 2023 that while the lower facade's "geometric gamesmanship has a Baroque intensity", on the upper stories, "patterns and proportions shift along the way, creating a restless energy you can sense even from a distance".

In discussing both the Brooklyn Tower and 130 William Street in Manhattan, Davidson said, "The designs express not just an abundance of money, but a distinct architectural philosophy: The city can tolerate personality.

"[38] Alexandra Lange of Bloomberg News wrote that the Brooklyn Tower, along with the neighboring 100 Flatbush, were reminiscent of the 1930s Art Deco architecture of New York City.