You can have active ground floor, neighborhood scaled retail with a tower on top. Unfortunately doesn't seem to be something developers are interested in here. I'm sure a city block sized retail space that sits empty, waiting for a trader joes, is easier to manage than 20 small spaces that would actually be rented and used by people.

It's my biggest gripe with downtown Brooklyn. City Planning "created" a new neighborhood with the rezonings but forgot the neighborhood aspect. The ground plane is lifeless.