Rendering of the proposed building at 581-583 Belmont Avenue in Brooklyn. Image Credit: Kenneth Church/CPC.
All three proposed buildings would come with amenities for residents including outdoor areas and laundry rooms. On June 19, 2019, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application to convert three City-owned properties located in the East New York neighborhood of Brooklyn to new affordable housing buildings. All three properties are currently vacant. The three proposed buildings would result in 41 affordable units and one superintendent’s unit.
To facilitate the development, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development brought an application seeking the disposition of the three City-owned properties to developers selected by HPD and designation of the properties as Urban Development Action Area and project approval. HPD selected a joint venture between the East Brooklyn Congregations, M.Lapin & Associates and the Marcal Group as the developers for the project.
Rendering of the proposed building at 190 Essex Street in Brooklyn. Image Credit: Kenneth Church/CPC.
Erin Buchanan of HPD, Deborah Widerkehr from M. Lapin & Associates, and Kenneth Church who is the architect of the buildings presented the plans to City Planning.
The first building would be located at 190 Essex Street in Brooklyn. This City-owned property is approximately 9,800 square feet and is vacant. The applicants propose a three-story, walk-up building with 15 units and a 5,200 square-foot yard located at the rear of the property. The ground floor would feature a laundry room and bicycle storage for residents. The applicants propose a bedroom mix of nine one-bedroom and six two-bedroom units.
The second building would be located at 223-227 Vermont Street, an approximately 7,900 square foot vacant City-owned lot. The applicants propose a three-story walk-up building with eleven units. Five of the units would be one-bedroom and six would be two-bedrooms. The property would feature an approximately 4,400 square foot outdoor open space at the rear and a laundry room on the ground floor for residents’ use.
The third building would be located at 581-583 Belmont Avenue in Brooklyn. The City-owned property is approximately 10,000 square feet and is vacant. The applicants propose a three-story walk-up building with 16 units. The building would have eight one-bedroom and eight two-bedroom units, with one of the two-bedroom units set aside for the buildings’ superintendent. Residents would have access to a 5,600 square foot outdoor recreation space and ground floor amenities including a laundry room and a storage area.
Rendering of the proposed building at 223-227 Vermont Street in Brooklyn. Image Credit: Kenneth Church/CPC.
Overall, the development of the three buildings would yield 21 one-bedroom and 20 two-bedroom units with a range of affordability. The units would serve those earning between 30 and 70 percent of the Area Median Income, with a majority targeted to those earning below 60 percent AMI. Rents would range from $481 to $1,549. Ten percent of the units would be set aside for formerly homeless families.
Brooklyn’s Community Board 5 did not hold a meeting on the proposed project.
On May 1, 2019, Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams recommended approval for the application. The Borough President’s approval came with several recommendations, which included prioritizing outreach to include seniors and formerly homeless families; incorporating resilient and sustainable energy for all of the projects; advancing Vision Zero policies that improve pedestrian safety; advancing environmentally-sensitive tree disposal.
At the public hearing before the City Planning Commission, only members of the applicant team testified on behalf of the project.
City Planning will vote on the application on a later date.
By: Viktoriya Gray (Viktoriya is the CityLaw Fellow and New York Law School Graduate, Class of 2018).