Council Member Jumaane Williams. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste
The City Council’s Land Use Committee approved three projects in Brooklyn with varying forms and degrees of affordable housing. On April 20, 2017, the Land Use Committee voted to approve three new projects with some dissent registered. During the meeting, Council Member Jumaane Williams remarked that as a body the City Council was presenting two faces. One face to the public in discussing homelessness and affordable housing, and another face when voting on projects “that do nothing to help homelessness or provide real affordability.” He argued that the public would be outraged if it really knew what types of projects were being approved by the City Council.
Chair David Greenfield noted in response that the developer in the Rose Castle application was pushed to its limits for affordable housing, as evidenced by financial documents submitted to the Committee, and would walk away if pushed farther.
Below are descriptions of the three projects with their respective vote tallies. The three application will be voted on by the full City Council today.
Rose Castle
Previously approved by the Planning Commission in March, this proposed project would contain almost 300 new residential units located in two buildings opposite of each other on Franklin Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The first project site, located on the southwest corner of Flushing Avenue and Franklin Avenue, currently contains a one-story industrial building, and a one- and two-story commercial catering hall formerly operated by Rose Castle. The second project site, on mid-block on the east side of the street at 43 Franklin Avenue, currently operates as a parking lot. The two projects are estimated to produce 90 affordable units. For CityLand’s previous coverage of this ULURP application, click here.
On April 20th the Land Use Committee voted 17-2 to approve the application with a modification. The modification eliminated the Workforce option from the smaller of the two development sites, requiring then that either 30 percent of the floor area be affordable at a 80 percent of the area median income or 25 percent of the floor area be affordable at 60 percent of the area median income. The Workforce option would remain for the larger site.
In his dissenting vote, Council Member Brad Lander expressed his opinion that the Workforce option should not be in the law and that he would continue to vote No on any project containing that option. Council Member Jumaane Williams, in explaining his No vote, agreed with Lander that the Workforce option should not be available.
Caton Flats
This project would transform a one-story building currently occupied by the Flatbush Caton Market into a 14-story mixed-use building in Brooklyn’s Flatbush-Ditmas Park neighborhood. The Market is a group of 39 local vendors in 43 stalls that sell a variety of goods and services, and is managed by the Caribbean American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Market would continue to operate in a new 9,370-square-foot commercial space in the new building. The redevelopment would also result in 251 affordable units. For CityLand’s previous coverage of this development, click here.
The Land Use Committee voted 18-0 to approve the application with a modification. The project would now include 27 units of affordable housing at 37 percent of the area median income. Previously the lowest band proposed for the project was 47 percent of the area median income.
Council Member Jumaane Williams abstained from voting on this project. He did express his dislike for some of the projects plans, including 120 units to be rented at 130 percent of the area median income.
210-214 Hegeman Avenue
Currently a vacant lot, this project would result in the construction of 70 new affordable and supportive units in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood. Of the 70 planned units, 42 would be supportive units and 28 would be reserved for individuals earning between 27–67 percent of the area median income. The supportive housing units would be set aside for formerly homeless with a disability and would be allocated on an individual basis through a Department of Homeless Services referral program. For CityLand’s previous coverage of this ULURP application, click here.
The Land Use Committee voted 19-0 to approve the application. The representative for the area, Council Member Inez Barron, spoke before the vote. She described her support for the project as reluctant, noting that the project would contain only studios—no family units—with an average floor area of 300 square feet. For the projects pros, the Council Member noted the developer’s willingness to have deep affordability bands and to change the façade after concerns were raised, and the project’s 50 year regulatory agreement with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Council Member Barron forcefully stated that this type of project would not happen again, saying, “I’m not going to approve apartments coming at 300 hundred square feet.”
CC: Rose Castle (LU 0589-2017, LU 0590-2017), Caton Flats Development (LU 0594-2017, LU 0595-2017, LU 0596-2017), and 210-214 Hegeman Ave. (LU 0597-2017, LU 0598-2017) (April 20, 2017).