Rendering of 3901 9th Avenue. Image credit: CPC/Sheldon Lobel P.C.

Rezoning application will allow new residential building and bring non-conforming buildings to conformity. On August 22, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the 3901 9^th Avenue Rezoning application submitted by 39 Group Inc. and represented by Matthew Schommer of Sheldon Lobel P.C. The applicants are proposing to a new building at the corner of 9^th Avenue and 39^th Street on the Sunset Park and Borough Park border in Brooklyn.

The proposed rezoning will change from a manufacturing district to a residential district bounded by 39^th Street to the north, New Utrecht Avenue, a line midway between 39^th Street and 40^th Street to the south, and 9^th Avenue to the west. The application will also establish a commercial district within the new residential district. The rezoning area includes five other tax lots in addition to the new building. The rezoning will conform several non-conforming buildings in the rezoning area. These buildings currently have commercial ground floor use with residential use on the top floors.

Since the application proposes to rezone the area from a manufacturing district to a residential district, the rezoning will include a mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH) text amendment. The applicant has chosen MIH Option 1.

The new building will be seven stories with commercial use on the ground floors and five stories of residential use. The building will have a 4.6 Floor Area Ratio with a 95-foot height limit. Parking requirements are waived since the building is within the transit zone. The building will contain 40 residential units. Approximately ten of the units will be affordable pursuant to MIH.

The ground floor is currently being contemplated as a supermarket. The applicant believes that there is a need for an affordable supermarket in the area. Commissioner Larisa Ortiz asked whether there was a potential supermarket in mind for the space. Matthew Schommer stated that it was still very early in the process to start negotiations for the space. Commissioner Ortiz stated that there should be some carefulness in assuming uses and including them in the application when there is uncertainty about the market viability of a location. Commissioner Ortiz also said that 8,500 square feet is “a bit of a stretch to call a supermarket.”