
Image Rendering of proposed building at 816 Herkimer Street, Cluster 2 Image Credit: City Planning
HPD’s Open Door Program a key facet of Rochester Suydam application. On February 26, 2020, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions heard the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and BJF Development’s application for the disposition of City owned property, the designation of an Urban Development Action Area and the approval of a property tax exemption under Article XI of the Private Housing Finance Law. The approval would facilitate the development of seven new buildings and 78 affordable homeownership units in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The application was approved by the City Planning Commission on February 19, 2020. To read CityLand’s prior coverage of the Rochester Suydam project click here.
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Rendering of Proposed Development at 35-37 Rochester Avenue Image Credit: City Planning
Affordable homeownership project receives generally positive feedback. On January 22, 2020, the City Planning Commission heard an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for the disposition of city-owned property and to designate three areas in the southern portion of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn as Urban Development Action Areas. The UDAAP designation would help facilitate the construction of seven new buildings and 78 affordable homeownership units. Felipe Cortez, a borough planner at HPD and Jack Heaney from Fulcrum Properties presented the application.
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Rendering of the proposed six-story building at 2 Howard Avenue in Brooklyn. Image Credit: CPC.
The rezoning will bring two non-applicant properties into zoning compliance but has the Borough President and City Planning Commission concerned that it will also create an opportunity for out-of-context development. On April 24, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a proposed six-story residential and ground floor retail building at 2 Howard Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. To facilitate the project, the applicant is seeking to rezone a portion of Howard Avenue comprised of the applicant’s property and two other properties, from the existing zoning district, R6B/C2-4, which allows for low density residential uses and commercial uses to a C4-4L commercial district that has a higher density residential use allowance. The application would extend the C4-4L commercial district that already exists north of these sites along the Broadway transit corridor over the three properties, better reflecting this area’s existing conditions. As part of the application, the properties would also be designated as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, with both Options 1 and 2. The application was presented to the City Planning Commission at a public hearing on March 27, 2019, by Lisa Orrantia of Akerman, LLP. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed 14-story development at 1921 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Image Credit: CPC.
The project will be financed under an HPD program that requires low and extremely low income affordability and set-asides for the formerly homeless. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application that will bring a 14-story affordable mixed-use development with 235 residential units to 1921 Atlantic Avenue in the Bedford/Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The application was brought by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in conjunction with DTF Atlantic, a joint venture between two developers, Dabar Development Partners and Thorobird Companies. City Planning held a public hearing on the application on February 27, 2019. (read more…)
City neighborhoods report threats to affordable housing. The Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development released its 2018 report on “How Is Affordable Housing Threatened in Your Neighborhood?” The report provided its findings in a chart on all neighborhoods in the five boroughs and indicators of threats to affordable housing. The Association is the umbrella organization of 100 non-profit affordable housing development groups, which serves low- and moderate-income residents in all five boroughs. (read more…)