Image Credit: Magnusson Architecture and Planning/HPD

The shared-use building is expected to be completed in December 2020. On February 6, 2019, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Maria Torres-Springer announced that HPD is joining Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc., Brooklyn Public Library, and New York State Homes and Community Renewal in bringing a new, first of its kind, shared-use model building to Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The eight-story building will house both Sunset Park’s new state-of-the-art public library and 49 deeply affordable apartments. The project was financed through $35.5 million in public and private investment.

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Council member Stephen Levin. Image credit: William Alatriste/NYC Council

The modified proposal provides for a larger Brooklyn Heights library branch, the construction of a new library branch, STEM education laboratories, and additional monetary incentives.  On December 16, 2015, the City Council at its stated meeting voted to approve the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ and Brooklyn Public Library’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.   The Council-approved version of the library redevelopment plan modifies the City Planning Commission-approved plan from November 2, 2015. (See previous CityLand coverage here.)

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Rendering of Brooklyn Public Library development in Brooklyn Heights. Image credit: Marvel Architects

Developer would build new public library on the ground floor of a mixed-use development and construct off-site affordable housing.  On November 2, 2015, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ and Brooklyn Public Library’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure applications to reconstruct the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on the base level of a mixed-use building.  A public hearing was held on the proposal on September 22, 2015.  (See previous CityLand coverage here.)

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David Kramer, principal of the Hudson Companies, testifying before the City Planning Commission.  Image credit: CityLand

The proposed redevelopment would replace the current library with an upgraded library and luxury condominiums.  On September 22, 2015, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ and Brooklyn Public Library’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.  The proposal would replace the current library with a new 36-story building containing a new library on the ground floor and 139 market-rate condominiums above.  The proposed plan would also construct 114 permanently-affordable housing units at an off-site location in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Heights Library is located at 280 Cadman Plaza West, and would remain open throughout the redevelopment process at an interim location inside Our Lady of Lebanon Church, located at 113 Remsen Street, which is five blocks from the library site.  Clinton Hill and Brooklyn Heights are both located within Brooklyn Community Board 2.

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Stone Avenue Branch, Brooklyn Public Library. Image Credit: LPC.

Library was the first in the nation devoted solely to the needs of children. On April 7, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a hearing on the potential individual landmark designation of the Stone Avenue Branch of the Brooklyn Public Library, at 581 Mother Gaston Boulevard in the Brownsville neighborhood. The Library completed in 1914, to designs by architect William B. Tubby, is one of 21 public libraries in Brooklyn whose development was funded by industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie in the early 20th century. (read more…)

Landmarks approved the proposal, finding that the access changes were well integrated into the building’s design, thus eliminating any discernable impact on the perception of the building from the street. The geometric paving, due to its simple repetitive pattern, would be in the spirit of the original plaza design. Landmarks, noting that the kiosk’s footprint aligns with the pattern of the plaza paving and that the water feature, when off, blends with the material of the steps, found these features complementary to the overall design.Brooklyn Public Library entrance will be enlarged and geometric paving added to plaza. Landmarks approved substantial renovation of the Central Building of the Brooklyn Public Library at 2 Eastern Parkway and Grand Army Plaza. The 1935 Central Building, a Modern Classical structure designed by Alfred Morton Githens and Francis Keally and built in 1935, was designated in 1997 as an individual landmark. The Library sought a Binding Report to redesign the entrance of the Central Building in order to enlarge the plaza, add an access ramp and alter the entrance steps. Aesthetic changes, such as adding kiosks, a water feature and a geometric- patterned series of paving stones in the library’s plaza, were also proposed. (read more…)