322-unit affordable complex with healthcare center and courtyard planned for East Flatbush

Another proposal has been chosen for a new affordable development in East Flatbush as part of the state’s effort to revitalize neighborhoods in Central Brooklyn. Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Thursday announced plans for a 322-unit complex called “Utica Crescent” that will be constructed on a lot next to the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. The project is part of the $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn initiative that will ultimately bring 4,000 units of affordable housing, improved health and wellness options, jobs, and additional open space to underserved Brooklyn neighborhoods.

Renderings courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office

The winning proposal from CB Emmanuel, Monadnock Development, and Catholic Charities includes the construction of a new dialysis center to replace a current, smaller one at Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center and a large grocery store and local businesses on the ground level.

Of the 322 units planned for Utica Crescent, 34 of the units will be set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families and 96 will be designated for seniors. Resident amenities include laundry rooms, fitness center, bike storage, and multipurpose community facilities.

The plan also will add 30,000 square feet of open space, including an interior courtyard, bleacher seating, walking paths, areas for outdoor recreation, and a landscaped street level.

Last December, plans were unveiled to transform the Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center North Campus into the Kingsbrook Estate, a three-building development with 266 affordable housing units. Designed by Dattner Architects in collaboration with landscape architecture firm terrain, the project’s buildings set aside the affordable units for older adults and disabled veterans.

“The need for affordable housing and easily-accessible health care is no secret to the residents in Brooklyn’s most vulnerable communities,” State Sen. Zellnor Myrie said. “The Utica Crescent project is a creative, modern, energy-efficient and health-oriented development that will provide generations of residents with the housing and community services that have been severely lacking in this neighborhood for far too long.”

First announced in 2017, Cuomo’s Vital Brooklyn plan hopes to address the area’s disproportionately high rates of obesity, diabetes, and high blood pressure, violence, unemployment, poverty, while also lacking access to healthy food options and high-quality healthcare. A majority of the initiative’s funding is allocated for affordable housing, health care, and open space. The neighborhoods in focus include Brownsville, East New York, Flatbush, Bed-Stuy, and Crown Heights.

“The pandemic has further exposed the inequalities that exist in far too many of our communities and at the same time it’s shown how important it is for New Yorkers to have access to safe and affordable housing,” Cuomo said in a statement.

“We are facing unprecedented challenges, but we are in this together – and that’s why the State is continuing to step up and help those who need it most by moving forward with projects like Utica Crescent, which will increase affordable housing opportunities for hundreds of New Yorkers.”

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Renderings courtesy of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s Office