City Council approves Boerum Hill rezoning that will create 450 affordable housing units
Street view of 280 Bergen Street © Google
The New York City Council on Wednesday voted to approve the rezoning of nearly an entire block in Boerum Hill that will make way for 450 new housing units, roughly 50 percent of which will be fully affordable. The rezoning includes a stretch of Nevins Street to Bond Street between Wyckoff Street and Bergen Street, the last manufacturing block in Boerum Hill.
The rezoning will include approximately 225 affordable units spread out across two new buildings on city-owned lots, with roughly 145 units being 100 percent affordable and an additional 80 affordable units situated on a privately-owned site.
The current owner of the property has active commercial leases for parking on the two city lots that were set to expire in 41 years. Council Member Lincoln Restler worked alongside city agencies with the property owner to give up control of the lots and return them to the city in a deal that will result in the construction of 100 percent affordable housing.
“We just approved a rezoning in Boerum Hill with 450 units of housing, 50% of which will be truly affordable! This rezoning can serve as a model for how we partner with our communities and build the housing we need and deserve,” Restler tweeted on Wednesday.
Two of the buildings will be located on properties already owned by the city; one will be dedicated to senior housing and the other to extremely low and low-income families.
Most of the housing units built on the city-owned lots will be designated for use by formerly homeless individuals and extremely low-income and very low-income New Yorkers. Around 75 percent of the affordable units built on this block will sit at or below 60 percent of the area median income (AMI) to ensure true affordability, while most of the additional units will be at 80 percent of the AMI.
The rezoning project will replace the existing C-Town supermarket, which is being converted into housing as part of the Gowanus rezoning.
The developers first proposed to build on the lots in accordance with the city’s Zoning Resolution, which would require the creation of 125 parking spaces. Restler and local Community Board 2 negotiated with the developers to apply for a parking waiver so that zero new parking spots will be created in the public transit-rich neighborhood.
The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development will release a request for proposal (RFP) for the development of the two new affordable housing projects in 2023 and select a development team in 2024.
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