Brooklyn Space December 6, 2023

December 6, 2023 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Here’s a glimpse of the Pacific Park development, originally called Atlantic Yards, in 2019.
Photo by Lore Croghan

Final Phase of Atlantic Yards Project, Begun by Successful Barclays Center, Thrown Into Question by Default

The open railyard behind Barclays Center, a key unfinished component of the Atlantic Yards project (later changed to Pacific Park), will fall under new ownership and control in a public auction scheduled for January. A default of $350 million in loans, and delays in the original plans that warranted subsidies for below-market housing, will put the spotlight on a railyard that was to be developed originally as housing built on platforms above the rails.

Learn more about Pacific Park, it’s default, and it’s history.

Broadway Junction lies on the border of East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane — Broadway Junction lies on the border of East New York and Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Photo: Paul Frangipane/Brooklyn Eagle

New Affordable Housing and Retail Development Planned for Brooklyn’s Broadway Junction

A major development project is set to transform the Broadway Junction area in Brooklyn into a vibrant and transit-oriented hub. Last week, developers publicly filed long-awaited rezoning plans with the city for the project, known as “Herkimer-Williams.” Although the formal land use process is not expected to begin until 2025, this marks a significant milestone for the development.

The ambitious project aims to bring about 600 units of affordable housing, along with a substantial amount of office and retail space. The development will span four buildings, ranging from approximately 20 to 30 floors in height, and will be constructed in four phases over the course of a decade. The developer, Totem, plans to work closely with the community to determine the right affordability levels and building heights during the land use process.

Situated near the Broadway Junction transit hub, the development holds great potential for addressing the long-standing need for affordable housing and job opportunities in the community. Tucker Reed, a principal at Totem, expressed optimism that the project would meet the demands of the community, stating, “This would allow for a very vibrant, transit-oriented new development that would take into account…affordable housing, retail, and space for jobs to grow.”

While the project’s positive impact is promising, there are concerns that need to be addressed, such as the potential height of the buildings and the elimination of a street within the development site. The height of the buildings is seen both as a benefit for creating jobs and affordable housing, and as a concern for community members who worry about the visual impact on the surrounding area.

Read More in the Daily News, who broke the story, or here.

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The white building at left is recently sold 1000 Dean Street. Eagle photo by Lore Croghan — The white building at left is recently sold 1000 Dean Street.
Photo: Lore Croghan/Brooklyn Eagle

Around Kings County

Crown Heights’ 1000 Dean Street Changes Hands

The creative office complex fashioned out of a former Studebaker service center in Crown Heights has sold again, closing for $32.5 million on Thursday, November 16. Longtime readers may recall the adaptive reuse project was developed by Brownstoner founder Jonathan Butler, BFC Partners, and Goldman Sachs’ Urban Investment Group. The buyer is prominent Brooklyn developer and Cornell Realty Management founder Isaac Hager, who declined to comment via an intermediary.

Read more.

EMP Capital Group Pays $25.6 Million for Large Prospect Heights Development Site

EMP Capital Group through the entity 888 Atlantic Avenue LP paid $25.635 million for the development site at 870-878 Atlantic Avenue and at 888 Atlantic Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. This parcel is three blocks west of another large site EMP Capital Group is developing at 1034-1042 Atlantic Avenue. Elie Pariente’s EMP Capital Group purchased the property by acquiring the contract that Yoel Teitelbaum of Y&T Development as original buyer had signed with the property owner, Nikolaos Nikolaidis through the entity Odyssey Realty. The transfer price was $20 million, but a source familiar with the transaction said the EMP Capital Group purchase price was $25.635 million.

Read more.

New Downtown Brooklyn Rental Opens Lottery for 22 Middle-income Apartments

A housing lottery opened this week for 22 middle-income units at a new residential development in Downtown Brooklyn. Located at 131 Concord Street, Amnia offers tenants brand-new residences, luxurious amenities, and a prime spot in the heart of one of Brooklyn’s most popular neighborhoods. New Yorkers earning 130 percent of the area median income, or between $100,252 for a single person and $198,250 for a household of five, are eligible to apply for the apartments, priced at $2,924/month for studios, $3,126/month for one-bedrooms, and $3,733/month for two bedrooms.

Read more.

111 Willoughby Street Rises In Downtown Brooklyn

111 Willoughby Street, a 40-story residential tower that has begun to rise in Downtown Brooklyn. Designed by GF55 Architects and developed by The Michaels Organization, Triangle Equities, and Geolo Capital, the 437-foot-tall structure will span 205,000 square feet and yield 227 rental units, a 20,000-square-foot ministry center for the St. Boniface parish, and 1,814 square feet of commercial space. ZDG, LLC is the general contractor for the property, which is located by the intersection of Willoughby Street to the south and Duffield Street to the east.

Read more.

Housing Lottery Launches For 375 Dean Street In Boerum Hill

The affordable housing lottery has launched for 375 Dean Street, a 17-story residential building at 35 4th Avenue in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn. Designed by S. Wieder Architects and developed by 35 Holding LLC, the structure yields 143 residences. Available on NYC Housing Connect are 36 units for residents at 40 to 130 percent of the area median income (AMI), ranging in eligible income from $31,543 to $165,230.

Read more.

Kendrick Lamar Buys a Penthouse on the Brooklyn Waterfront

The award-winning rapper paid $8.6 million for a duplex at Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, adding to his bicoastal portfolio of real estate. The rapper Kendrick Lamar is the latest celebrity to descend on Brooklyn, with his purchase of a sprawling duplex penthouse near the waterfront in Brooklyn Heights.

His new pied-à-terre, which comes with stunning East River views, is at Pierhouse at Brooklyn Bridge Park, a 106-unit condominium built in 2015 at 90 Furman Street. He paid $8.6 million, using the limited liability company Dogg Pound Buildings. The unit, which closed in mid-November, had been listed for $8.99 million.

Read more.

Housing Solutions From

Across The Globe

Houston, Texas.<br>Photo: CY/Unsplash — Houston, Texas.
Photo: CY/Unsplash

Here’s How Houston Is Fighting Homelessness — and Winning

Dallas and Houston are two Democratic bubbles in Texas that have long faced the familiar urban ache of homeless people slumped on sidewalks and camping in parks. Both cities tried to address the challenge. But smart policy matters far more than good intentions. In Dallas, homelessness worsened for years, and that city now has the most unhoused people in Texas. Meanwhile, the Houston region has slashed homelessness by more than 60 percent since 2011. Houston achieved its results on the cheap, spending very little of its own money even as West Coast cities like Los Angeles, San Francisco and Portland, Ore., have each poured hundreds of millions of dollars into efforts to address homelessness without much to show for them.

Read more.

Perspectives From Brooklyn

And Beyond

► Hochul to Downsize 2024 Housing Goals After Ambitious 2023

Gov. Kathy Hochul appears to be punting on passing a broad package of housing legislation next year despite making it a centerpiece of her 2023 agenda. Hochul will no longer pursue statewide growth mandates as part of her plan to increase New York’s housing supply, which had arguably been the most contentious aspect of the housing compact she unveiled early this year, according to a report Wednesday in City & State. A statement from her spokesman, Avi Small, indicated she would now leave it up to the Legislature to develop a comprehensive housing plan rather than propose one of her own. Read more.

► Architects Are Chopping Up NYC Offices to Add More Floors For Apartments

New York City is in the throes of a dual real estate predicament: soaring vacancies in office spaces alongside a dearth of new housing construction. The seismic shift to remote work, triggered by the pandemic, blindsided many in the commercial real estate realm. Amidst the turmoil, a revolutionary trend is sweeping through the city’s skyline as developers and architects seize the opportunity to transform dormant office spaces into vibrant residential havens — and they’re willing to gut them if they have to.

For some visionary minds at firms like Vanbarton Group and Gensler, this transition aligns perfectly with their longstanding vision of repurposing empty office behemoths into thriving housing complexes. Read more.

► Are Offices Really all that Empty? Real Estate Industry Data says No

Even though Midtown streets are quite busy most weekdays, data from Kastle Systems show the number of workers in New York office buildings is stuck at 50% of prepandemic levels. Or is it? Data released last week by the Real Estate Board of New York show that the average office visitation rate was 66% in September, six percentage points higher than the year before. Read more.

► NYC Sees Massive Demand for Accessory Housing Pilot, Queens Leads

A small housing pilot program is seeing big demand from New Yorkers. A city-state initiative that would provide financing of up to $395,000 for New Yorkers to add secondary residences such as backyard cottages, converted garages and basement apartments to their homes has seen a surge of interest from the outer boroughs. Since it was announced on Nov. 21, over 1,300 homeowners submitted preliminary applications for up to 15 slots in the Housing Preservation Department’s program, indicating that accessory dwelling units, or ADUs as they’re known, are a popular choice as the city grapples with a housing crisis. Read more.

► Chicago Wrongly Limited Affordable Housing With Aldermanic Prerogative, HUD Says

Feds say giving Council members “a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing” has meant it’s “rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-white wards that have the least affordable housing.” The city of Chicago wrongly limited affordable housing by allowing City Council members to reject developments in their wards through the use of their aldermanic prerogative, federal investigators say. Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration is being asked to enter talks for an “informal resolution” of an almost five-year civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to a letter obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times. “The department’s investigation indicates that the city affords each of its 50 wards a local veto over proposals to build affordable housing and that many majority-white wards use the local veto to block, deter or downsize such proposals,” wrote Lon Meltesen, regional director of HUD’s Office of Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity. “As a result, new affordable housing is rarely, if ever, constructed in the majority-white wards that have the least affordable housing.” Read more.

► Rent Control Experience of St. Paul, Minnesota, May Offer Lessons for Other Jurisdictions

Economic research has universally shown that rent control laws can lead to a reduction in the available supply of housing by reducing the financial incentive for developers to add new units. Moreover, such ordinances also can create a disincentive for multifamily building owners to make capital improvements to their properties by reducing their potential return on investment. Hence, renters can face worsening market conditions with less supply and diminishing quality of rental properties over time. Read more.