Long-Awaited Transformation Of Bed-Stuy Armory Finally Underway

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A plan to repurpose a massive armory building in Bed-Stuy is finally underway nearly a decade after officials first floated the idea, according to lawmakers.

Assemblymember Stefani Zinerman kicked off a $125,000 feasibility study of the Marcus Garvey Boulevard armory — also known as the 13th Regiment Armory or Sumner Armory — last week with a newly-announced team of Black-owned developer and architects.

The study comes almost a decade after officials first announced the armory would be studied back in 2013. Locals had pled for years for officials to figure out how to use the armory, which is only partly taken up by a homeless shelter on the first floor, according to reports.

“As a resident of Bedford-Stuyvesant, I have passed by and witnessed over the years how this beautiful building in the middle of my neighborhood continues to be underutilized,” Zinerman said in a press release. “The 13th Regiment Armory is the 56th District’s opportunity to build a space that captures the neighborhood’s identity and serves as a center for wealth development."

The study of the Marcus Garvey Armory — which extends a full block between Jefferson and Putnam avenues — will be led by architecture firm Freeform Deform and Urbane, a development consulting company whose credits include the redevelopment of Flatbush Caton Market, according to Zinerman.

A $125,000 grant secured under former Assemblymember Tremaine Wright will pay for the study, which will take on a zoning analysis, design and construction estimates and ultimately come up with proposals for the 232,000-square-foot space.

What those proposals will include are still an open question.

Back in 2013, officials considered converting the armory into a recreation center and moving the Pamoja House Men’s Shelter to the second floor. The Department of Homeless Services and Zinerman's office did not respond to a question from Patch about whether the shelter will close or be included in the new study.

Under the new study, the team will investigate a wide range of uses, including healthcare, fitness, technology, employment, job training, cultural programming and one that might spur alarm bells among neighbors — housing.

The Marcus Garvey armory project comes on the heels of Crown Heights' controversial redevelopment of the Bedford Union Armory, which some feared would exacerbate displacement given more than 400 units of housing included in the project.

The team studying the Bed-Stuy armory have set up an online forum for neighbors to share their thoughts on the project and learn more about the history of the armory, which first opened in 1894. Find out more here.