City Planning For 2 New High-Rises In Prospect Heights

BROOKLYN, NY — New York City officials are making plans to transform two lots in Prospect Heights into 11-story buildings for low-income housing and housing for adults over 62 years old.

The plans for these two buildings — at 542 Dean St. and 516 Bergen St. — are part of the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, a rezoning initiative from the city that just entered the next planning phase on Tuesday.

If the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan is passed, the city would build around 4,600 new apartments — including 1,440 affordable ones — and make street infrastructure changes to increase safety along a 21-block corridor in Central Brooklyn, mostly on Atlantic Avenue, according to the plan documents.

The city kicked off the public review process for the plan on Tuesday, which will include several hearings through Brooklyn Community Boards 3 and 8 and Borough President Antonio Reynoso, before going to an official vote in City Council.

"The Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan rezoning has been a long time in the making," said Brooklyn Councilmember Crystal Hudson. "For more than a decade, the community surrounding Atlantic Avenue has called for a new vision for this dangerous corridor that delivers more deeply affordable housing, increased investments in the area's local economy, safer streets, and greater consideration of local infrastructure needs."

The new plan builds on a stalled plan called M-Crown, which was launched in 2013 to update the area's industrial zoning.

Park Edge

The first lot, at 542 Dean St., would be turned into a building called Park Edge with 152 affordable apartments for older adults, complete with programming and social services provided by the Institute for Community Living. Currently, the site is a parking lot.

Thirty percent of Park Edge's apartments would be saved for formerly homeless seniors, Olga Jobe, the city's developing partner, said in a Zoom meeting with the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council on Tuesday night.

The rest would be available through a lottery on Housing Connect, with a 20 percent priority given to adults who live in the Community Board District 8.

Jobe said the developers have also designed a community space in the building, a walkway and terrace, with input from community members.

"Some of the feedback we got was around health and wellness, arts, music classes for adults and children, as well as after-school programming," Jobe said, about a public feedback session over the summer. "All of these things are in line with what we envision for the space."

Bergen Green

The second development, at 516 Bergen St., would be turned into a building called Bergen Green with 112 affordable apartments and community gathering spaces, space for social services provided by the nonprofit Bridge Street Development Corporation, and a public landscaped terrace. Currently, the lot includes a vacant building with some basement parking.

The new apartments would be part of New York City Housing Preservation and Development's Extremely Low- and Low- Income Affordability program, and 60 percent of the homes will be available to families earning up to $76,260 for a family of three.

And, 15 percent of the homes will be reserved for formerly homeless people, Lee Brathwaite, the CEO of Apex Building Group, the city's development partner on the project, said. All homes would be available via lottery on Housing Connect.

Brathwaite said that, like Park Edge, Bergen Green also intends to build community gathering space and build cultural programming into the building.

"We want to continue to engage with the community and make sure that we're identifying the right kind of partners to participate with us," Brathwaite said.

What's Next

The public review process for the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan — which includes these two buildings — is constrained to a seven-month period, so it will likely be voted on by City Council in May 2025. From there, it will go to the mayor for final review.