Leasing Opens At Pacific Park Complex As Advocates Urge Overhaul

BROOKLYN, NY — Apartments have officially gone online in the latest building in Brooklyn's Pacific Park development — but so has a new campaign to overhaul the state sponsored mega-project.

Coalition BrooklynSpeaks, who have monitored the 26-acre project since 2006, revealed this week that they will demand a new plan for Pacific Park given its failure to deliver affordable housing and infrastructure upgrades promised in the original plans, the group announced Thursday.

Specifically, developers of Pacific Park had signed on in 2014 to creating 2,250 affordable apartments by 2025 through a settlement spearheaded by BrooklynSpeaks. The latest project brings them to less than half of that goal.

“We must now acknowledge that the State and the developers have failed to take the actions necessary to keep that promise, and the viability of the project is again in question," said Gib Veconi, chair of the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council, one of the groups in the coalition.

"Our communities are not going to stand by as developers receive another bailout. It’s time for stakeholders to come together and chart a new future for [Pacific Park].”

BrooklynSpeaks' campaign, called "Crossroads," ironically comes just days after leasing was launched at the the latest building in the Pacific Park development, which stretches between Prospect Heights and Fort Greene and was previously called Atlantic Yards.

Developers Brodsky Organization and Greenland USA launched leasing Tuesday for more than 858 apartments in the Brooklyn Crossing building, found at 18 Sixth Ave.

The building includes 258 units set aside for affordable housing, bringing the total number of affordable apartments at Pacific Park to a little more than 1,000.

Brooklyn Crossing is the sixth building to be completed in the Pacific Park development.

Most recently, another Brodsky Organization building known as Plank Road, went online in November. The project also includes two "affordable" complexes on Sixth Avenue and Carlton Avenue, a luxury condo complex on Vanderbilt Avenue and the world's tallest modular building at 461 Dean St.

BrooklynSpeaks contends that the housing created so far by Pacific Park has "skewed sharply to higher income tenants." They point out that the only slate of apartments that were fully occupied at the end of 2021 were those at the highest income bracket, according to their website.

Asked on Friday about the BrooklynSpeaks campaign, developers for Brooklyn Crossing told Patch they "welcome the community's input as we continue to deliver on our commitments to Brooklyn and New York City."

"We are proud that Pacific Park is building affordable housing at a scale unmatched throughout Brooklyn," a spokesperson for Greenland said. "We have delivered nearly 1,100 affordable units for New Yorkers with hundreds more units currently under construction."

At Brooklyn Crossing, studio, one, two and three bedroom apartments come along with a long list of amenities, including a "Sky Lounge" and rooftop pool, private gym, outdoor terrace and several lounges, according to a release from developers. The building includes retail on the first floor.

BrooklynSpeaks will host four online discussions about Pacific Park as they brainstorm the "new vision." More information can be found here.