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Prospect Heights group board members pushed again in opposition to a developer’s plans to assemble a residential building housing 316 flats — roughly 95 of which might be below-market-rate — as a result of, they declare, the neighborhood is “swimming in density.”
“There is no reason to add density to a neighborhood like Prospect Heights that is absolutely swimming in density,” mentioned Elaine Weinstein throughout a March 4 meeting of Community Board 8’s land use committee. “We cannot walk on our streets anymore. The amount of traffic, garbage, is uncontrollable, and therefore it seems unrealistic to build this building as large, as high, as dense as you are proposing.”
The lot on the nook of Vanderbilt and Atlantic avenues presently incorporates a drive-through McDonald’s, however developer Vanderbilt Atlantic Holdings needs a rezoning to permit them to build their proposed 18-story house building — which provoked outrage from board members due to its peak and potential to extend the neighborhood’s inhabitants.
Contrary to the locals’ claims of irregular density within the neighborhood, nevertheless, Prospect Heights options around 83.6 people per acre of land, making it simply 67.5 p.c as dense as neighboring Crown Heights, and comparably dense to close by Park Slope.
In reality, a lot of the density that does exist within the space comes from the Pacific Park megadevelopment, an in-progress multi-tower mixed-use project that features the Barclays Center and several other towers close to the closely industrial Atlantic Center. The remainder of the neighborhood is especially low-scale brownstones and walk-up house buildings.
Representatives for Vanderbilt Atlantic Holdings argued that the positioning of the lot — located on the nook of a four-lane street and a six-lane street, simply two blocks from Barclays Center — truly makes it the proper location to soak up a high-density improvement.
“If there’s anywhere in the neighborhood that density belongs, it’s right here,” mentioned land-use lawyer Benjamin Stark.
The Chair of Community Board 8 acknowledged that a lot of the realm might stand to extend in vertical measurement, however countered that, simply because the location can deal with a big density project, doesn’t imply it ought to.
“You’ve got the two wide streets, and you have an abutting neighborhood that’s still relatively low-density and livable,” mentioned Ethel Tyus. “So just because you can build higher and denser because you have these two wide streets converging, doesn’t mean you should.”
Community Board members took subject with the project not conforming to the specified density of developments inside the M-Crown zone, an in-the-works rezoning that seeks to permit for residential improvement within the industrial corridors of Crown Heights and Prospect Heights whereas preserving jobs and group areas.
The M-Crown framework as presently laid out would solely enable a 14-story building on the McDonalds lot. Stark argued that because it lies within the M-Crown space that enables for essentially the most density, a taller building ought to be thought-about, particularly contemplating its location alongside two extra-wide avenues.
“I do think it’s perhaps disingenuous to say that this site isn’t deserving of a density beyond that of the balance of the M-Crown area,” Stark mentioned. “It has unique conditions that make it, from a land-use perspective, the most appropriate location for the most density.”
If constructed, the developer could be compelled to earmark 30 p.c of the building’s items as “affordable,” with rents focused on the area’s median income. That would supply almost 100 flats below-market-rate flats towards Mayor Bill de Blasio’s objective of making 300,000 reasonably priced items by the top of 2026.
The board tabled the vote on the proposal for its April land-use meeting, however inspired the developer to scale their plan down.
“It’s really just too tall and too dense,” mentioned Tyus.
Whenever the volunteer board votes, the proposal would head to the Borough President’s office for one more non-binding opinion, earlier than heading to the City Planning Commission and the City Council for last approval.
