Brooklyn Community Board 2 Votes Against 80 Flatbush
BOERUM HILL – Brooklyn Community Board 2 voted against Alloy Development’s proposed 80 Flatbush project during its general board meeting Wednesday evening.
The full board vote follows last month’s CB2 Land-Use Committee’s vote in which ten committee members voted against and one abstained.
Both votes are part of the 80 Flatbush rezoning ULURP process which included an initial public hearing held on March 28 followed by another hosted by Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams on April 30 at Brooklyn Borough Hall. Adams will issue his recommendation on the project after CB2 submits its final vote to him. The NYC Planning Commission will then review the project followed by a vote by the New York City Council.
Alloy proposes to build two mixed-use towers, one 38 stories and the other 74 stories, featuring 700 market-rate apartments and 200 permanently affordable units. 80 Flatbush will also include a 15,000-square-foot cultural space, 40,000-square-foot ground floor commercial/retail space, and two schools—a new facility for the Khalil Gibran International Academy High School as well as a 350-seat elementary school.
The developer is requesting that the project site—bounded by Flatbush Avenue, State Street, 3rd Avenue, and Schermerhorn Street—be rezoned to allow the development to rise much higher than the current zoning allows. The FAR (floor-area ratio) for the site is currently 6.5. Alloy wants it increased to 18. If approved, the taller of the two proposed new towers would rise 986 feet tall.
Prior to the vote, CB2 member Mr. Smith stated, “I would like to clarify on behalf of the Boerum Hill Association and most Boerum Hillers an unfortunate misperception…. We are not anti-development. Please make note that we strongly support development—intelligent development. What we strongly oppose—a totally insensitive development project, a grossly excessive development.”
The motion to disapprove the project in its entirety passed with 32 board members voting “yes”, one “no”, five abstentions, and two recusals.
The single “no” vote was made by CB2 Vice Chair, Lenue Singletary who explained to BKLYNER after the meeting that he approves of the potential of 80 Flatbush bringing new jobs and schools to the area, though he adds he would have preferred it if Alloy was willing to negotiate on the height of the project.
Alloy estimates the project will bring 3,000 jobs to the area—1,500 construction, 1,500 permanent.
“We appreciate that the Community Board took the time to review our application,” Alloy Development President AJ Pires said in a statement released after Wednesday night’s vote.
“While we respect its position, we’ve also received a lot of support for the project, both in the neighborhood and citywide. The consensus among those many supporters is that building in Downtown Brooklyn along Flatbush Avenue and across from one of the largest transit hubs in the City to deliver affordable housing, two schools and cultural space makes 80 Flatbush a model for intelligent development,” Pires adds.
A representative for City Council Member, Stephen Levin (District 33), whose district includes Boerum Hill, said that the 80 Flatbush project is a subject that Levin is “monitoring very closely.” The Council Member has not voiced his position on the project yet.