Affordable Housing
November 6, 2009
Affordable Housing on Tap
It may seem like there's not any affordable housing available, but, reports The Brooklyn Eagle, there are 700 units currently up for grabs through one non-profit development company alone in Brooklyn. The Housing Partnership Development Corp. which has created 30,000 units of affordable housing over its 25-year history, is currently offering "moderate-income" apartments at the newly-developed Bergen Street Co-ops at 1509 Bergen Street in Crown Heights (at right). The Partnership is also involved in other projects like 320 Sterling Street, which is about three-quarters done, and Atlantic Terrace next to the Atlantic Center (at top), which just started making applications available.
700 Affordable Homes, Apartments in B'klyn Now Available [Brooklyn Eagle]
November 3, 2009
$21 Million Grant for Coney Affordable Housing
Residents at Luna Park, the Mitchell Lama-era housing complex in Coney Island, got a lifeline yesterday when public officials announced a $21 million grant to renovate the ailing structures; residents had feared that the 1,600-unit co-op would go private and lose its protections like many others have done in recent years. Most of the money ($15 million) for fixing windows, brickwork and rooftops at the complex will come from HPD. A number of local politicians and city agencies were at the table on this one, including Representative Jerrold Nadler, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, State Senator Diane Savino, reports The Real Deal.
Coney Island Housing Complex Gets $21M [TRD]
Press Release [R8NY]
October 20, 2009
East New York's Nehemiah Housing Proving Resilient
When the Nehemiah project launched in the 1980s, it sold houses to residents of East New York for as little as $39,000. The church-run program would buy abandoned, city-owned properties and erect inexpensive homes for residents that met the program's strict financial credibility checks. Nowadays, Nehemiah (named after the post-exile Biblical character who rebuilt Jerusalem) homes sell for as much as $120,000, but this is still well below market rates for similar properties. NPR profiled the organization this week, pointing out that the project has stringent financial checks to ensure that applicants are not involved in any criminal activity and to ensure that they will not default on their mortgages (applicants can spend no more than 20 percent of their income on the mortgage; no more than ten out of over 4,000 homes have been foreclosed in the program's entire history). Zandra Brockman, an applicant to the program, said the application process was worth the result: "Where else could we live at the prices we had?" she told NPR. "It was truly a blessing for us." The article adds that applicants who are rejected often organize their finances and re-apply later successfully. Sarah Plowden, who works for Nehemiah and also owns a home through the program, said: "We more than just bought homes. We bought into one another as a people."
Low-Cost Brooklyn Housing Sees Few Foreclosures [NPR]
Affordable Houses Infused With Color [NY Times]
Low-Income? You’re Kidding! [NY Magazine]
October 16, 2009
Atlantic Terrace Applications Available Nov 1
The Local reported yesterday on this week's October meeting of Brooklyn Community Board 2, during which it was announced that applications for Atlantic Terrace, the 80-unit affordable (ish) housing development at 669 Atlantic will be available November 1. According to The Local, "construction should be complete by May, followed soon after by a city-sponsored lottery." Other topics at the meeting included the Navy Yards, the new Fulton Street business improvement district called the FAB Alliance, and zoning and how it relates to stalled construction sites.
At the Board: Atlantic Terrace Coming Soon [The Local]
Development Watch: Atlantic Terrace Plods Along [Brownstoner]
October 15, 2009
Closings and Move-Ins at 420 Classon Avenue
After a lengthy delay for much of this year, people are finally living at 420 Classon (aka The Hawthorne), the affordable housing conversion brought to you by the Pratt Area Community Council. We noticed that the first three closings hit public records last month, and a PACC rep told us that six families have already moved in. Another five are expected to move in over the next two months.
420 Classon Avenue Almost Ready for Lucky Winners [Brownstoner]
420 Classon Avenue: Waiting for the Lottery Results [Brownstoner]
Lottery for 420 Classon Avenue Kicks Off [Brownstoner] GMAP
Development Watch: Windows for 420 Classon Avenue [Brownstoner]
Present from PACC: 420 Classon Rendering [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: PACC on Classon [Brownstoner]
The Future of 418-422 Classon? [Brownstoner]
October 8, 2009
Affordable Housing: Promises vs. Reality
The Gotham Gazette published an interesting article this week examining Mayor Bloomberg's track record in affordable housing. A keystone to the Mayor's housing plan is inclusionary zoning—granting benefits, such as a 33 percent higher floor to area ratio, to developers who include permanent affordable housing in their plans. Critics say that the plan hasn't delivered nearly as much affordable housing as promised and supporters say that the plan can work, given enough time. In Greenpoint-Williamsburg, for example, the program has created 768 affordable rentals since 2005, and the goal is 2,200 over the course of a decade. Also, in 2005, the city promised over 6,000 units from already approved projects, but since then only 2,716 have come into existence, mostly in Manhattan, and this figure includes renovations of existing affordable apartments, not just new units. Also, between 2005 and 2008, the city lost 20,000 rent-stabalized apartments to market-rate developments, which tips the mayor's affordable housing balance into the red. Alternative solutions proposed include mandatory as opposed to optional inclusionary housing, and a new focus on preservation and regulation of existing housing, as opposed to new construction. "The priorities that Bloomberg has put on development of new construction as a solution to affordable housing has been the wrong emphasis," Mario Mazzoni, the lead organizer at the Metropolitan Council on Housing, told the Gazette. "You cannot build yourself out of the affordable housing crisis in New York City."
Affordable Housing Not Included [Gotham Gazette]
Affordable housing map, showing completed vs. closed inclusionary housing projects, from The Gotham Gazette
October 7, 2009
The Fate of the Broadway Triangle
It's going to be a big month for the Broadway Triangle, the city's nine-block redevelopment site in South Williamsburg that has attracted a fair share of controversy. The City Planning Commission was scheduled to vote today on the plan, which calls for 1,850 new apartments with about half reserved for affordable housing, but postponed the vote until October 19 (it was originally scheduled for September 23, but was already rescheduled once before). The City Council will also discuss the vote later this month at the Land Use Committee hearing. Finally, the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, the meta-organization that formed to oppose the city's plan primarily due to its closed-door process, filed suit against Mayor Bloomberg and the Housing Department and the court date is currently set for October 19. "The coalition’s plan is unlikely to succeed," writes Matt Chaban in The Architect's Newspaper, but he mentions that their actions have raised awareness with the community board and the Department of Housing, Preservation, and Development regarding the nebulous planning process, and perhaps this awareness will trickle down with some positive effect for the coalition.
Gathering Storm [Architect's Newspaper]
Community Groups Sue City over Broadway Triangle [Brownstoner]
September 24, 2009
Affordable and Green in East New York
Hudson Companies (yes, they of the Third & Bond blog) announced that ground was broken yesterday at the eight-story low-income housing development at 1490 Dumont Avenue in East New York. The 176 rental apartments, made possible by the LAMP program and several city agencies, will be available to households with incomes of $16,000 to $46,000, with 20 percent of the units reserved for formerly homeless tenants. The project (called the Elder Lane development) will include solar panels, bicycle and car parking, and a 6,000-square-foot enclosed, landscaped courtyard. It will also be "the first residential project in NYC to utilize a vibro-compaction system," which, as the name implies, uses vibrations to rearrange the soil, making it more dense and less permeable. According to the press release, this saved the project $1.5 million because "the procedure eliminates the need for 50’ piles, as well as structural caps, beams, and slabs." 1490 Dumont is being launched as part of Mayor Bloomberg's New Housing Marketplace Plan, which hopes to preserve or construct 165,000 units of affordable housing by 2014. GMAP
September 21, 2009
The Return of the Rooming Houses?
A neighborhood in Harlem expressed concern to The New York Times over developer Gerald Migdol's attempt to convert an 18-foot-wide brick row house back into a rooming house. The neighbors are worried that the conversion of 228 West 132nd Street will decrease the quality of the neighborhood. Mr. Migdol told the Times that the conversion, which will have nine single rooms with bathrooms, two two-bedroom apartments, and a communal kitchen, is legal: even though the city forbids new rooming houses, it allows an owner to restore previous rooming-house units, as is the case at 228. Has anyone heard of this happening in Brooklyn? We've seen luxury condo developments here in Brooklyn go rental instead of keeping units on the market and there's lots of talk about turning other failed luxury condo projects into affordable housing, but has anyone heard of conversions back to rooming houses?
Rooming House Returns [NY Times]
229 North 8th Goes Rental [Brownstoner]
September 15, 2009
Brownsville Affordable Project Gets State Funding
Last Thursday, the boards of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and the New York State Housing Finance Agency (HFA) approved $181.6 million in financing today to build and preserve 2,060 units of affordable housing throughout New York State. One of the lucky projects was a 161-unit development slated to be built at 39 Hegeman Avenue in Brownsville. The project—which received $30.75 million in funding—will provide studio apartments for low-income individuals and homeless single adults from Brownsville; a hundred apartments will be set aside for formerly homeless adults who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS or mental illness. The Hegeman project is part of Common Ground’s neighborhood-based homelessness prevention effort in Brownsville – one of New York City’s poorest communities, where disproportionate numbers of residents become homeless. A full press release is here.
September 10, 2009
Community Groups Sue City over Broadway Triangle
Opponents of the controversial plan to develop the 31-acre area of East Williamsburg called the Broadway Triangle sued the city yesterday in Supreme Court, charging racial and religious discrimination as well as failure to comply with due process. The coalition of 40 North Brooklyn community groups alleges that the plan for 1,895 new units of housing favor the Hasidic community by including a disproportionate number of three- and four-bedroom apartments to house larger Jewish families and by capping building height at eight stories, since Jews can't take the elevator on the Sabbath. The suit points out that nearly half of the public housing in the area is currently occupied by Hasidic Jews, “despite federal court orders requiring the end of discriminatory practices and despite the fact that the waiting list for such housing has remained at over 90 percent Latino and African American for more than 30 years.” It also claims that the Ridgewood-Bushwick Senior Citizens Council and the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg received exclusive development rights in a no-bid process through their connections to Assemblyman Vito Lopez (D-Williamsburg), and that the city failed to submit its plans for review by Bedford-Stuyvesant's Community Board 3, as required by land use regulations. Addressing some of these claims back in July, Councilman David Yassky (D-Williamsburg) said, "I want more housing, but I don't want skyscrapers in the middle of Brooklyn ... I can't imagine that there are real grounds for a lawsuit." GMAP
Racial and Religious Discrimination Alleged in Triangle [NY Daily News]
City Sued over Triangle Rezoning [Brooklyn Paper]
Triangle Debate Goes On over Eminent Domain [Brownstoner]
The Voice Calls Out Lopez [Brownstoner]
Markowitz Endorses Lopez's Triangle Plan [Brownstoner]
September 3, 2009
State, City Enter Stalled Project Discussion
Momentum has been gathering in the discussion about using stalled or empty luxury condo developments for affordable housing: as we mentioned earlier, at least one building downtown is already in talks with the city about unloading its unsold units as below-market housing, and Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries is working on others. Now The New York Times reports that the city and state definitely have proposals in development for possible uses of troubled luxury buildings. But there are definite obstacles for these kinds of programs: "With budgets tighter than ever, there are few financial incentives to entice developers and lenders. And there are the practical challenges of selling apartments to buyers for far less than what their neighbors paid, not least among them possible complications for market-rent buyers, whose mortgages often depend on the building’s financial status." The New York State Housing Finance Agency is working on a program that would offer buyers state-financed mortgages for units in buildings partially occupied by market-rate buyers, while developers would simultaneously decrease prices. Another possibility the agency is considering is to allot $5 million for $40,000 grants to 125 homebuyers. Mr. Jeffries also proposed his plan on Tuesday, to "help developers refinance troubled loans worth up to $150 million and make it easier to turn troubled condo and rental projects at all stages of construction into moderate-income rental units."
City Considers Stalled Projects for Moderate-income Housing [NY Times]
Mystery Downtown Development Going Affordable [Brownstoner]
ID'ing Troubled Condos [Brownstoner]
More Plans Surface to Make Luxury Leftovers Affordable [Curbed]
September 2, 2009
Development Watch: 575 5th Ave Gets its Brick On
When we checked in on 575 5th Avenue in late July, the 49-unit supportive housing project being developed by the Fifth Avenue Committee had topped out. The facade of the 16th Street building is now starting to show itself. Looks like this one will hew pretty closely to its rendering.
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
575 Fifth on a Roll [Brownstoner] GMAP P*SharkDOB
DOB Green-Lights 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
City Planning Approves FAC Project at 575 5th Ave [Brownstoner]
Marty DK's Fifth Avenue Housing Project [Brownstoner]
City Planning Considers 5th Ave Housing Facility [Brownstoner]
FAC Development at 575 Fifth Avenue [Brownstoner]
September 1, 2009
Advocacy Org Finds Ubiquitous Housing Discrimination
The Federal Fair Housing Act was passed 40 years ago, points out the Gotham Gazette, which allows the Department of Justice to prosecute "patterns or practices" of "housing discrimination", and yet housing discrimination persists, according to the Fair Housing Justice Center, a non-profit advocacy organization. There is a significant dearth of affordable housing, for example, and the sales and rental markets are operated by brokers, some of whom use illegal practices and propagate discriminatory concepts such as the idea that it is okay to set a limit on the number of children. The FHJC gave the Gazette several examples of discrimination based on race (NYC is the fourth most segregated metropolitan area in the U.S. for African Americans, and the fifth most for Latinos), disabilities (such as new buildings that flaunt flout design requirements for access to disabled people), or income source. In July 2008, for example, the FHJC found that close to 400 posts from 161 different real estate companies on Craigslist discriminated on income source alone, using phrases like "no government programs." As a solution to these violations of rights, the Center is pushing for better training of realtors and brokers, consistent and flexible enforcement of existing laws, and improved regulations towards marketing practices that will make all available units visible to all demographics.
Housing Bias Persists [Gotham Gazette]
August 28, 2009
Rents Set to Almost Double at ENY Mitchell-Lama
Many tenants at an East New York housing complex have been evicted or forced to move because their rents have gone through the roof, reports the Daily News. Rents at Linden Plaza, a five-building Mitchell-Lama development with 319 residential units, have gone up by $300 so far in the past year or so, and will increase again next year so that the price for a one-bedroom will have gone from $664 to $1,132. The increases are paying for a capital improvements program at the complex. Some of the disgruntled tenants were counting on Section 8 vouchers to cover the increase but claim that bureaucratic delays thwarted them. Bob Vaccarello, president of RY Management, which oversees Linden Plaza, said that "anybody who was eligible did get a voucher," adding that some tenants simply missed deadlines or failed to provide enough information. A city spokesman said that the rents are lower than what residents would pay if the owners left the Mitchell-Lama subsidy program, but this is a cold comfort to some. The Daily News spoke with tenant Carol Thompson, 53, who lost her job last year and has received no word regarding her voucher application. She has borrowed money from relatives to make rent, but doesn't know what to do in the long term. "I just can't afford it," she said. "They're sucking people dry." GMAP P*Shark
Rent Hike Shocks Tenants [NY Daily News]
Image from PropertyShark
Markowitz Endorses Lopez's Triangle Plan
Borough President Markowitz endorsed the Broadway Triangle development plan of Assemblyman Vito Lopez this week, according to The Brooklyn Paper. He also endorsed Steve Levin, a former Lopez staffer, for councilman from the 33rd district. The Broadway Triangle, a 31-acre plot in East Williamsburg slotted for redevelopment that includes 1,851 units of housing, has been an incendiary issue with some locals, who have protested favoritism and exclusion in the planning process. The current plan, pushed through by Lopez's Ridgwood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council as well as the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg, calls for 905 of the 1,851 units to charge below-market rates, whereas opponents of the plan want taller buildings with more affordable units. Markowitz endorsed Lopez's plan, but recommended certain changes: another 150 units of affordable housing, a method of guaranteeing that affordable housing remain affordable in the long term, and security for displaced businesses. Markowitz also possibly implied that he supports Levin because Levin, in turn, supports the city's plan for the Broadway Triangle: "I know Steve’s opponents think process is more important than results … but he understands that results are the most important thing." GMAP
Old Feuds Resurface in a Brooklyn Rezoning Fight [NY Times]
Marty Endorses Lopez's Pet Projects [Brooklyn Paper]
Markowitz Holds Hearing on Broadway Triangle [Brownstoner]
Broadway Triangle Creates a Wedge in Williamsburg [Brownstoner]
Broadway Triangle: Reverse Class Cleansing in BBurg [Brownstoner]
August 25, 2009
Mystery Downtown Development Going Affordable
The New York Post ran a story yesterday mentioning two luxury condo buildings in talks with the city to unload their unsold units as affordable housing. One building is in Harlem and the other in Downtown Brooklyn, according to the article, but officials cannot reveal where the properties are while negotiations are still occurring. Any guesses, readers? The article says that the city is in negotiations with "banks that have foreclosed on the properties," and that the Brooklyn development is in Downtown. The leading guesses in the Forum are Forte and be@schermerhorn (above). What do you think?
City Dealing to Make Luxe Condos Cheaper [NY Post]
August 19, 2009
Affordable Housing: A Bright Spot?
Earlier this summer, The Real Deal noted that during the slow market, some real-estate brokers have been bailing on market-rate condos and spending their time trying to move units in affordable housing developments with government-backed financing for first-time buyers. One such development, the MeadowWood at Gateway in East New York/Lindenwood (a complex of 19 buildings built in the 1960s formerly known as Fairfield Towers), is targeted towards middle-income buyers such as teachers, nurses, or police officers, with 1,142 one- to three-bedroom units priced between $110,000 and $349,000. The Real Deal also reported that "MeadowWood is one of several affordable housing developments that operates under a partnership between HPD and an organization called Neighborhood Housing Services. The program offers consumer loans through the State of New York Mortgage Agency program, which offers 30-year fixed-rate loans for up to 97 percent of the property's value, based on strict income and credit guidelines." In an announcement that's sure to make market-rate marketers cringe, Filmore Real Estate, the building's sales agent, just announced in a press release that over 60 units have gone into contract since January while prices, which rose in 2008, remained stable this year. GMAP
August 6, 2009
Markowitz Holds Hearing on Broadway Triangle
As we mentioned yesterday, the development of a 31-acre plot in East Williamsburg known as the Broadway Triangle has raised strong opposition, with claims of closed-door dealings, discrimination, and favoritism. Borough President Markowitz held a public hearing last night, at which the opponents to the plan greatly outnumbered the proponents, according to The Brooklyn Paper. The city gave the development rights for the project, which includes 1,851 housing units, to the United Jewish Organizations of Williamsburg and the Ridgwood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council in a no-bid contract. Juan Ramos, one of the opponents and the chair of the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition, told the Paper: “It’s not about opposing affordable housing ... It should be an open and clear process.” U.J.O.'s Rabbi David Niederman countered that the rezoning plan, already approved by Community Board 1, was a sincere attempt to create affordable housing for the community. Now, Markowitz must submit his recommendation to the City Planning Commission, after which City Council will vote on it, where it is expected to pass with the support of the neighborhood’s councilman, David Yassky (D–Brooklyn Heights).
Broadway Triangle Battle Reaches Marty’s Hearing Room [Brooklyn Paper]
Broadway Triangle Creates a Wedge in Williamsburg [Brownstoner]
Old Feuds Resurface in a Brooklyn Rezoning Fight [NY Times]
Huge Controversy over City’s East Williamsburg Housing Project [Brooklyn Paper]
Broadway Street Fight as CB1 Approves City’s ‘Triangle’ Plan [Brooklyn Paper]
Image by The Brooklyn Paper
August 5, 2009
Broadway Triangle Creates a Wedge in Williamsburg
It's a classic recipe for neighborhood tension: take two or more local organizations, one pot of municipal funds, a generous sprinkling of competition, and stir. In this case, as The Times reports, there are several representative organizations at odds over the city's redevelopment plan for the Broadway Triangle, a 31-acre area near the intersection of Broadway and Flushing littered with vacant lots and long overdue for an overhaul. The groups struggling for influence over the plan include the United Jewish Organizations, Ridgwood Bushwick headed by Vito Lopez, and the Churches United for Fair Housing. The funny thing about this recipe for neighborhood tension is that the result depends on whom you ask: Mr. Lopez and the U.J.O. say that the development process has been inclusive, and the goal is to build fair, equal-opportunity, affordable housing. Churches United, however, complains of exclusion in the planning process. Concerning the possible rivalries, Councilman Yassky told the Times: “I really don’t think there are great differences in people’s vision for the neighborhood. The politics are intruding.” Maybe Ward Dennis of Community Board 1, which supports the mayor's plan, put it best when he called it “a good proposal but a bad process.” Marty Markowitz is holding a public hearing on the matter this afternoon at Borough Hall.
Old Feuds Resurface in a Brooklyn Rezoning Fight [NY Times] GMAP
July 22, 2009
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue
Here she is, the in-progress 49-unit supportive housing project being developed by the Fifth Avenue Committee on the corner of 16th Street. The building appears to have topped out since we last checked in on it, in May. A reminder of what the finished product is supposed to look like is right here.
Development Watch: 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
575 Fifth on a Roll [Brownstoner] GMAP P*SharkDOB
DOB Green-Lights 575 5th Avenue [Brownstoner]
City Planning Approves FAC Project at 575 5th Ave [Brownstoner]
Marty DK's Fifth Avenue Housing Project [Brownstoner]
City Planning Considers 5th Ave Housing Facility [Brownstoner]
FAC Development at 575 Fifth Avenue [Brownstoner]
July 17, 2009
Market-Rate Units Available at Red Hook Co-Op Project
The Fifth Avenue Committee's 60-unit co-op developments on Wolcott and Coffey streets have looked complete for quite awhile now (at least from street-level), but it turns out that about a third of the units still aren't spoken for. It came as a surprise to us to learn that a number of apartments in the developments will be sold at market-rate prices: According to an agent from Manzione Real Estate, which is selling 20 units the buildings, although 40 of the affordable units have been reserved via a lottery that drew 8,000 applicants, the remaining co-ops are on the market for between $390,000 and $575,000. Closings for the affordable units (which were priced as low as $47,000 for applicants who made an income cut-off) won't happen until some of the market-rate units sell, according to the agent.
Red Hook Co-Ops [Manzione] GMAP
FAC’s Red Hook Homes Near Completion [Brownstoner]
July 14, 2009
PACC Cuts Ribbon at 566 Gates Avenue
Yesterday, the Pratt Area Community Council, along with pols like Borough President Marty Markowitz (who kicked in $250,000 to the project) and Council Member Al Vann, cut the ribbon on the non-profit's latest affordable housing project at 566 Gates Avenue. The green development 24 two-bedroom and 10 one-bedroom apartments for low- and moderate-income households, with unit prices ranging from $87,000 to $167,000. “The Gates Cooperative is part of PACC’s larger effort to create affordable homeownership opportunities in Bedford-Stuyvesant and surrounding neighborhoods where real estate prices are beyond local residents’ reach,” stated PACC’s Housing Director Drew Kiriazides. The bulk of the financing came from HPD, HDC and New York State Affordable Housing Corporation.
May 19, 2009
Rent Board Chief on Shifting Onus from Landlords
The Observer ran an interesting interview yesterday with the head of the Rent Guidelines Board, Marvin Markus, that lays out some of the common-sense problems with rent control and stabilization. If we as a society deem it worthwhile to subsidize certain people (and clearly there are lots of reasons to do so), then the cost should be borne by society as a whole not individual landlords, argues Markus. "There are poor tenants, they should be protected, but the individual owner is not the one that should protect them. The population at large clearly should be the ones footing the bill," he says. And how would be do that? "One suggestion is a rent tax/surcharge of some limited amount, on all rents in the city … and all co-op and condo charges in the city. … It’s very important for the city of New York that there be a mixed income base—from an economic standpoint; from a social standpoint—and we want to make sure, I want to make sure, that that continues." While landlords make easy political targets, it's hard to make any rational arguments in favor of the current system: Lifetime entitlements makes no sense at all; nor does a system that dis-incentivizes landlords from maintaining the housing stock.
Rent Board Chief Markus Pleads for 'Rationality' [NY Observer]
Photo from the Tenement Museum
May 8, 2009
Trying to Make Lemonade of Lemons at 23 Caton Place
So a large development of mediocre design has gone bankrupt leaving your neighborhood with the prospect of a hulking, half-built pile of concrete blighting your neighborhood for the next decade—what do you do? If you're the Kensington-based community group Stable Brooklyn and the building in question is Moshe Feller's 23 Caton Place you try to get the bank and a new developer to the table to create a plan to convert the building into an affordable housing project. So far, according to an article today on Arch Paper, there seems to be a real possibility that this could happen, though the complicated bankruptcy proceedings threaten to delay even the most coordinated and best-intentioned efforts. "This is no Chrysler,” half-joked Brad Lander, the former Pratt Center director who was involved in the downzoning of the neighborhood and has been working with Stable Brooklyn on this initiative. “I’m afraid five years from now, it could still be as is,” says Megan Miller, an architect and member of Stable Brooklyn.
Second Life [Arch Paper]
The Decline and Fall of 23 Caton Place [Brownstoner]
Little Progress on 23 Caton Place [Brownstoner] GMAP
Bank Sues Caton Place Developer [Brownstoner] DOB
Work Stops at Caton Place Condos [Brownstoner]
At 23 Caton Place, Laborers Labor on Labor Day [Brownstoner]
Latest Restaurant Additions
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Chickadee Chick
added November 6, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Vutera
added November 5, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Park Cafe
added November 4, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Bahia
added November 3, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Aqualis Grill
added November 2, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene -
Wombat
added October 30, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Organic Heights
added October 29, 2009 12:00 PM in Park Slope -
Giardini Pizza
added October 28, 2009 12:00 PM in Carroll Gardens -
Rye
added October 27, 2009 12:00 PM in Williamsburg -
Bati
added October 26, 2009 12:00 PM in Fort Greene