Dim Hopes for CNR's Senior Center
As we mentioned last week, CNR Healthcare was hoping to get special upzoning and build an outsized supportive services facility on Lefferts Place in Clinton Hill. At a community meeting held last Thursday with politicians who supported the idea, locals fought back passionately, according to The New York Times. Our concern isn’t with the low-income…
As we mentioned last week, CNR Healthcare was hoping to get special upzoning and build an outsized supportive services facility on Lefferts Place in Clinton Hill. At a community meeting held last Thursday with politicians who supported the idea, locals fought back passionately, according to The New York Times. Our concern isn’t with the low-income housing for seniors; the project itself is an amazing and important project, said John Katsos, president of the civic association. We just feel that a project at that size and design is not inclusive of the community. Rezoning will set a bad precedent by opening up the entire block to massive development, and we’re all private residents. In the face of community backlash, the politicians wobbled, and CNR said that it would not pursue the development project without support from the community. We have to go back, assess what we learned tonight and figure out what our next steps are, said Mitch Korbey, a lawyer representing CNR. GMAP
Prospects Dimming for Lefferts Senior Complex [The Local, NYT]
Meeting About Special Lefferts Rezoning Request Tonight [Brownstoner]
Lefferts Place Threatened by Healthcare Developer [Brownstoner]
Okay, in order, responding to DBD:
Is “Clinton Hill South” a historic district on the federal and state register of historic places? It is not a city historic district.
There will likely be no appeal to the SBA or even the BSA–either the Board of Standards and Appeals or the Boy Scouts of America. As pointed out by others, any project that moves forward will almost certainly have to be an application to the Department of City Planning for a rezoning, but the rest of what you wrote about the development rights seems generally accurate without my getting out my slide-rule.
I have heard nothing about acquiring adjacent property. In fact, my understanding is that CNR doesn’t even seek to construct a building that uses all of the development rights allowable under R7A on the lot it leases, just the building it designed prior to the lawsuit and rezoning. Did I miss something, or is this worst-case scenario conjecture?
“everyone knows that CNR is simply not trying to build senior housing but also expand its medical, nursing and rehabilitation services now located at 520 Prospect Place.” I don’t know that. In fact, I don’t think the proposed building has any of the facilities necessary to support this allegation. That makes the whole post at 7:37 a straw man.
Again, this issue is for other people to sort out, but I think doing so is made more difficult if folks are making up their minds based on inaccuracies, conjecture and hyperbole. Please don’t presume to know what is important to me and not based on my interest in having the facts presented straight-forwardly.
Also, I have visited the CNR Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation at 520 Prospect Place on at least 25 separate occasions, at all times of the day and night, and I am utterly shocked by the sheer amount of pedestrian and vehicular traffic related to this complex. The traffic is literally non-stop, 24/7, with patients, staff, visitors, ambulance and medical personnel constantly traversing in and out of the facility. Lefferts Place is a small narrow street. Where will residents, visitors and staff park their vehicles? Where will all the Access-A-Ride vehicles and ambulances park? CNR has only designated 11 underground parking spot for the facility? What about deliveries of food, office and medical supplies? What about medical waste disposal? What about the bad precedent that the preposed rezoning would mean for every other street that is adjacent to a R7A block (Myrtle, Fulton and Atlantic)? This would render R6B meanless on those residential streets. Perhaps this means very little to G-Man and bxgl but for those of us who fought for years to have Fort Greene and Clinton Hill downzoned to promote in-scale, contextual development on residential streets this is a very serious issue. The community supports senior housing and nursing services but a project of this immense size and scope is highly inappropriate for such a small historic street. The proposed CNR center would tower over two of the oldest free standing italianate villas in all of Brooklyn. Again, perhaps not important to you guys but extremely important to those of us who wish to preserve the streetscape of our historic neighborhoods.
Lefferts Place is part of the Clinton Hill South Historic District and is primarily comprised of low rise townhouses and villas dating back to the mid 19th Century. The proposed development calls for the construction of a six to eight story building (presumably much higher with the inclusion of affordable housing) that would be north of 100,000 square feet and consist of approximately 100 apartment units. The proposed building would tower over the adjacent Elwell House as well as all neighboring low-rise brownstones, limestones and villas.ÂÂ
The White Castle lot on Atlantic is a separate parcel of land that is zoned R7A. Under current R6B zoning on Lefferts, CNR would be limited to a building that’s apprx 39,000 sft. The avg town house on Lefferts is 3,000 sft. CNR plans to appeal to SBA for a zoning extension of the R7A White Castle lot onto the adjacent 86 Lefferts lot. If granted then CNR would be able to build under R7A a building that is 90,321 sft. CNR then can acquire the adjacent lot at 96 Lefferts and tack on another 32,816 sft. At a whopping 122,000 sft, everyone knows that CNR is simply not trying to build senior housing but also expand its medical, nursing and rehabilitation services now located at 520 Prospect Place. That G-Man would institutionalize Lefferts Place and destroy block.
Maly, I wasn’t trying to be cryptic. I’ll rephrase. IF (key word here, after Thursday’s meeting) they decide to proceed, CNR can apply to upzone an area smaller than the entire block, thereby addressing ONE community concern–that “outsized” (to use brownstoner’s word) buildings could result all along Lefferts. Was that clearer?
G man, if you have information that demonstrates that CNR in fact wants to build without upzoning the block, why don’t you share it, instead of being cryptic?
You seem to be privy to knowledge not shared in public. If CNR intends to respect current zoning, why apply for an upzoning?
As I commented in the earlier thread, I do not think CNR needs to apply to rezone the entire (one side) of the street, nor will they if they decide to proceed. I think the comments by maly and slick are misinformed at least and deceptive on purpose at worst.
And while I am playing fact-checker, the big red oval in the image above makes it seem like the White Castle is included in the site; it is not.
Finally, to avoid a repeat of the exchange in the earlier thread, I don’t have a position on this proposal other than wanting the facts to be presented accurately.
the issue is that the only procedural way to build at the size the developer desired was to re-zone the entire street, opening the door to other developers.
Based on my understanding, they cant get a variance because they cant show hardship.
Is there anyplace to look at the proposed plans? I understand he problems re ambulances, delivery trucks and vehicles, but in truth, they do not seem to be a big problem in the residences near me. And this is a residential neighborhood, like Clinton Hill. Senior residences tend to be quiet and ambulances are not raging all day and all night- probably no more than firetrucks or police sirens. Same thing re visitors- many will come by public transportation, but it isn’t clear there will be a huge upsurge. But those things will still be the same problem, even if the facility is downsized. So I am not sure what the community really thinks will happen, or if the facility will even get built if it has to comply with the zoning.
Bxgirl, they’re not fighting against the senior residence at all. They just don’t want the entire block upzoned. If CNR proposed to build within the existing zoning regs, they would have no problems.