Fortis Proposes 20 Percent Affordable Housing for Controversial LICH Towers in Cobble Hill
More than 100 Cobble Hill residents packed a standing room-only meeting Thursday about the controversial redevelopment of the Long Island College Hospital site in Cobble Hill. News reports said the presentation by developer Fortis and architect Dan Kaplan of FXFOWLE was mostly a rehash of previously revealed plans, but two surprising things were said: Fortis has…
More than 100 Cobble Hill residents packed a standing room-only meeting Thursday about the controversial redevelopment of the Long Island College Hospital site in Cobble Hill. News reports said the presentation by developer Fortis and architect Dan Kaplan of FXFOWLE was mostly a rehash of previously revealed plans, but two surprising things were said:
- Fortis has still not closed on the sale. It expects the sale will go through in August, the developer told the Brooklyn Eagle.
- Fortis said it would offer 20 percent affordable housing in exchange for a rezoning.
The latter proposal is new, and likely to be nixed under Mayor de Blasio’s soon-to-be-announced spot rezoning policy, which will require 25 to 30 percent affordable housing. Previously Fortis said it planned 820 apartments with 220 below-market units, which is more than 20 percent. At the meeting Thursday, Fortis said it plans “800 to 1,000 apartments,” with 20 percent affordable units, according to the Eagle.
Interestingly, the Cobble Hill Association is leaning toward supporting the as-of-right plan, because it’s less dense and will bring only 400 apartments, or fewer than half the number of residents to the area, according to Curbed’s report.
A rendering showing the as-of-right proposal. Rendering via Fortis Group via Brooklyn Eagle
Residents who attended seemed opposed to both of Fortis’ proposals. “We’re not sold on this,” the Eagle quoted resident George Sanchez as saying. “This mockery of ‘let’s have a community discussion’ when we’ve been robbed of a hospital, and ‘which poison do you want to die from?’ I don’t want either one of the poisons.”
Another resident, Cobble Hill Association member Laurie Maurer, said “many people feel it doesn’t look or feel like Cobble Hill,” according to the Eagle. “Almost all the members of the community think that the heights of the tallest structures are at least twice as high as they expected and as they thought it should be.”
Council Member Brad Lander, Council Member Steve Levin, and State Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon attended.
More reading:
De Blasio Zoning Plan Will Bring Mucho Affordable Housing to Brooklyn Mega Projects [Brownstoner]
LICH Coverage [Brownstoner]
Pros and Cons for LICH Site Hi-Rises Aired in Cobble Hill [Eagle]
Controversial Conversion of Cobble Hill Hospital Chugs Along [Curbed]
“Out-of-Scale” LICH Towers Will Overburden Neighborhood, Locals Warn [DNA]
Standing room only at the #Fortis presentation for #LICH site. @bradlander @NydiaVelazquez @DanielSquadron pic.twitter.com/3fsJrY69aN
— Jo Anne Simon (@JoAnneSimonBK52) August 6, 2015
Fortis group making presentation of as of right plan/ rezoning option for #LICH site – most in room opposed pic.twitter.com/efRt7eCiiq — Mike (@mike_racc) August 6, 2015
REZONE in favor of the neighborhood, not one developer’s [vast] profits #cobblehill #lich #fortispropertygroup https://t.co/RsIXq7wrIX
— VictoriaJBD (@victoriajbd) August 9, 2015
The as-of-right plan needs to be augmented by including the site under the Landmarks district.
No one at the community meeting seemed remotely interested in the developer’s very greedy expectation for massive overbuilding that would come form the proposed ULURP.
How is it that Fortis expects the community to jump at their offer to include a school and senior housing which would come at such enormous expense to the quality of life in the community.