Mixed-Income Mega-Development Could Replace Bed Stuy's Affordable Fulton Park

Major transformation is on the horizon for a low-income apartment complex notable for its three-story-high buildings with distinctive Dutch stepped gables occupying a superblock on the southeastern edge of Bed Stuy. Developers have filed to rezone the property, known as Fulton Park, to make way for a mega-development with up to a dozen buildings reaching 17 stories and holding upwards of 2,000 market-rate and affordable apartments.

Potentially, about half the units could be affordable, and current residents would be able to move into similar but new apartments at the same rent.

The application was filed by L+M Development Partners and SMJ Development in partnership with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. It calls for the rezoning of 1754 Fulton Street and 53 Utica Avenue, lots bound by Utica Avenue and Nelson Mandela High School to the west, Fulton Street to the north, Rochester Avenue and Hunterfly Place to the east, and Atlantic Avenue to the south.

According to rezoning documents, the plan is to redevelop what the applicants describe as an underutilized site into a new residential complex with retail and community space. The development team says the project is designed to respond “to the needs of the community, allowing for the provision of new community facility space, an updated site layout with improved connectivity, and a substantial amount of new housing,” according to documents in the application.

As part of the plan, the 38 existing buildings at Fulton Park, which contain 209 Section 8 affordable apartments and a management building, would be demolished. Two new buildings would be constructed to replace the existing housing units and one of the replacement buildings is expected to be built first on part of the vacant portion of the Fulton Park site.

That would allow residents living in the southern portion of the site to move directly into newly built apartments without an interim relocation, according to a rep from L+M, who added those tenants would receive units with the same number of bedrooms and bathrooms and would continue paying the same rents. The rep said the development team had been gathering input from residents for the past two years. After the first relocation, the existing buildings south of a parking lot on a former stretch of Herkimer Street would be demolished, followed by construction of additional buildings on that portion of the site. The remaining existing residents would then be relocated into newly completed buildings.

In addition to the Fulton Park site, the rezoning includes a long-vacant HPD-owned parcel west of Utica Avenue that has been used by locals as a skatepark. Under the proposal, the overall development would include 11 new buildings on the Fulton Park site and one new building on the HPD site.

In total, the 12 proposed buildings would contain approximately 1.97 million gross square feet of development. About 1.91 million square feet would be residential, roughly 20,900 square feet would be commercial space, and about 33,120 square feet would be devoted to community facility use.

The development would include approximately 2,035 apartments, the documents say. That figure includes the 209 Section 8 units replacing the existing Fulton Park housing, 351 apartments that would be 100 percent affordable on the HPD site, and between 337 and 505 additional affordable units at Fulton Park required under Mandatory Inclusionary Housing.

As part of the rezoning application, L+M is also seeking to acquire the HPD-owned site and a representative for L+M said the proposed 100 percent affordable building on that parcel is contingent on the city approving its disposition.

HPD confirmed it is in early discussions regarding the site. An HPD spokesperson told Brownstoner: “HPD is committed to building housing on this site and we are in early conversations with L & M about the potential utilization of the city-owned land for affordable housing. The L & M site is adjacent to a vacant HPD-owned site. Due to complicated regulatory issues, including the fact that both sites are part of the same tax lot, and expediency, the rezoning application is covering both sites. There are no immediate plans for HPD to develop that vacant site.”

The rep added that there have been “some early conversations with L&M, but we have not made any determinations on next steps for the site” in regards to disposition.

The Fulton Park site currently includes the parking area on a former section of Herkimer Street, with 45 spaces for residents. There is also an unused paved area along Atlantic Avenue that once functioned as a parking lot but is now blocked off.

Under the proposal, the new development would include about 96,849 square feet of new open space, including landscaped yards, recreational areas, and pedestrian walkways. Plans also call for a public plaza at the intersection of Herkimer Street and Hunterfly Place. More than 50,000 square feet of community facility space, ground-floor retail, and bicycle storage is proposed. A rep for the development team said it is working with Urban Architectural Initiatives and Fogarty Finger on the project design.

The sites are currently zoned R6B, which allows for medium density and buildings up to 55 feet tall, or 65 feet with certain allowances. The area is also located within an Inner Transit Zone, meaning new developments are not required to include accessory off-street parking, the documents say.

As part of the proposal, the development team is seeking several land-use actions, including Urban Development Action Area Project designation and approval, disposition of the HPD-owned site, and amendments to the Fulton Park Urban Renewal Plan. The proposal also calls for changes to zoning map designations, designation of the area as a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area, authorization to modify curb cuts, and federal approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to amend the existing housing assistance payments contract covering the 209 current units.

“The Proposed Development would utilize the Fulton Park Site and HPD Site with greater efficiency; respect modern design standards; provide meaningful, well-functioning open space and pedestrian corridors that enable greater circulation and connectivity; and break up the existing superblock to create a strong streetscape and meaningful interior open space,” according to documents in the application. “The Fulton Park Site and HPD Site are currently underutilized: The HPD Site is vacant and undeveloped, and the Fulton Park Site is underdeveloped with outdated buildings and an inefficient site plan.”

The developers say the rezoning would help address growing demand for affordable housing in Community District 3 and it aligns with citywide housing policy goals. They add the proposed scale is consistent with recent rezonings in the area, including the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan, which cleared the way for thousands of new homes nearby. While the project site sits just outside the recently rezoned Atlantic Avenue corridor, it falls within the Fulton Park Urban Renewal Area, a plan first adopted in the 1980s and amended multiple times since. If approved, the application says construction would unfold over more than a decade, with full buildout projected for 2036.

According to city records, the developers control the site through a 99-year ground lease they signed in 2023 for $28.1 million from Fulton Park Associates, which partnered with the city in the early 1980s to develop the original affordable housing. As part of the broader Fulton Park Urban Renewal Project, a public notice published in 1979 proposed the construction of 12 walk-up buildings. Construction began in 1981 and the low-scale postmodern complex, originally known as Hunterfly Estates, was completed in 1986. Shnay & Sons served as the builder, with the Utica-Rochester-Fulton Development Corporation as the nonprofit partner, alongside Fulton Park Associates.

L+M Development Partners Managing Director Elaine Braithwaite told Brownstoner in an emailed statement that “the redevelopment of the 40-year-old Fulton Park buildings will deliver new state-of-the-art affordable apartments for each and every resident who lives there now.”

“By constructing the new modern buildings on the site of a parking lot, residents will be able to move only once their new apartments are finished, and pay the same rents they pay now. At the same time, we can help address the critical and deepening need for affordable housing in the area by adding new mixed-income rental and homeownership opportunities. We’re looking forward to continuing to work with residents and the community on a plan that reflects their needs.”

An online public scoping meeting is scheduled for February 19, 2026, with written comments accepted through March 2, 2026. The proposal will have to go through the months-long public review process known as ULURP once City Planning certifies the rezoning application. As part of ULURP, public hearings and opportunities for comment will take place at the community board, borough president, and City Council levels.

[Photos by Susan De Vries]

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