Mixed-Use Development to Fill Former Borough Park Auto Body Shop Site

By Lauren Rapp, Brooklyn Paper

A seven-story mixed-use building at 1547 60th Street in Borough Park is set to break ground after environmental remediation of the site starts in March. The project will feature a multilevel community facility with a terrace.

The future 3,401-square-foot build will not skimp on parking, as plans include a cellar-level lot in addition to a second-floor parking facility. The ground floor will house multiple commercial units.

The terrace is set for the third floor, alongside the community facility that will span the third through sixth floors.

Leases for the community facility have not yet been finalized, according to Lezer Tenenbaum, a spokesperson for Beitel Group, the real estate company behind the project.

The site, currently vacant, has been used for more than 100 years for factory production and auto body repair.

The lot housed a milk production factory in the 1920s. After a stint carpet cleaning in the 1940s, the property was later converted into a rag-cleaning facility with gasoline tanks until 1960, then served as home to various auto repair and body shops until 2023.

Due in part to the lot’s long history of industrial use, an environmental assessment revealed hazardous contaminants in the soil and groundwater.

A Remedial Investigation Report detected semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs), metals, and pesticides in soil samples. According to the Office of Environmental Remediation (OER), groundwater samples tested positive for SVOCs, several metals, and per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) at levels exceeding the city’s groundwater quality standards.

The investigation also collected soil vapor samples, which revealed moderate levels of petroleum-related and chlorinated volatile organic compounds (VOCs) exceeding the Air Guideline Values set by the New York State Department of Health.

Beitel Group has submitted a remedial action work plan to begin environmental restoration in March before construction can begin.

Under the oversight of the OER, community air monitoring will be conducted throughout the cleanup to protect residents from airborne contaminants, dust, and odors.

The seven-story mixed-use facility will replace a recently demolished one-story auto body shop.

Editor’s note: A version of this story originally ran in Brooklyn Paper. Click here to see the original story.

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