The historic Our Lady of Loreto Church in Brownsville was just saved from being torn down to make way for affordable housing. Now, a different church two blocks away, at 1860 Eastern Parkway, is going to be demolished for another affordable development.
The squat, single-story True Holy Church will give way to a 10-story mixed-use building, according to plans filed last week. The church’s 8,000-square-foot property sits at the bustling corner of Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway, one building away from the slice of Brownsville and Ocean Hill that was rezoned by the city in April, as part of a larger rezoning of neighboring East New York.
The church will occupy 6,700 square feet of the new development, topped by 67 apartments. There will be a fellowship hall/multipurpose room in the cellar, a church sanctuary with offices on the first floor, and recreation and laundry rooms plus five apartments on the second floor. Eight units will occupy each of the third through ninth stories, and the tenth floor will have six units. Those 67 units will be divided across 50,760 square feet of residential space, for a typical apartment measuring 757 square feet.
Heritage Architecture applied for the permits, and the plans note that the apartments will be income-restricted.
The developer is Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council, a non-profit that builds low-income housing and offers social services throughout north Brooklyn. Former state Assembly Member Vito Lopez, who died last year, started the organization in 1973 and successfully steered $430,000 in state grants toward the group by 2010. Lopez was forced to resign from his legislative post in 2013 after a state ethics panel found he had sexually harassed at least eight female staffers in his office.
RBSC does not appear to own the property. The Truly Holy Church purchased the building in 1993 and has not sold or leased it.
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Hello..YIMBY..this is not an advertisement on the project, but it’s real on 10-story mixed-use building.
I thought the demolition of Our Lady of Loreto was halted.
hi, it appears you’re right! we’ve seen work being done on the exterior, but I wasn’t sure.