The half-century-old Landmarks law has played a valuable role in protecting the historic fabric of New York City’s neighborhoods, but it also limits the production of housing—particularly affordable housing—in neighborhoods with large historic districts.
Amit Stern, head of LHUM Investments, has filed applications for a four-story, eight-unit residential building measuring 5,490 square feet at the vacant lot of 71 Cooper Street, in southern Bushwick. Located two blocks from the J and Z train’s Chauncey Street subway stop, units will average just 685 square feet, indicative of rentals. Woody Chen’s InFocus is the applicant of record.
Property owner Joseph Emergi has revived applications, originally filed in 2013, calling for a four-story, three-unit residential building at the vacant lot of 108 Jefferson Avenue, in southwestern Bedford-Stuyvesant, three blocks north of the Nostrand Avenue subway stop. The building will measure 3,830 square feet, which means units will average a condo-sized 1,280 square feet. Gerald Caliendo is designing.
Door to Door Realty is in contract to purchase the vacant two-story, nearly 42,400 square-foot building at 78 Fort Place, in St. George, and plans to renovate the building into roughly 30 market-rate rental units. The developer expects to close on the property later this year, according to DNAinfo, with leasing beginning by late 2016. A hearing with community groups is scheduled in September. Previous plans were approved for a residential facility for the mentally ill.
Filed in May 2014, applications have surfaced for an eight-story, 33-unit mixed-use building planned at 14-55 31st Avenue, in western Astoria. At the northwest corner of 31st Avenue and 21st Street, the building will measure 27,130 square feet, which includes 2,450 square feet of retail on the ground floor. Anthony Hu’s Centennial Astoria is developing, and JLS Designs is the architect of record. Demolition began earlier this year on two existing wood-framed townhouses at Nos. 14-53 and 14-57.
