Something unusual occurred on Tuesday: the Landmarks Preservation Commission, after rejecting what one commissioner called a “juicy” expansion of a Crown Heights house two months ago, ended up approving an even larger expansion of the structure.
Just over a year ago, city officials and Knicks player Carmelo Anthony stood in the cavernous Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights and announced plans to redevelop the historic structure into affordable housing, a recreation center, and condos. Last night, City Councilmember Laurie Cumbo revealed that the city wasn’t sure how much federal housing funding it would receive under the Trump administration, and that uncertainty was threatening negotiations over the city budget and affordable housing at the armory.
Brooklyn-based Candor Capital has filed applications for a six-story, 17-unit residential building at 1764 Union Street, on the eastern end of Crown Heights. The project will measure 14,206 square feet and rise to a height of 63 feet. The residential units should average 705 square feet apiece, indicative of rental apartments. There will also be a 396-square-foot recreational area behind the structure. Diego B. Aguilera’s Rego Park-based firm is the architect of record. The 30-foot-wide, 3,483-square-foot lot was occupied by a two-story townhouse until the structure was demolished in October 2015.
For two years, Cornell Realty has been trying to develop two former commercial laundry facilities in southern Crown Heights into residential towers with more than 500 apartments. Now the firm’s plan to rezone those properties is inching through the public review process, and YIMBY has a glimpse of what the project will look like, thanks to documents filed with the Department of City Planning.
A long-vacant lot at the corner of Bedford Avenue and Pacific Streets in Crown Heights is set to become a nine-story affordable rental building.
