Plans For All-Electric Apartment Tower In Bed-Stuy OK'd By Board

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A 17-story apartment tower planned for Atlantic Avenue has won the approval of the local community board, according to developers.

Development company Totem announced Tuesday that their project at 1045 Atlantic Ave. was unanimously approved by Community Board 3 during their Monday full board meeting. The project would change zoning at the site to make way for 420 apartments, 126 of which would be designated as affordable.

It would be the first all-electric development in Bed-Stuy in an effort to improve equitable access to reliable energy, according to the company.

“We are thrilled by the Community Board’s unanimous approval after more than a year of engagement, collaboration and discussion with area residents and leaders,” Totem Co-Founder Tucker Reed said in a release. “As we move through the rest of the ULURP process, we will continue working with the Community Board to deliver a development we can all be proud of; one that provides housing, pedestrian accessibility and safety, green design, and jobs.”

The electric building will use microgrid battery technology managed by MGN and include other green features like sustainable wood cladding, green roofs and rainwater catchment systems, developers said.

It will include one, two and three-bedroom apartments, small retailers on the first floor and a publicly-accessible bike parking hub from Brooklyn company Oonee. The 126 affordable apartments will go to those making 40 to 100 percent of the area median income, or between $42,960 and $107,400 for a family of three, according to Totem.

The developers also set up a Community Impact Fund, which they will give $50,000 to each year. The fund, managed by the Brooklyn Community Foundation, will feed the money to community-based organization each year, Totem said.

“Totem’s Community Impact Fund at Brooklyn Community Foundation is potentially an example-setting partnership for us, that ensures that money coming into the community stays in the community and is used to help better the lives of its residents,” Brooklyn Community Foundation President and CEO Cecilia Clarke said.

Developers also teamed up with the Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and St. Nicks Alliance for the project.

The development will now head to the Brooklyn Borough President's Office for review. A hearing about it is slated for July 7.