Controversial Bushwick Development Finds Approval In City Hall

BUSHWICK, BROOKLYN — Contested plans for a new Bushwick apartment complex found approval in City Hall Tuesday after developers promised to make the building 100 percent affordable.

The City Council subcommittee approved requests to rezone the lot at 1601 DeKalb Ave. for a 121-unit apartment building after protests spurred developers to rework the plans.

Camber Property Group proposed to work through the city’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program to bypass the lot’s current zoning status — which only allows for one-story manufacturing development — by agreeing to market a percentage of apartments in the nine-story building at affordable rates.

But the developers’ original plans, released earlier this year, included just 26 affordable apartments and opponents argued the development would inflate neighborhood rents and encourage more luxury development nearby.

City Councilman Rafael Espinal and Make the Road New York called on the Camber Property Group to make at least half the units available for 40 percent of the Area Median Income during a protest march, amNY reported.

Camber said in July that they would try to rent all the units at affordable rates, and Espinal promised to reconsider the proposal, according to Kings County Politics.

The new plans call for at least 36 apartments to go to households earning less than 50 percent of the AMI, 36 apartments for households earning 60 percent of the AMI and 48 for households earning 100 percent of the AMI.

Now that the Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee has approved the rezoning request, City Council can vote on the proposal in mid-September.

Patch editor Noah Manskar contributed to this report.

Photo courtesy of GoogleMaps/Sept. 2017