Flatbush Ave High-Rises Will Go Up After Lawsuit Settlement

BOERUM HILL, BROOKLYN — A controversial Flatbush Avenue development that neighbors said would ruin their quiet brownstone neighborhood will rise now that a lawsuit filed against the project was settled, developers confirmed with Patch.

Alloy Development reached a settlement on the lawsuit — filed in January by Boerum Hill neighbors and their block associations — that will allow them to move forward with the 80 Flatbush Ave. development, which was originally approved by City Council last September.

The deal includes a "Community Benefits Agreement" where the developers agreed to do real-time air quality monitoring, noise minimization and other measures during construction of the project, Curbed first reported.

“We write on behalf of all parties ... to advise the Court that Petitioners and Respondent 80 Flatbush Avenue LLC have reached a settlement that fully resolves the dispute,” Alloy attorney David Paget told Supreme Court Judge Melissa A. Crane in a letter. “All parties have agreed to discontinue the above-referenced action.”

The lawsuit against the project had specifically taken issue with the city's decision to rezone the area to make way for the 1.1 million-square-foot development. The zoning upgrade allows for the height and density of two towers included in the five-building project.

The project will construct three new buildings — including an 840 and 510 foot tower — and renovate two existing buildings on the triangular Flatbush Avenue site. It will include room for two schools, retail and office space and 900 apartments, 200 of which would be affordable units.

The lawsuit claimed that rezoning one block arbitrarily chips away at what is known as the Special Downtown Brooklyn Zoning District (SDBD), which was set up in 2004 to protect its residential surroundings.

"This carve out, rendered the legislative purpose of SBDB to serve as a transitional location between Boerum Hill and Downtown Brooklyn useless and ineffectual," the petition stated. "It undermined, impeded and thwarted the legislative purpose of the SBDB."

The petition also argued that neighbors would be "plagued by almost a decade" of construction, noise, toxic dust, traffic, congestion and potentially structurally damaging vibrations.

A spokesperson with Alloy said that demolition on the site is already underway.

"We're pleased to honor our commitment to establish a Community Benefits Agreement with our neighbors," the spokesperson said. "...We look forward to starting vertical construction next spring and to ultimately following through on our promise to deliver 200 units of permanently affordable housing and two new public schools in Downtown Brooklyn."

The neighbors involved in the suit did not immediately return Patch's request for comment. The neighbors' attorney, Jack Lester, said he could not comment on the case given confidentiality agreements.