500 Affordable Units Coming To Dumbo Jehovah's Witnesses' Space

DUMBO, BROOKLYN — One of the Jehovah's Witnesses' former Brooklyn buildings that was once slated to become a luxury hotel will instead bring more than 500 units of affordable housing to one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods, should its application be approved, developers announced this week.

Breaking Ground, the city's largest supportive housing developer, said Tuesday that they have finally started the review process for a rezoning that would allow them to build 507 affordable apartments at 90 Sands St., which was once a hotel run by the religious group.

It was first rumored that the 29-story building would be turned into affordable housing more than a year ago after developers who had hoped to turn it into a 600-room hotel scrapped those plans and sold the building to Breaking Ground.

The building will instead offer rents as low as $492 per month to low-income or formerly-homeless New Yorkers in one of the city's most expensive neighborhoods.

“Breaking Ground believes that everyone deserves a home, and we are committed to expanding our impact throughout New York City by providing safe, stable, beautiful homes for our most vulnerable neighbors,” Breaking Ground President Brenda Rosen said. “The repositioning of 90 Sands to create permanent affordable and supportive housing is an incredible opportunity for Brooklyn and the City."

The affordable developers will ask the city to rezone the property, which is currently zoned for light manufacturing, so that they can build the 507 apartments, a 30,000-square-foot commercial and community space and a new plaza.

More than half of the apartments, 305 units, will be slated for formerly homeless New Yorkers and 202 will be available to low-income to moderate-income households, developers said.

To help their new residents, the developers will also bring in the Center for Urban Community Services, who will provide case management, medical care, mental health services, employment readiness and benefits counseling to the formerly homeless tenants. Breaking Ground has worked with the social service organization on nine other buildings, developers said.

“Spanning over two decades, our partnership with Breaking Ground has enabled thousands of New Yorkers to get the housing and care they need," CUCS President Tony Hannigan said. "CUCS is once again thrilled to be partnering with Breaking Ground to provide the support and services the new tenants who come home to the 90 Sands project will need to thrive."

The apartment building will include a digital library, fitness room, public plaza and a 24-hour attended lobby with a full security camera system.

The Sands Street building was once one of a few dozen properties the Jehovah's Witnesses owned on their Brooklyn campus.

The religious group started selling off their 37 properties back in 2004, when they moved their headquarters to upstate New York.

The last piece of property on the market, sold late last year, is also slated to become an apartment building on Front Street. Other notable spots include a massive waterfront campus, along with the famous "Watchtower" sign, that will soon become five buildings of office space.

Breaking Ground will fund their 500 new affordable spots with $2 million from City Council, a $155 million loan from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development and a $10 million grant from Enterprise Community Partners, developers said.