Plans Unveiled To Shorten Towers Next To BK Botanic Gardens

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — Developers of a set of apartment towers that would cast a shadow on the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens have unveiled two shorter alternatives to their controversial 34-story proposal as it starts the public review process.

Continuum has added details about the new proposals, first reported by THE CITY, to its website for the 960 Franklin Ave. project, which is set to face Brooklyn's Community Board 9 for the first time on Wednesday.

The new designs — both significantly smaller than the original proposal and with even less affordable housing — come after top city planners labeled the project as a likely "non-starter" even as they certified it to start the review process.

Its unclear whether they will change the opinions of the large swath of opponents to the project, which includes Mayor Bill de Blasio and the botanic gardens. BBG officials said they were not consulted about the new designs.

“That’s been the modus operandi, the m.o., of this developer the entire time,” Brooklyn Botanic Garden President Adrian Benepe told THE CITY. “They developed a plan in a vacuum without contemplating the impacts not just on the garden but on the entire community.”

The current Franklin Avenue proposal includes 34 stories and 1,578 apartments, half of which would be reserved as "affordable."

The first of the new designs, which would still need city approval, would be 17 stories and bring 1,170 units, only 25 percent of which would be set aside as affordable.

The third — which developers mark as "as-of-right," meaning it wouldn't require city approval — would include only 518 condos, all of which would be market-rate.

Benepe told THE CITY that it's impossible to predict how much of a shadow the new designs will cast on the gardens without exact architectural plans.

The currently-proposed towers would leave the gardens, which need consistent sunlight, in the shadows for up to three hours a day depending on the time of year, according to an analysis of the plan.

A lawsuit from local opponents of the plans, who also say the proposal hasn't offered enough affordable housing, is also still being reviewed by the courts.

Brooklyn Community Board 9 is set to hear a presentation from Continuum at its Wednesday meeting. A public hearing on the proposal will be held in March.