Tell NYC How To Build Affordable Housing In Prospect Heights

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The future of two soon-to-be affordable housing developments in Prospect Heights is up for discussion next week.

The NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development has scheduled a workshop Wednesday about 516 Bergen St. and 542 Dean St., two pieces of city-owned land that are slated for affordable housing.

The workshop, set to include 75 people, is part of a series of meetings that the department will hold to gather feedback about the needs of the neighborhood.

"The purpose of this online public meeting is to gain a better understanding of this community’s vision for how the site will best benefit its future residents and the community as a whole," the department said.

The Bergen and Dean street plots neighbor one another near the Dean Street playground. The Bergen building was once an HPD field office, while the Dean Street property was a department parking lot.

The discussion about the two developments began with a kick-off meeting on Oct. 21, which can be found here.

So far, HPD has said they plan to rezone the sites to allow for housing for seniors on Dean Street.

The public meetings come as the city prepares to open up a Request for Proposals for the site from developers. The RFP is part of the department's initiative to bring more minority and women-owned businesses into the affordable housing development process.

The Nov. 18 workshop will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Zoom. A link to RSVP can be found here.

The next meeting will be Dec. 2 should more than 75 people sign up on Wednesday. HPD plans to report back on the feedback from both meetings at Community Board 8’s Dec. 10 meeting.