Brooklyn civic leaders urged the state and developers to present a clear plan for the number and types of affordable housing units proposed for the next phase of the Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park project, as the public engagement process unfolds over the next two months.
At Tuesday’s Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation board meeting, several civic leaders pressed Empire State Development and the Brooklyn Ascending Land Co., the new joint venture leading Phase Two of the project, to release details on how many affordable units they plan to build, the size of those apartments, and how they will use area median income (AMI) to set rents.
The state and developers were asked to reveal these figures as soon as possible, as the first memorandum of understanding between the development team and the state is now slated to be drafted in July, later than the original March deadline as discussed earlier this fall.
At issue for the Prospect Heights community is how past developers did not construct all of the promised affordable housing units, and that the state did not enforce the legally-binding penalties. Stakeholders are asking the missing 877 affordable apartments to be built as quickly as possible, and for the homes to include more two- and three-bedroom units so families have a change to move into them.
Board member Ronald Shiffman said what residents deem affordable has been "enormously distorted" over the 25-year-period the project has been going on.
"To even talk about AMI, it means that we're not talking about Brooklyn, and we're not talking about the population that desperately needs housing today," Shiffman said, urging the state and developers to consider AMI pegs in quadrants so individuals and families making between $30,000 to $100,000 can qualify for units.
Shiffman urged the team to engage with state and city housing authorities and explore alternative funding methods to create more affordable units for low-income New Yorkers.
Joseph McDonnell, a managing director at Cirrus Real Estate Partners, said the development team is looking to first build on Site 5, B6 and B7 as it is easier to build on solid ground rather than over a live rail yard. The buildings here will be taller, and Site 5, which sits across the street from Barclays Center, will likely have two towers with a lot more rental units versus condominiums, he added.
"B6 and B7 are actually opportunities to deliver more efficient buildings to create more room for affordability more room for open space and actually to potentially do it quicker than buildings that have to be built fully on a platform," he said.
The number of total units for the entire project will likely be about 9,000, up from the original 6,400 count, as a previously planned hotel/office building is now scrapped, McDonnell said.
State Assemblymember Jo Anne Simon said she was concerned that there would be fewer deeply-affordable units built than the original plan.
"The more affordable units were left to the end in the most expensive construction phase of the project and in fact not been built," she said. "But it was very clear to us that there wasn't sufficient truly affordable units in the first place, and now you seem to be looking at less affordable units."
Community members for years have been sounding the alarm on the missing affordable units, where the former developer Greenland USA was supposed to pay what is now more than $160 million in damages for not building the units on time.
To placate the community, Brooklyn Ascending Land Co. said it will release $4.5 million into an Affordable Housing Trust, which will support near-term housing construction in community boards 2,3,6 and 8. The trust will eventually total $12 million.
There are two more public workshops scheduled before the development team comes up with a draft proposal for Phase Two.
More than160 people attended the first public workshop on Nov. 18, which included residents, community board members, City Council Members and state officials, according to Anna Pycior, ESD's Senior Vice President, Community Relations.
The next public meeting will take place on Dec. 8 at 6:00pm at Barclays Center, while a virtual meeting will take place in January 2026.
