Brooklyn residents continued to press state officials on the number and rent levels of affordable housing units planned for the next phase of the Atlantic Yards development, a project that has been underway for nearly 20 years.
At the Atlantic Yards Community Development Corporation Directors’ Meeting on Thursday, Empire State Development officials said there will be another 5,000 or so apartments that will likely be built in the second phase. (The first phase, known as Pacific Park, yielded 3,212 units).
The first sites to be constructed, Site 5 and B6, would include about 2,000 total rental apartments, of which the rent for about 500 units would be set at 60% of Area Median Income (AMI), according to Joel Kolkmann, senior vice president of Real Estate and Planning at ESD.
The rent on the units to be built later would peg the rent up to 120% of AMI, and about 30% of the new units would be two-plus bedroom homes, ESD said.
Gib Veconi, a director, found the 500 affordable units a paltry figure, considering the state and past developers failed to build the outstanding 876 affordable housing units during the first phase. In addition, he took issue that the AMI band would go higher for the later sites.
"How can we go higher in AMI in later phases when what we need is low-income housing?" Veconi said. "I have a lot of difficulty with that."
ESD officials noted that this calculation is preliminary, and any feedback would be incorporated into the final plan.
The ESD also issued its Community Engagement Report, which summarized residents' desires gleaned from public meetings and an online survey.
There were 593 community members who responded to the online survey, and 82% of respondents said their the median income was $151,767.
Housing affordability was the top priority for a plurality of workshop participants and survey respondents, with respondents expressing a desire to provide housing for all income levels, where 57% of survey respondents identifying a need for moderate- and middle-income housing, (Moderate: 80% to 120% of AMI; Middle: 120% to 160% of AMI); 25% of respondents citing the need for low-income housing; and 18% prioritizing very-low income housing.
During the directors’ meeting, Director Ron Shiffman asked the state to disclose the exact income bands for each affordable unit it plans to build, noting that Prospect Heights has gentrified significantly over the past 20 years, and argued that more units should be reserved for lower-income residents based on the neighborhood’s past median income.
Many people who showed up at the public meetings don't full understand what AMI currently equates to, and what that means in actual rent prices, he said.
"Otherwise we're getting a distorted picture," he said.
The survey also revealed a strong interest in streetscape, primarily creating safer, more pedestrian-friendly streets and intersections. Survey participants said they would like to see green open space as part of the development, and will support taller buildings if it allows for an expanded central open space. In addition, there was a strong desire for recreation centers, like a YMCA, a library, day care/preschool and senior center.
At an online public meeting on Thursday night, community members expressed their concerns over the state placing too much emphasis on the survey results that revealed a high area median income that reflects the new population of Prospect Heights.
"We don't believe that this is the entire community. This is the snapshot of folks who participated in our process," Koklmann said.
Residents also noted their concerns about traffic safety measures before and after the construction of the two buildings to be built on Site 5, a major traffic crossing where Atlantic, Fourth and Flatbush Avenues collide.
Many community members also voiced a desire for ESD and the development team to demonstrate how it will ensure that project commitments are delivered.
As plans are finalized, the development group, led by Cirrus Real Estate Partners and LCOR, have proposed building the densest housing on Site 5, B6, and B7, which sit partially or entirely on solid ground and would not require as much expensive structural support. The team has also proposed converting Site B8 into a signature open space.
A non-binding Memorandum-of-Understanding is expected to be signed between the development team and ESD around July.
