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BAM! Development Explosion

BAM! Development Explosion

On November 28, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced milestones in three projects that will bring affordable housing and additional cultural and community space to the last city-owned parcels in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District. First, the Gotham Organization and DT Salazar are partnering with City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to develop a 515,000-square-foot mixed-use building on a site bounded by Fulton Street, Rockwell Place, and Ashland Place. Second, Two Trees Management Company has initiated the public review and approval process for a 32-story mixed-use facility designed by Enrique Norten of TEN Arquitectos on Flatbush and Lafayette. Finally, HPD released an RFP for the last development parcel in the district, located at the intersection of Ashland Place and Lafayette.

“Downtown Brooklyn has very quickly become one of the city’s most vibrant cultural destinations and an exciting place to live,” said Mayor Bloomberg in a statement. “These projects—which will bring more affordable housing and community space to the neighborhood—are more proof of the confidence that the real estate industry has in New York City and in downtown Brooklyn.”

HPD has finalized plans with the Gotham Organization and DT Salazar to build 600 units of new housing, 50 percent of which will be affordable and 40 percent of the affordable units will be two-bedroom units. When completed, the building will also contain 20,000-square-feet of cultural and related office space and 20,000-square-feet of retail space. HPD and the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) expect to close on financing with the development team late next year and to see construction begin shortly thereafter. The Gotham Organization has not yet announced the architect of the project, which has just begun design development.

Two Trees, which agreed to purchase the district’s South Site parcel from the City’s Economic Development Corporation in 2009, began the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) to gain approval to build a new mixed-use development on the Flatbush Avenue site. The approximately 47,000-square-foot lot, which is bounded by Flatbush, Lafayette Avenue, and Ashland Place, is currently a parking lot owned and operated by the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC). Once the ULURP process is complete, and approvals have been granted, Two Trees can begin constructing the Ten Arquitectos highrise, which includes approximately 50,000-square-feet of creative and cultural space that will be shared by BAM, 651 ARTS, and the Brooklyn Public Library. In addition, the tower will include approximately 23,000-square-feet of ground-level retail, as well as approximately 300 to 400 apartments, 20 percent of which will be affordable.

Plans for the site also include a 16,000-square-foot public plaza programmed for a variety of outdoor uses, including dance and theater performances, film presentations, open air markets and crafts fairs, and other community uses.

Once the facility is complete, the 50,000-square-feet of cultural space and a portion of the public plaza will be controlled by the City of New York. Approximately 17,400-square-feet of space will be occupied by BAM to allow the institution to meet the needs of its growing audiences. A component of this expansion will enable the academy to make its BAM Hamm Archives Center resources available to the public, providing researchers, artists, educational institutions, and students with access to materials and records documenting the oldest performing arts center in the country.

The Brooklyn Public Library will use approximately 16,500 square feet of the cultural space to open a new state-of-the-art branch. The new branch will offer traditional library services as well as new technologies and programming that will benefit the local community.

651 ARTS, an acclaimed performing arts presenter dedicated to artists of the African Diaspora, will occupy a 12,500-square-foot studio and rehearsal center. The rehearsal studios will be available at affordable rates, and preference will be given to organizations in the Downtown Brooklyn Cultural District. The state-of-the-art studios will also be multi-purpose space for education programs, and will provide opportunities for live public performances, gatherings, and salons for artists to cultivate their work.

On November 27, HPD released an RFP for Cultural District Site II, the last development parcel in the district, located at the intersection of Ashland Place and Lafayette Avenue. The RFP calls for approximately 100,000 square feet of floor area and may include residential, community, and/or commercial space, with a requirement to include a minimum of 15,000 square feet dedicated to cultural space and the arts. If affordable housing is proposed it must serve low-income New Yorkers. Proposals must be submitted by February 1, 2013. For more information and to download the RFP, visit www.nyc.gov/hpd.

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