Renaissance’s Crown Heights project blocked by holdouts

Renaissance Realty Group is running into resistance against its plans to build an eight-story, 76-unit building in Crown Heights. 

Three grandmothers are fighting to save their homes at 285 Eastern Parkway, City Limits reported. While others in the building accepted buyouts from the landlord, which date back several years, the trio has held firm in their rent-stabilized apartments.

Since January, the three women have been the only tenants left in the four-story building. But they’ve yet to accept any of the developer’s offers. Rosalee Frater rejected a $149,000 buyout in 2019. Two months ago, Frater passed on a $285,000 buyout, while her mother, who has an apartment in the building, rejected a $315,000 offer.

“You know grandmothers know how to fight,” Pamela Hicken said during a rally outside the building last month. “And we fight to win!” 

Renaissance is looking to demolish both 285 Eastern Parkway and its adjacent counterpart, which total 33 units. In place, Renaissance would put a mixed-use property including a health care facility. The company says its project would increase the number of units to 76, easing the housing crunch, but it’s no secret that demolition is a path to deregulation.

The holdouts are paying $516 to $810 a month for their units. As of February, the median asking rent in the neighborhood was $3,000, according to StreetEasy. Crown Heights has been gentrifying for years as demand to live there increases much faster than the supply of homes.

A potential complication at the building is that Renaissance obtained a $5.5 million mortgage from Signature Bank in 2015. Signature has since collapsed, and the federally-backed joint venture that took on the loan has a mandate to preserve affordable housing. It is not clear if the FDIC would step in to stop Renaissance from converting the building to free-market.

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In order to demolish the building, Renaissance needs permission from Homes and Community Renewal, which oversees rent-stabilized housing in the state, to deny lease renewals for regulated tenants. Those tenants have pushed back, claiming demolition would violate the building’s mortgage agreement and that they were being low-balled by the landlord.

The mortgage agreement includes a no-demolition clause, which Renaissance’s legal team said is irrelevant because the debt was due last October. But the Community Preservation Corporation confirmed that the loan was extended; records show it does not mature until January 2026. Demolition isn’t allowed until the debt is paid, according to the CPC. 

Renaissance did not respond to questions from City Limits.

— Holden Walter-Warner