Markowitz to propose expansion for Fourth Avenue rezoning

Clockwise from top left: Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Fourth Avenue corridor and City Planning Commissioner Amanda BurdenBrooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will formally present his plan to significantly expand on a recent bid by the Department of City Planning to rezone Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, the New York Post reported.

Markowitz wants to encourage retail development along a seven-mile stretch of Fourth Avenue from Atlantic Avenue in Boerum Hill to the Atlantic Ocean in Bay Ridge. City Planning’s proposal was to start at Atlantic Avenue and continue 56 blocks south to 24th Street in South Slope. Both rezoning would ban new apartments and parking lots on the ground-floor of new construction projects, and demand that half of ground-floor space be committed to retail. The remainder could be used for community facilities, offices, lobbies or, of course, more retail.

When submitting her proposal in June, City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said “Fourth Avenue is a wide, transit-rich corridor with new housing and residents, but often lacks an active pedestrian environment.”

The area was rezoned in 2003 and 2005 to spur the residential construction, but retail hasn’t followed as city officials had hoped. Although, as The Real Deal has previously reported, the corridor has undergone some gentrification since being a hub for auto-body shops.

City Council has final say on whether Markowitz’s expanded proposal passes. [Post]