Neighborhood groups and Community Board 4 members are joining forces to push for a community benefits agreement with Rheingold Brewery developer Read Property Group.
Among the coalition’s demands are the inclusion of an increased number of “permanently affordable” housing units, with qualification based on the annual median income in Bushwick rather than the city as a whole. The groups are also jockeying for a green roof, LEED building certification, a community space and no hotels in the complex.
The group, currently circulating a petition and urging local City Council Member Diana Reyna to create a formal benefits agreement with the developer, includes the North West Bushwick Community Group, Make the Road, Churches United for Fair Housing, St. Nick’s Alliance, Bushwick Eco Action Network, Los Sures, performance space the Silent Barn, East Williamsburg Valley Industrial Development Corporation, South Side United HDFC and the Rheingold Garden’s Homeowners Association.
Read’s plan for the site would create 70- and 80-foot towers with 977 apartments on the 6.4-acre site of the former Rheingold Brewery at the intersection of Flushing and Bushwick avenues. The developer’s proposal made it through City Planning Commission approval with no modifications in October. [Brownstoner] — Julie Strickland