The city announced it is seeking bids from developers to build up to 200 affordable apartments on a vacant East New York parcel.
The site, bounded by Atlantic Avenue, Chestnut Street and Dinsmore Place, sits across the street from the public City Line Park and neighbors a soon-to-be-built school, according to Crain’s. It was excluded from the recent rezoning of East New York.
“The city-owned lot at Dinsmore-Chestnut has been vacant for decades: a tragic and all-too-familiar symbol of previously unfulfilled promises and a lack of investment in East New York,” City Council member Rafael Espinal said in a statement. “With the East New York Neighborhood Plan that passed the City Council a mere eight months ago, and the de Blasio administration’s commitment to building affordable housing, this site is finally being put to effective use.”
Phipps Houses recently bought a neighboring parcel for $36 million and is currently in talks with City Hall to build a 900-unit affordable housing development.
In April, the City Council approved a rezoning plan for 190 blocks in East New York and neighboring Cypress Hills and Ocean Hill. It is the first neighborhood to be rezoned under the de Blasio administration’s Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Plan, which allows developers to build taller but requires them to set aside a portion of units as affordable in return. [Crain’s] — Konrad Putzier