Ranco Capital Gets Rezoning for Bed-Stuy Rental Development

Brooklyn developer Ranco Capital received rezoning approval that will pave the way for a rental development in Bed-Stuy.

The City Council’s zoning and land use panels approved Ranco’s application to change 703 Myrtle Avenue’s zoning from manufacturing to mixed residential and commercial.

Ranco’s planned mixed-use building would bring 54 rental units to the block, including 18 affordable to households earning less than 80 percent of the area median income.

The approvals, typically negotiated with the developer by the local Council member, come with two modifications. One is that 25 percent of the units must be affordable at 60 percent of AMI and 20 percent go to tenants at 40 percent of AMI. Ranco’s Izzy Rosenbaum filed the application, which will return to the City Planning Commission for approval of the modification.

Approval by the commission and the full Council are a formality once the local member, in this case Democrat Lincoln Restler, signs off.

“The 703 Myrtle rezoning will bring much-needed housing to Bed-Stuy,” Restler said in a statement. “Our office worked productively with the development team to ensure this rezoning best meets the needs of the community, from expanding unit sizes to accommodate more two- and three-bedroom apartments to securing additional green infrastructure to help mitigate flooding.”

The development will join two others on the same block on Myrtle Avenue between or next to Walworth Street and Spencer Street. The lots are currently home to storefront properties built in the 19th century. The block could certainly use a makeover, as its storefronts are largely abandoned or dilapidated, and its sidewalks cracked.

Together, the three developments will bring more than 200 rental units to the neighborhood, where demand for housing and low supply have pushed rents up and some longtime residents out.

Rivington Company has already broken ground on a rental development at 723-733 Myrtle, which was rezoned in 2016. The 10-story residential building will have 120 rental units, 30 of them affordable. The projected completion date is early 2025. McGowan is handling construction.

A proposed development at 710-714 Myrtle would result in a nine-story, mixed-use building with 62 units, but the rezoning application has yet to go to the local community board — the first step in a review process that can take up to seven months. Joel Berkowitz is the developer.

Ranco, Berkowitz and Rivington Company did not respond to requests for comment.