Avery Hall Plots 250 Units at Stalled Crown Heights Site

One year on from purchasing the site out of bankruptcy, Avery Hall Investments is revealing the future for a Crown Heights lot once envisioned for a hotel.

The Brooklyn-based developer filed an application with the New York City Department of Buildings for a mixed-use project on a vacant parcel at 1550 Bedford Avenue, the Commercial Observer reported. Through its land use application, Avery Hall is petitioning for zoning amendments to permit a mix of residential and commercial use, along with a mandatory inclusionary housing area designation for affordable housing.

Avery Hall plans to build a 173,000-square-foot building with 250 units, 75 of which would be designated for affordable housing. The 18-story building would also include retail space along the avenue.

The site is zoned for commercial use and has approval for hotel development, as Yoel Goldman once pursued a luxury project there.

A spokesperson for the company did not respond to a request for comment.

In August, Avery Hall paid $10.1 million to buy the site out of bankruptcy, months after Goldman filed for protection of the site, valuing it at $14 million

Goldman bought it in 2014 for $7 million and laid the foundation for a 100-key hotel designed by ODA, according to a bankruptcy filing. But when the pandemic hit, funding dried up, interest payments stopped and mechanic’s liens piled up to more than $1.4 million.

Goldman’s company, All Year Holdings, was dismantled piece by piece after bankruptcy officers seized control of it in 2022 and sold off the assets; the Bedford Avenue site was a personal holding for Goldman.

Brooklyn-based Avery Hall is active in several developments in the neighborhood. In April, Avery Hall, the Brodsky Organization and Monadnock Construction bought a long-vacant development site at 962 Pacific Street and an adjacent property at 863 Dean Street on the border of Prospect Heights and Crown Heights, an assemblage sitting within a sweeping rezoning on Atlantic Avenue.

The joint venture plans to build a mixed-use project in line with the city’s Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan. Avery Hall and Brodsky will lead development of the project, while Monadnock will serve as general contractor.

— Holden Walter-Warner