Atlantic Avenue Apartment Tower Poised For City Council Approval

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A controversial apartment tower planned for Atlantic Avenue is likely on its way to City Council approval after a yes vote from the legislature's Land Use Committee this week.

The City Council Land Use Committee voted nearly unanimously on Monday to approve the 840 Atlantic Ave. development, which was recently rejected for a second time by the local community board.

The proposal is a scaled-back version of developer's original plans for the lot, which now holds a McDonald's, a parking lot and a few small budding on the corner of Vanderbilt Avenue.

It will head next to the full City Council, where it is expected to be approved given support from local City Council Member Laurie Cumbo. Cumbo is believed to have helped negotiate the latest version of the building with community board committee members and the developer, Brooklyn Paper reported.

The latest design includes 270 apartments — 54 of which would be designated as affordable — retail space and 8,000 square feet for an arts center.

The new design has less affordable apartments than a previous version given that developers agreed to reduce the price of affordable units to what is known as Option 3 of the city's Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program.

Affordability has been a sticking point in the 840 Atlantic Ave. complex since it was first proposed and rejected by both Community Board 8 and Borough President Eric Adams. The lower number of affordable spots was still a concern for some local leaders in the scaled-down version.

"I'm mostly concerned with the number of unaffordable [units]," State Sen. Jabari Brisport said at the latest community board vote. "Those market rate, unaffordable units are the key drivers of gentrification and bleeding out Black people from the community and people of color."

Those in support of the latest proposal contended that the 54 units under Option 3 — affordable to those making $31,000 for a family of three — would be a huge boost to the neighborhood's need for affordable housing.

In earlier proposals, the price of most of the affordable units would have required a salary higher than $60,000, which half of Community Board 8 residents do not make each year. Nearly 58 percent of households in Community Board 8's districts are considered rent-burdened.

The updated proposal also included concessions on the zoning of the property given concerns that the original plans asked for more density than is laid out in a development strategy known as M-CROWN that the community board has for the neighborhood.