Developer Simon Dushinsky of the Rabsky Group will likely face a strenuous public review process ahead of his proposed rezoning of two manufacturing blocks in Brooklyn's contested Broadway Triangle, despite local activists' call for more affordable housing in the area, Crain's reports. Dushinsky is eyeing the site for eight ten-story buildings that may bring 777 apartments including 155 priced below market rate, 30,000 square feet of retail as well as a half-acre park to the area, but local activists are worried that the rezoning may cater to one of the area's populations over the others.
The two blocks in question are part of a region that straddle the boundaries of Williamsburg, Bed-Stuy and Bushwick, where a 2009 rezoning of eight blocks nearby has ignited a debate amidst the neighborhoods' Hasidic, black, and Hispanic communities about the land's best use and who developments in the region should cater to. Earlier projects in the rezoned area have come under fire for violating the Fair Housing Act, and similar concerns are being raised with Dushinsky's development where area residents believe that his plan to build shorter buildings with larger apartments is intended to suit the needs of the Hasidic population rather than cater to the community at large. Meanwhile, mostly everyone agrees that new developments in the area should be larger to accommodate more much-needed affordable housing.
· 60-Story towers? Yes, please [Crain's New York Business]
· Gigantic 800-Unit Development May Rise in South Williamsburg [Curbed]
· All 249 Wallabout Street coverage [Curbed]
· All Broadway Triangle coverage [Curbed]