clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Brooklyn’s LICH megaproject will move forward without affordable housing

New, 10 comments

Fortis Property Group will no longer seek rezoning for the Cobble Hill project

Developers of the Long Island College Hospital conversion has announced plans to move forward the Brooklyn megaproject, no longer seeking a compromise with the project’s opponents and Mayor de Blasio’s administration for rezoning, reports Politico (h/t New York Post).

Fortis Property Group has grown tired of the back and forth over the fate of the Cobble Hill site that is slated for residential redevelopment. The development firm preferred to proceed with the ULURP plan, which would have allowed for low-income apartments, retail, and mixed-use space.

But after failed negotiations with Cobble Hill community, Fortis decided to proceed with its "as-of-right" plan; per Politico, the plan allows the developer "to build market-rate condos without any price-controlled housing for lower-income residents."

"Based on the high demand for community facility space at this premier location, timing and other development factors, an as-of-right redevelopment is the most profitable," said Fortis president Joel Kestenbaum.

The De Blasio administration was hoping that the former hospital would be converted into a mixed-use development with more than 200 affordable units, a public school, and public space for the community. "This is not the plan we wanted, and nobody won here," De Blasio spokeswoman Melissa Grace told the Post.

Meanwhile, the sale of the hospital site remains under federal investigation.