Long-stalled Sunset Park development back on the market

A cadre of Flushing-based developers who’ve struggled to earn community support for a massive mixed-used project in Sunset Park, Brooklyn have put the site back on the market.

The 1.3-million-square-foot project at 6208 Eighth Avenue—dubbed the Eighth Avenue Center by builders—has been listed with Cushman & Wakefield for $150 million, the Commercial Observer reports.

The move comes after years of grappling with the city’s extensive review process for a rezoning and pushback from Community Board 10. Last summer the site, which is located on the border of Sunset Park and Dyker Heights, entered the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) for the second time.

The group of developers behind the project have long planned to build a two-story, Chelsea Market-style retail space at the base of the property, which roughly spans the length of three football fields. Three towers would rise from that base—a 12-story, 250-unit residential building with 50 below-market-rate apartments, a 12-story office building, and an 11-story, 250-room hotel, according to the Observer. The project also once included plans for a public primary school but the city’s School Construction Authority nixed that idea after cost concerns.

The area is zoned for manufacturing and most buildings top out at four stories, but the development’s previous owner, Andrew Kohen, secured a zoning variance in 2007 to allow a mixed-use building with a total floor area some six times the lot’s size. Kohen abandoned his plans for the property in 2008 because of the recession.

Today’s developers are seeking a rezoning to build additional parking spaces and also want a variance to allow the project to deck over the neighboring Long Island Railroad and N train tracks. Community Board 10 has given the project a chilly reception and cited concerns over its massive scale and the burden it could place on the area’s infrastructure.

Stephen Preuss, a managing director with Cushman & Wakefield, told the Observer that they intend to market the property, which resides in an opportunity zone, to major developers in the tri-state area. The $150 million asking price works out to roughly $120 a buildable square foot assuming that the 1.3-million-square-foot development is built.

The Brooklyn Borough President’s office is considering the application. A future owner of the site could still build on the property without pursuing special approvals with the city.