Real Talk: More Housing Underway on Myrtle Ave!

The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership recently announced the construction of five new private development projects along Myrtle Avenue-- residential and mixed-use buildings that either are in development or have filed permits with city's Department of Buildings.

In anticipation of the completion of the Myrtle Avenue Pedestrian Plaza-- a planned pedestrian oasis on Myrtle Avenue between Hall Street and Emerson Place in Clinton Hill-- developers are wasting no time building more housing that will lead to more foot traffic for what promises to be a vibrant new residential and commercial corridor!

Of the five new residential buildings totaling close to 300 new apartments, only one project is listed as possibly including affordable housing. Take a look at the five projects now underway:

1. The most familiar and prominent construction project taking place right now is at 490 Myrtle Avenue: Construction is almost finished at the topped-out seven-story building on the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Hall Street.  The building will have 93 residential units, with 19,000 square feet of ground floor commercial space.  The ground floor will house the returning Associated Supermarket and a new TD Bank branch.

2. A new building located at 504 Myrtle Avenue will replace the one-story commercial building that housed the former Pratt Station Post Office, according to building plans filed in late November. Plans called for a six-story building, with 141 residential units, 115 parking spaces and 20,000 square feet of ground floor retail.  However, according to Madison Realty Capital, the building plans may change and include a larger number of units that could be added through the city's inclusionary housing bonus which would set aside a portion of the apartments at "affordable" rents.

3. At the corner of Myrtle Avenue and Ryerson Street is 501 Myrtle Avenue, home of the beloved Sapolo Restaurant. Plans filed last week with the DOB call for a five-story addition.  The additional floors will house 11 residential units, with 1,700 square feet of commercial space remaining on the ground floor. These plans have only been pre-filed with the city and have not yet been approved.

4. You might have also heard by now, White Castle, located at 533 Myrtle Avenue, closed on November 25, 2014, and is making way for a five-story mixed use building.  The plans filed back in May 2014 by architect Karl Fischer, called for 6,000 square feet of ground floor retail, with 27 residential units above. However, a new developer, Greystone & Co., has taken over the project and said that the architect has been replaced, with new building plans not yet submitted.  According to The J Companies, the development's construction managing firm, demolition will begin shortly after New Year with construction beginning in the spring of 2015.

5. At 525 Myrtle Avenue, the former site of Myrtle Car (which can now be found just around the corner in the rear storefront of 519 Myrtle Avenue, facing Grand Avenue) will be transformed from a parking lot to a seven-story mixed-use building.  The proposed plans, which have yet to be approved by the DOB, call for a mixed-use building that has 22 residential units, sitting above 2,100 square feet of commercial space.  An additional 500 square feet of community facilities space is also proposed.