On Thursday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced 322 new apartments will be built in East Flatbush as part of his commitment to creating 4,000 affordable houses in Central Brooklyn.
The development, called Utica Crescent, will be built on a parking lot currently owned by One Brooklyn Health System (OBHS), adjacent to Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center. Of the 322 affordable mixed-income apartments, 34 will be reserved for formerly homeless tenants and 96 will be reserved for seniors.
The building will include a large full-service grocery store as the main commercial tenant and smaller ground floor storefronts for local businesses. It will have an underground parking garage with 300 parking spaces for Kingsbrook Jewish Medical Center employees that currently park at the development site, and plans include a new dialysis center operated by OBHS to replace their current smaller dialysis center on the Kingsbrook Jewish campus.
Utica Crescent apartments are part of the $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn initiative that targets and invests in eight integrated areas, from health care to housing, to address chronic economic and racial disparities in Brooklyn communities.
Cuomo said the pandemic had further exposed inequalities in far too many communities and had also shown how important it was for New Yorkers to have access to safe and affordable housing.
"We are facing unprecedented challenges, but we are in this together," he said. "That's why the state is continuing to step up and help those who need it most by moving forward with projects like Utica Crescent, which will increase affordable housing opportunities for hundreds of New Yorkers."
The building will have free Wi-Fi for residents and visitors, and will include laundry rooms, exercise and activity rooms, bicycle storage and multipurpose community rooms. Community Supported Agriculture services will be located on-site and the development will include energy efficiency strategies, including green roofs and an Enterprise Green Communities Certification.
Senator Zellnor Myrie said the project was a creative, modern, energy-efficient and health-oriented development that would provide generations of residents with the housing and community services that have been severely lacking in the neighborhood.
Utica Crescent will have 30,000 square feet of open space, including a large interior courtyard with resident gardens, timber bleachers, walking paths and outdoor activity areas. The project is a joint venture by Monadnock Development LLC and CB-Emmanuel Realty LLC. Catholic Charities will provide on-site supportive services to residents and the community.
