On Wednesday, the City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) put a call out to development teams to transform the former site of P.S. 90 in Flatbush through a Request for Qualifications.
The vacant city-owned lot located at 2286 Church Ave. will be transformed into a housing development with approximately 100 affordable apartments and a youth community facility.
In a release, HPD said roughly 100 critically needed affordable homes would be part of the development, in addition to a community center with youth programming.
The 29,000 square foot development site formerly contained a historic 19th-century school building, which later became P.S. 90 and the private school Beth Rivka. The school was demolished in 2015 due to hazardous structural conditions.
During archaeological excavation, a small number of fragments of human remains were found contributing to the evidence that a burial ground for people of African ancestry once existed nearby. At the time, the human remains were transferred to the minister of the Reformed Dutch Church of Flatbush for reinterment in their consecrated cemetery.
A community task force, co-chaired by Councilmember Mathieu Eugene, who represents the 40th District, and Borough President Eric Adams, will advise on the proper handling and memorialization of additional artifacts or human remains, if discovered during future construction, and the future development program, including ideas for the youth community space, affordable housing, and design.
Eugene said the development of the new community site was an important investment he had spent many years advocating for.
"My mission as an elected official has always been to provide resources that empower our underserved residents, and to promote the values of education and housing equality," he said. "It is my firm belief that by working together we will continue to strengthen the future of our great city, and this project is an essential part of that process."
Borough President Eric Adams said as co-chair of the task force that would be working with the community to make decisions on the site, he was excited to work with a broad spectrum of community voices to shape the future of the important project.
"Fostering robust community engagement around the future use of this site is imperative to ensure that we respectfully honor our collective past as well as address the current and future challenges of the Flatbush community," he said.
The deadline for submissions is March 5, 2021. More information can be found on HPD's website.
