The City Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve an application for the development of a seven-story residential building at 461 Alabama Avenue, City Land reports. The project now awaits final approval from the City Council.
If approved, the proposed building will rise atop a currently city-owned vacant lot and yield 70 affordable residential units, including 43 studio apartments for formerly homeless individuals.
The reserved units for formerly homeless tenants will be accompanied by support services to provide residents with stability and life skills training, as well as employment services, substance abuse services, and social and recreational activities.
The remaining apartments will be made available at 60 percent of the area median income and include 12 studio apartments, 13 one-bedroom and two two-bedroom apartments. Rents will range from $871 for a studio to $1,332 for a two-bedroom.
The building proposal also includes plans for a lounge, a multipurpose room, a laundry room, tenant storage and a landscaped courtyard.
The applicants behind the project are the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, CB Emmanuel Realty LLC, Services for the Underserved and Newman Design.
So far, the proposal has cleared several rounds of hearings. In September, the Brooklyn Community Board 5 voted unanimously to approve the application. The project also received the backing from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in November, who first requested modifications such as the use of one or more local affordable housing nonprofits to act as the administering agent, the development of tenant outreach strategies and the inclusion of non-supportive affordable housing at 30, 40 and 50 percent AMI.
Next, the City Council will begin reviewing the application in a subcommittee and hold a public hearing at a later date. Once approved, the affordable apartments will be marketed through HPD Housing Connect, the city's website for affordable housing.
