Hudson Companies is borrowing $76 million in taxpayer dollars to build  a massive 23 story 254 unit luxury tower at 626 Flatbush Avenue in  Prospect Lefferts Gardens, a low rise, mixed income neighborhood in Brooklyn. The developer and the agencies responsible for funding have been unresponsive to community concerns:

• This will be the tallest building on or near the perimeter of Prospect Park. Buildings this tall are not permitted by zoning in any other neighborhoods that border Prospect Park including Park Slope, Windsor Terrace and Kensington.

• High floor apartments at premium rents will have ripple effect in the neighborhood, leading to rising rents in buildings that are currently affordable.

• Will be completely out of character for this low rise historic neighborhood.

• Will tower over Prospect Park, violating the unspoiled natural views which are a public amenity, may interfere with bird migration.

• Light and air would be blotted out from Ocean, Flatbush, and surrounding side streets.

• Small retail shops on Flatbush will be forced out when landlords sell property for luxury park views or seek big box store rents.

• Will lead to similar projects from Empire Blvd. to Parkside, increase population density in already too dense area, overwhelm schools and other neighborhood services, create traffic congestion.

What We Are Asking For:

• Lower the height of 626 Flatbush to 9 stories—the current zoning limit for new development in most of the other neighborhoods surrounding Prospect Park.

• Affordable housing for working families. Current plans call for 20% affordable housing while 80% of the units will be at luxury prices. This tower covers less than one fifth of a very large lot, and we believe a lower height design covering more of the lot would provide more affordable apartments. The developer has refused to build lower and wider because they believe they will get more rent for higher floor apartments. 

• Implement “Contextual” zoning without delay for Flatbush and Ocean Avenues. New zoning would be similar to the other neighborhoods around Prospect Park that limit new development to 9 stories.