Adams Admin Looks To Rezone Atlantic Avenue, Add 4,000 Residential Units

New York City Mayor Eric Adams launched his latest effort to generate more housing development, announcing a new city-led rezoning of multiple blocks of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn that would allow developers in the area to skip New York’s complex land use process.

The mayor, along with City Planning Commission Chair Dan Garodnick, released the draft zoning for the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan this week. Under the proposal, about 13 blocks along Atlantic Avenue and the surrounding area would be rezoned, allowing for the development of 4,000 new homes, 1,550 of which would be income-restricted.

“In the midst of a severe housing shortage, New York City must use every inch of space it can to create new homes and invest in communities across the city,” Adams said in a statement. “I represented this community for more than a decade as a state senator and as Brooklyn borough president, and now as mayor, and I’ve fought for these kinds of investments throughout my career.”

Right now, the stretch is zoned for low-density development, having been zoned M1-1 since the 1960s, according to the city, which allows for low-density commercial and industrial properties. As part of the plan, the administration is pledging a $23.3M investment into the nearby St. Andrew’s Playground.

In a virtual meeting Wednesday, New York City Council Member Crystal Hudson, who represents the area, said there would be “multiple opportunities for revisions and modifications,” City Limits reported.

Ultimately, the proposal outlines a plan to create a high-density mix of housing and commercial uses with active ground-floor spaces along Atlantic Avenue. In the mid-blocks south of Atlantic Avenue, between Grand and Franklin avenues, and north of Atlantic Avenue along Herkimer Place, the city wants to roll out a special incentive to promote mixed-use development with one to two floors of nonresidential uses.

On Grand, Classon, Franklin and Bedford avenues, which run north-south, there would be moderate density mixed-use districts with higher density along the avenues.

Hudson, a first-term council member, endorsed two developments on Atlantic Avenue last year, but only after the developers agreed to increase the percentage of affordable units above the required minimum inclusionary zoning.

For eight months, according to the city’s release, Hudson and City Planning have been running a community engagement plan that has culminated in this draft framework. The engagements were outlined in a report last month, and built on the work undertaken by local leaders and Brooklyn Community Board 8 under the “M-CROWN” process, which Adams said he had supported in his previous role as borough president.

Adams has set a “moonshot” goal of producing 500,000 new homes within 10 years, and is also proposing to rezone 42 blocks in Midtown South to allow for office-to-residential conversions. Last year, he revealed plans for a rezoning he expects would allow for 6,000 new units in the Bronx.

He has also spoken out publicly in the last year when council members blocked spot rezonings that would have added new housing across the city.