Sugar Factory Apartment Conversion In Brooklyn Is Win For De Blasio

Photo c.o CUNY.edu

The upcoming conversion of the huge Domino Sugar Factor on the Brooklyn waterfront into mixed income housing is a win for the Mayor, who pushed successfully to compel the developer to include more affordable housing than originally expected.

As Capital NY reports,

“Mayor Bill de Blasio stared down Brooklyn developer Jed Walentas, and Walentas blinked.

After threatening to mothball his 3 million-square-foot Domino apartment-and-office space project when de Blasio demanded more affordable housing, Walentas backed down, and on Monday evening, he and the city issued a press release announcing a deal.

Walentas’ five-building redevelopment project for the Williamsburg waterfront, one whose height and mass requires city approval, is now basically guaranteed a go-ahead from the City Planning Commission when it votes on Wednesday.

Unlike the original plan, which called for 660 units of affordable housing, this one will include 700. Where the original proposal called for 427,000 square feet of affordable housing, this one will include 537,000 (allowing for more apartments, and roomier ones). In a concession to the developer, 50,000 of those square feet will be available to households with “moderate” incomes, rather than lower ones.”

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