Brooklyn needs housing, but she can’t build on a vacant lot
It shows how challenging and unpredictable projects can be for housing developments in New York City
THE Crown Heights neighbourhood in Brooklyn has felt the housing crisis deeply.
The area, which for decades had been home to mostly Black and Orthodox Jewish families, has seen an influx of white residents in recent years. Compared with Manhattan, the neighbourhood had been diverse and relatively affordable, with ready access to transit and amenities such as Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum.
A lot of housing has been built to accommodate the demand. The area around the neighbourhood has added nearly 5,000 units over the past 10 years – more than most other areas, according to the Planning Department.
But at the corner of Grand Avenue and Pacific Street, a 33,000-square-foot lot has been vacant for more than 50 years. In such a high-demand neighbourhood, where rents have risen roughly 30 per cent in the past decade or so, why does this spot remain empty?
The story of the lot, at 962 Pacific St, illustrates in many ways why housing developments fall apart in New York City, including how challenging and unpredictable projects can be and how the results of contentious negotiations can leave few people happy.
Like every housing project, this one has its own context. The 962 Pacific St development became embroiled in the politically fraught debate over how to plan for growth in a neighbourhood that has gentrified rapidly. The changes have angered long-time residents who feel they are being pushed out.
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“In this particular area, people felt like these big buildings keep going up,” said Crystal Hudson, a Democrat who represents the neighbourhood on the City Council. “We’re not addressing broader community needs.”
At one point in the 1850s, there were more than a dozen row houses on the site. Then, in 1961, the homes were demolished and the lot was zoned for manufacturing uses, consistent with the industrial businesses popping up around the nearby rail line.
The designation meant that the current owner, Nadine Oelsner, and her company HSN Realty, could not build apartments without engaging in the months long bureaucratic process required to change the zoning. The lot had been owned by her family for decades and at one point had been used as a car park for unused or broken-down cars.
A development boom in Crown Heights in recent years had prompted the rezoning of at least five sites within a two-block radius of 962 Pacific St. Much of the area still feels industrial, with gleaming new apartment buildings mixed in with older, low-rise town homes and auto shops.
Community leaders, frustrated by one-off changes for individual lots, decided that they should come up with a broader rezoning plan that prioritised affordable housing and industrial jobs. The city backed the effort, and released a draft “land use framework” in 2018.
Oelsner figured the time was right to get the lot cleaned up. She lined up a construction loan.
Then Oelsner waited.
Four years after the initial discussions, and after an earlier effort was scrapped, the Planning Department announced in 2022 that it would rezone the area. The process could take years.
Oelsner decided not to wait any longer. Her loan had become more expensive and soon, she told the community board’s land use committee, the rising costs would “force us to make some hard choices and potentially risk losing the site.”
In December 2022, she applied for a zoning change that would allow her to develop a building with residential and manufacturing uses. She would, according to the development process, have to defend her project to the community board and get approval from the Planning Commission and the City Council.
Oelsner wanted to build a nine-story building with 150 apartments, about 40 of them designated as “affordable.” In government terms, that meant rents for those units would be no more than 30 per cent of the gross income of targeted income groups. Under one plan, for example, 25 might rent for around US$1,800 for a one-bedroom apartment, or US$2,000 for a two-bedroom.
Oelsner’s plans called for a smaller building than other developments nearby. She wanted apartments big enough for working families, meaning no studios. She said the building would include an early-childhood education centre and space for industrial business.
Members of the community board fought Oelsner’s project. At a September 2023 meeting, one member said she worried about where the new residents would park. Another wondered why all of the units were not going to be affordable.
The community board recommended that the project be rejected, unless Oelsner made more apartments cheaper and was more transparent about her potential profit. Oelsner and those working with her argued that the level of affordability that the community board was calling for was not “financially feasible.”
Hudson had said she would not support individual developments until the broader neighbourhood rezoning was finished. When she voted against Oelsner’s proposal at a council meeting earlier this year, she said the lot owner was essentially trying to cut in line.
Which she may have been.
Or was it more like proceeding through an intersection after the traffic light has been stuck on red for what feels like too long?
The process for the neighbourhood rezoning began in October, and the final plan could come to a vote as soon as spring. Hudson said there were benefits to a “very deliberate” process that takes into account needs for open space, green space, streets, train stations, schools and more.
For Oelsner’s project, next year is most likely too late. She has abandoned her plan for the nine-story apartment building for now, and 962 Pacific St remains vacant. She has not said what she might do next. NYTIMES
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