Continuum Unloads Site of Frustration in Brooklyn for $54.3M
By Larry Getlen September 17, 2025 2:53 pm
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The Continuum Company has sold a development site at 970 Franklin Avenue in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, where it had unsuccessfully tried to raise several residential developments, to Isaac Schwartz for $54.3 million, Commercial Observer has learned.
A JLL Capital Markets team of Andrew Scandalios, Ethan Stanton, Brendan Maddigan and Michael Mazzara arranged the sale.
The site next door to Prospect Park is approved for the development of up to 355 residential apartments within a 10-story building featuring 289,957 buildable square feet, according to JLL.
The Continuum Company purchased the site from HPG Associates, as part of the lot defined by 962-972 Franklin Avenue, for $33 million in 2017, according to public records.
The site is also across the street from the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, which has stymied Continuum’s various development efforts.
A 2021 Continuum proposal for a pair of 39-story residential towers hosting almost 1,600 apartments, with almost half serving lower or middle-income residents, was struck down by then-New York Mayor Bill de Blasio over concerns that the buildings would cast shadows over the garden that would imperil various tropical plants, according to the New York Post. At the time, de Blasio said the project would “harm the research and educational work carried out by one of this city’s prized cultural institutions, the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, and is grossly out of scale with the neighborhood.”
Continuum tried again in 2024, this time proposing a single 14-story tower housing 475 units, 119 of which would have been affordable, according to the Post. This also faced widespread community opposition.
The company eventually reached a deal with the New York City Council to shrink the project yet again, this time for a 355-unit building with a 10-degree slope to ensure the light path to the Botanic Garden was not blocked. It was not known why this project failed to materialize as well, or what Schwartz’s current plans are for the property.
Continuum Company and JLL did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Schwartz could not be reached for comment.
Larry Getlen can be reached at lgetlen@commercialobserver.com.
