NYC Council Advances Plan for 1,000 Affordable Units in East New York

The New York City Council has given a Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) approval for an affordable housing project in East New York, Brooklyn, just a month after it was announced that the city’s land use approval process may soon shift.

Brooklyn-based developer Totem received ULURP approval for its Herkimer-Williams project in East New York, a proposal that would transform a privately owned 2-acre site near the Broadway Junction transit center into a “mixed-use hub,” according to the developer.

The project, using guidelines from the East New York Neighborhood Plan and 2016 rezoning, will create up to 1,000 affordable housing units, 25,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space, 85,000 square feet of community facility space to include an “educational anchor,” 114,000 square feet of retail space, 440,000 square feet of commercial space, and 100,000 square feet of industrial space, according to Totem.

“Today’s vote by the City Council marks a historic milestone not just for Herkimer-Williams, but for the future of East New York,” Vivian Liao, co-founder and principal of Totem, said in a statement. “From day one, our goal was to build a project that truly reflects the aspirations of this community.

“This approval is the result of over five years of dialogue and more than 100 meetings with residents and stakeholders,” Liao added. “We are incredibly grateful to the city, Councilmember Sandy Nurse, the borough president, and all our local partners for trusting us to deliver a development that brings equity, opportunity, and lasting growth to the neighborhood.”

The first phase of the Herkimer-Williams development would include the creation of the East New York Green Economy Institute, which would support local entrepreneurs and job seekers, according to Totem.

News of the project’s ULURP approval comes after voters adopted a set of ballot measures in the Nov. 4 election to transfer most of the power over approval of land use items regarding housing from the City Council to either the City Planning Commission or the Board of Standards and Appeals, as Commercial Observer previously reported. The new procedures would essentially get rid of the ULURP process, which has often delayed providing much-needed housing in the city.

Isabelle Durso can be reached at idurso@commercialobserver.com.