Downtown Brooklyn Parking Lots Being Replaced By High Rises
Last month, we made the case that cars and the roadways they need to get around have only ruined a once-somewhat-scenic Brooklyn, turning former tight knit communities into “a tragedy against architecture and street-level character.”
Apparently, cars’ days may be numbered (at least in Downtown Brooklyn). According to Crain’s New York, several parking lots in the neighborhood will soon be razed to make way for a significantly more useful slew of high-rise apartment buildings.
Over the next two years, nearly 10 high rise apartment buildings will contribute to the “rapid extinction” of parking lots and parking garages in the area. The buildings will have 3800 units between them with more than 650 of those units (about 17 percent) marked for affordable housing status.
The transition has been made possible by a 2004 rezoning allowing developers to double the size of buildings constructed on parking lots. Now, ten years later, eager developers are buying up parking lots for as much as $350 per buildable square foot and many parking lot owners are cashing in.
“We’re very pleased with the progress occurring in downtown Brooklyn,” Department of City Planning’s Brooklyn borough director, Purnima Kapur, told Crain’s. “The rezoning is achieving its goals of creating a lively, 24/7 neighborhood.”
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