The planned redevelopment of the Bedford Avenue Armory in Crown Heights has hit several roadblocks. But the area's City Council member is vowing to push forward. Brooklyn reporter Jeanine Ramirez has the story.
Built in 1903 — The Bedford Union Armory in Crown Heights has been vacant for years. Renovation plans were unveiled in December but some community members are calling for the project to be scrapped. City Councilwoman Laurie Cumbo warns that would be mistake.
"This is about a quarter of a billion dollar project of opportunity and resources in our neighborhood," the Councilwoman said. "It's too serious of a project to kill in the early stages of the negotiation."
Initial designs for Bedford Courts include a sports complex, office space and 330 units of housing. The half of the housing is supposed to be affordable and the other half market rate. Many residents fear the housing is out of their reach in the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. Cumbo says she is pushing for more affordability.
"That particular formula is unacceptable to me and it's unacceptable to all of my colleagues," she said. "We are in negotiations."
It was back in 2013 the city acquired the armory from the state and issued a request for proposals to develop the site.
BFC Partners and Slate Property Group won the bid. But Slate backed out after it came under fire for its role in Manhattan's controversial Rivington House deal to turn a nursing home into condos. Then Knicks star Carmelo Anthony withdrew his support for the sports complex.
At a town hall this past weekend, many complained the city is giving away valuable land to luxury real estate developers. Longtime activist Bertha Lewis issued this statement:
"This project was questionable from the beginning," Lewis said in the statement. "When two-thirds of the developers start to drop out, you know it is time for a project to go back to the drawing board."
But Cumbo says it's not that simple and points to the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx.
"Since 2000 they've had a series of false starts and moving into 2017 it still remains vacant," Cumbo said. "That is my greatest fear."
The project is still in the environmental review stage and is set to start making its way through the city's formal land use review process early 2017.