By Sarah Trefethen
The New York City Council is expected to vote by the end of the month on a Department of City planning proposal to rezone 140 blocks of Brooklyn’s Bedford Stuyvesant neighborhood.
Property owners are already gearing up to take advantage of new development opportunities to meet a seemingly insatiable demand for housing in Brooklyn.
In anticipation of the rezoning, Newmark Grubb Knight Frank Capital Group is marketing the site at 835 Myrtle Avenue for redevelopment as a mixed-use property primarily geared toward residential development, including an opportunity to add a retail component.
Borough-wide, rent for one-bedroom apartments has climbed 7.2 percent to $2,415 between August of 2011 and 2012, according to MNS. One bedroom apartments in Bed-Stuy were averaging $1,501 in August, up just slightly from $1,429 the year before.
The site, which is situated within an area that is being rezoned, was the home of Cascade Linen Supply, one of the largest commercial laundries in the country, for more than 100 years.
The factory’s nine iconic buildings have stood since 1898 and were in use until the closing of Cascade in 2010.Rezoning to permit up to 342,600 square feet of residential development (including up to 101,000 square feet of retail space) is expected to be approved by October 30, 2012, according to Kenneth L. Zakin, NGKF Capital Group senior managing director.
“The Cascade site is a singular redevelopment opportunity in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant, a community that encourages mixed-income housing,” says Zakin, who is marketing the property with director Justin DiMare and associate director Randall Liberman.
“The Cascade facility was always an integral part of the community. We expect that the next phase of Cascade will be a redevelopment that preserves some of the unique character of the property and provides quality housing for generations to come.”
The site’s existing buildings total 137,386 square feet on a lot size of 94,000 square feet. Zakin noted that the populous area, which has direct access to the entrance of the Myrtle Avenue / Willoughby Avenue “G” Train, is currently under-served by retail.
“Given the tight supply of housing in Brooklyn, the Bedford Stuyvesant area has seen increased demand for large scale projects,” added DiMare.
