SUNSET PARK — A plan to redevelop Sunset Park’s public library building with a bigger branch and affordable housing would include reserving some apartments for victims of domestic violence, the developer said.
The Fifth Avenue Committee, the nonprofit developer leading the project, has partnered with the Center Against Domestic Violence to ensure 20 percent — nine out of 49 — affordable units will be available to families looking for homes after living in a shelter.
“We’re very excited about this partnership,” said Rona Solomon, deputy director of the Center Against Domestic Violence.
The apartments — two studios, a one-bedroom, three two-bedrooms and 3 three-bedrooms — will be for families who face economic hardship and fall within the income bracket requirements.
The building will also provide space for the organization to continue counseling sessions, case study management and social services in the building, according to Jay Marcus, director of housing development for the Fifth Avenue Committee.
Late last year, FAC, in partnership with the Brooklyn Public Library, outlined its plan to construct an eight-story building at 5108 Fourth Ave., the site of Sunset Park’s public library. The library is currently 12,200 square-feet with 9,000 square-feet of usable space.
The project involves building a roughly 20,000-square-foot library shell for BPL and 49 affordable housing units.
At Community Board 7’s housing committee meeting Thursday night, Marcus presented the funding sources for the $20,523,000 that will be needed for the project.
The group was allocated $11,410,000 in state Low Income Housing Tax Credits, which guarantee the units will remain affordable for at least 50 years.
FAC has also received preliminary commitments for funds from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Citibank and other sources, according to Marcus’ presentation.
Under the proposal, the nonprofit developer would purchase the site from the city and after construction, the city would take back the library and FAC would own the rest of the building.
BPL would be responsible for outfitting the library shell, which would cost $10 million, said David Woloch, BPL’s executive vice president for external affairs.
Woloch maintained that construction would not go forward until BPL had secured an interim library site and additional funding, which they hope to pull from the imminent sale of the Brooklyn Heights branch.
A proposed timeline shows the ULURP process beginning in the fall, construction starting in Oct. 2016 and its completion two years later.
