COBBLE HILL — One of Brooklyn’s most charming and affluent neighborhoods is facing a pivotal moment in its history.
For months, Cobble Hill has been debating Fortis Property Group's redevelopment of the former Long Island College Hospital, which is slated to be demolished and turned into luxury condo towers.
As residents fought against the hospital's closure and, more recently, the proposed high-rise buildings at the site, the Cobble Hill Association has served as something of a watchdog for the neighborhood, advocating for more community input in the process.
The group's leaders say they're not only focused on the tall new condos going up and what that will mean for the area, they're also concerned about the sudden loss of decades-old businesses in the neighborhood, where the average retail rent was found to be among the priciest in Brooklyn.
In September, the neighborhood civic group elected a new board, which quickly made efforts to mobilize the community through public meetings, block discussions and petitions to Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Last month, Councilman Brad Lander and CHA announced they would not support a rezoning of the LICH property after they found that the neighborhood was overwhelmingly opposed to it.
CHA president and first vice-president Laurel Burr and Adrian "Buzz" Doherty sat down with DNAinfo to discuss how they are tackling the LICH redevelopment and the changing face of Cobble Hill. An edited and condensed transcript of the interview follows:
DNAinfo: When you became leaders of the board, you were dropped into the middle of the LICH redevelopment. What were some of the first steps you took?
AD: We needed to respond as quickly as we could. We spent a lot of time, a lot of early meetings with the new board, which I think represents the community. We said, ‘look we need to go and certainly sit down with local elected [officials] and then get a meeting with the developer and say, now that the Cobble Hill Association has a new board, we want to talk to [the developer, Fortis Property Group] about what’s going on.
There were a couple meetings that really crystallized how serious the issue was. It was clear that the developer was not listening to the community and was not changing its plans in any material way. [Fortis] didn’t think that was something they needed to be concerned about.
After the most recent set of renderings and plans were released in October, you held a series of block meetings for community input. What did you hope to achieve through those meetings?
LB: We really said, 'What do you think?' What are your concerns, what are your opinions. It was just remarkable how consistent [locals] were from meeting to meeting. We just went through a comparison side-by-side and tried to keep it neutral.
How many people did you end up speaking to?
LB: We tried to cover as much of the Cobble Hill Historic District as we could in a short amount of time.
AD: We did get people from, I’d say, all four corners of the district.
What about other smaller developments in the neighborhood? Is that something you hear about from locals?
LB: There’s just such a rapid pace of change. I think it’s hard for the residents to keep up. One day, the store that’s been there for 40 years is closing. You know, ‘where are we going to buy a ball a string?’ Winn Discount on Court Street is closed, Thrifty Beverage closed. I think there’s a lot of “did you know this happened?”
How do you deal with that anxiety?
AD: It’s hard. I think the generational change is what drives everything, demographics is also driving most of this. It’s an extraordinarily attractive place to live.
LB: And to raise a family.
AD: We’re trying to stay alert and engaged in any other developments. The gas station is in the limited-height district and there’s a parking lot at Court and Congress [streets] that’s about to be developed.
Do you keep in touch with developers who are new to the neighborhood?
LB: We’d like very much to. Sometimes there’s just a very small meeting over a cup of coffee to see what they’re planning before they take it to the community board. We’d like a more structured process down the road.
AD: [Discussing the future LICH redevelopment] When something happens at that site, it’s going to fall to us or some group of us in the community to watch over construction. No matter what they do, it’s going to be massively disruptive. The safety issue and the environmental issues are going to be pretty compelling.
That, as much as anything, is something that we need to be ready to tackle.
Are you considering taking legal action against Fortis Property Group?
AD: We’re going to have [legal] counsel and we’re certainly going to take the counsel’s advice. There’s a lot of different ways this could play out. It’s too early to tell. We just have to wait and see what our options are.
