WILLIAMSBURG — A neighborhood changing, eight-story office building that could tower over Williamsburg's industrial area has met local opposition.
The area's community board rejected a request to change zoning laws so that 25 Kent Ave. could be built.
Though many members supported the project — which is backed by board member and developer Toby Moskovits of Heritage Equity — they cited concerns that the zoning change required would set a precedent that other developers with less agreeable plans could follow.
Moskovits has recused herself from meetings concerning the development.
"They kept mentioning this was an experiment," said community board member Thomas Burrows, referring to meetings with city planning where the zoning change was discussed.
"A one-block experiment is one thing. A 14-block experiment is way too much for us.
"We’ve been screwed over and over and over again," he said, adding that Moskovits' project should get a special variance to continue construction while more sweeping zoning changes should come after the results of a forthcoming study of the industrial business zone.
(The zoning changes would affect the area in yellow.)
Developers Heritage Equity and Rubenstein Partners, in conjunction with the City's Planning Department, want to amend the current zoning in a portion of Williamsburg's industrial zone.
The proposal would allow developers to apply for special permits to double the size of their buildings and have most of the increased area be commercial uses. Current zoning requires the increased area be reserved for community facilities like medical offices.
In exchange the extra commercial space, developers have to reserve a portion of their building for light manufacturing uses.
It would affect an area that extends between North Ninth Street and North 15th Street and from Kent Avenue past Wythe Avenue halfway down the block to Berry Street.
The change would allow the two developers to build 25 Kent Ave., billed as a "technology and maker hub," with 8 stories of commercial office space, ground-floor retail, four public plazas and a pedestrian promenade.
If the amendments pass, it'll set a precedent for industrial areas all across the city.
In its rejection of the proposed zoning modifications, the community board demanded that there be more restrictions that would ensure the long-term affordability of the manufacturing spaces and some kind of system of enforcement so that that manufacturing space is actually used as it's intended.
"This is going to affect us for the rest of our lives," said Community Board Chair Dealice Fuller.
Arguing that the community board has misunderstood the changes, attorney Raymond Levin who is representing 25 Kent Ave., said that all developers in the future would still have to come before the community board to ask for special permission to take advantage of the zoning changes and build a bigger building.
"All this does is create a special permit," he said. "[But] the community board has spoken."
The zoning changes now go the Borough President's office. A public hearing is scheduled for March 21.
"We look forward to presenting our plan on the borough-wide stage later this month and ultimately, to bringing the first new manufacturing space to Brooklyn in decades,” said Lisa Serbaniewicz, a spokeswoman for the project at 25 Kent Ave.
City Planning didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
