Downtown Brooklyn is New York City's third-largest central business district, and a 2004 rezoning was meant to increase the commercial footprint in the area. Instead there's been more residential development than planners anticipated.
Tom Acitelli reports on a wave of new development in Downtown Brooklyn in New York City, especially along the Schermerhorn Street corridor.
According to Acitelli, the wave of new development in recent years was made possible by a 2004 rezoning, "…originally meant to facilitate more commercial development, particularly office and cultural projects."
"But a 2016 report from Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams' office concluded that more than 11,000 housing units had gone up in the area in the first dozen years since the rezoning, while the city had anticipated only 979. Meanwhile, the 1.3 million square feet of commercial property developed fell far short of the anticipated 4.6 million," reports Acitelli. The reason for the unexpected shift is location. The neighborhood is "minutes from Manhattan by numerous subway lines. Plus it borders areas of quainter brownstone Brooklyn that residents might be more interested in but can't afford."
More details about recent and forthcoming developments are included in the source article.
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