Cuomo Announces Winning Proposal To Develop Kingsboro Psychiatric Center Grounds
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the selection of the winning proposal to redevelop 7.2 acres of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center campus in East Flatbush, Brooklyn. The development will include 900 affordable homes, ample public green space, a full-sized basketball court, areas for urban farming, a greenhouse, and dedicated space for community empowerment programs. The $1.4 billion Vital Brooklyn initiative targets and invests in eight integrated areas, including health care and housing, establishing a new standard for addressing chronic economic and racial disparities in Brooklyn’s high-need communities.
“The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed the inequalities among the state’s at-risk and in-need communities, including a fundamental need for safe and affordable housing,” Governor Cuomo said. “Through the Vital Brooklyn initiative, we are better addressing these needs by transforming underutilized land on the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center campus into a community-oriented development that provides housing and programming to better serve those in-need, building New York back better, fairer and stronger for all.”
The more than $400 million project includes approximately 900 units of affordable and supportive housing, and senior housing; opportunities for homeownership; and two state-of-the-art homeless shelters, replacing the existing, aging shelters originally built in the 1930s. The development will create 3,700 constructions jobs and more than 200 permanent jobs for area residents. The project proposal achieves 30% towards the New York State’s nation leading certified MWBE goals.
Amenities include free high-speed Wi-Fi, exercise rooms, a 10,000-square-foot grocery store, a 7,000-square-foot community hub with computers and classroom space for after-school programs and workforce development training, performance space and community empowerment programs.
In August 2020, Empire State Development – in collaboration with New York State Homes and Community Renewal – requested proposals to bring a modern, mixed-use wellness-oriented development to the campus of the Kingsboro Psychiatric Center, one of Brooklyn’s largest health institutions. The winning proposal presented the most comprehensive vision for this prime property in East Flatbush, with affordable housing and a set-aside for permanent supportive housing units and shelter beds.
The redevelopment project will be led by Almat Urban, Breaking Ground, Brooklyn Community Services, the Center for Urban Community Services, Douglaston Development, Jobe Development, and the Velez Organization. The design team includes internationally-acclaimed Adjaye Associates and Harlem-based Studio Zewde. Jobe Development and the Velez Organization are certified MWBEs.
