After lawsuits, rezonings and years of no progress, the development now under construction towers above the area’s bustling city blocks.
270 Nostrand Ave. Photo by Anna Bradley Smith
A sprawling new development with a controversial history stretching along Nostrand Street between DeKalb and Kosciuszko streets in Bed-Stuy has grown rapidly over the past few months and appears to have peaked, while four more developments, some of them affordable, are popping up nearby, adding to congestion in the bustling area near the Home Depot.
Prior to development, the site at 270 Nostrand St. was home to a nursing home owned by CABS Nursing Home Company, which sold the facility to Allure Group with the understanding that the group would keep the facility open, but Allure closed the facility, opting to develop a primarily market-rate housing development.
After lawsuits, rezonings and years of no progress, the development now stands in the bustling Bed-Stuy neighborhood at Nostrand, DeKalb and Kosciuszko streets. According to city records, each lot is between nine and 13 stories tall. The tallest building, at 13 stories, is on Kosciuszko Street. The corner lot at Kosciuszko and Nostrand streets is 10 stories tall, while the lot along Nostrand Street is 10 to 11 stories tall. The building along DeKalb Street is nine stories tall.
When Brownstoner stopped by last week, the area was bustling with activity, with dozens of workers on site, trucks loaded with construction materials blocking lanes of DeKalb Street east of Nostrand, and a tower crane taking over part of the road on the west side of the street. The building was covered in scaffolding and netting and still had no windows or facade.
Renderings by architects S. Wieder Architect PC show the building’s facade made up of alternating orange and grey brick sections, with the tallest section on Kosciuszko Street being entirely grey.
The ground floor commercial level will have large gray multi-pane windows along Kosciuszko Street and Nostrand Street. The first floor on the DeKalb side appears to be a residential level with smaller windows and a red brick finish. Many of the units will have balconies, according to the renderings.
The site was rezoned in September 2021, despite opposition from the community board and borough president. In its application, the developer said the rezoning would facilitate the development of a 14-story, 487-unit apartment building, 144 of which would be affordable through the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing Program.
But the development is not nearly as large, according to building permits. Permits show the development will include two buildings with a total of 320 units. The building at DeKalb and Nostrand streets, wrapping around Kosciuszko Street, will be 11 stories and contain 210 units. The second building on Kosciuszko Street will be 13 stories and contain 110 units. (There is conflicting information about the total number of apartments; one of the permits lists the total as 369 units, while the architect’s website says it will contain 320 units, consistent with other information on the permits.)
If the building contains 320 apartments, 80 to 96 of them would have to be made affordable through the MIH program that would be initiated by the rezoning. These would be for families earning 60 to 80 percent of the area median income. The rezoning application states the building would contain mostly studio apartments, but also one- and two-bedroom units.
The site has a controversial history as it was previously owned by CABS Nursing Homes, which was founded in 1973. According to court filings by the owners, since 2009 the facility has been operating at a loss and they began looking for a buyer to keep the nursing home open.
According to city records, NNRC Properties LLC, an Allure Group company, purchased the land from CABS for $15.6 million in June 2015. However, without CABS’s knowledge, NNRC’s plans also included building an apartment building on the property. In October 2015, NNRC applied for a development permit for a seven-story building, which was approved later that year.
CABS sued the developer for fraud in 2016, but the lawsuit was dismissed. Allure Group was also involved in the sale of Manhattan’s controversial Rivington House nursing home and has been accused of similar practices.
Developer BRP Company then filed a rezoning application for the land in 2020, and renderings included with the application were done by architects GF55 Partners. The rezoning application called for the new 14-story, 487-unit development to include ground-floor retail and medical offices.
However, BRP Companies no longer appears to be involved with the project, and NNRC Properties LLC is still listed as the owner and developer on permits and city records. In January, GF55 Partners filed a lawsuit against NNRC Properties LLC, alleging the developer owes the company $61,758 in unpaid labor costs. In court documents, NNRC argues that the company has no right to recover damages because it did not have an enforceable contract with GF55.
The developer also faces a lawsuit from Hillwest Architecture in late 2023, alleging that NNRC owes Hillwest $556,942.84 in unpaid invoices.
City documents list Joel Landau and Jack Gold as members of NNRC Properties LLC, and Department of Buildings records also list Chaim Deutsch as the property’s owner.
Meanwhile, just north of DeKalb Avenue on Nostrand Avenue, a six-story, 29-unit development is rising next to Sugar Hill Restaurant & Supper Club. In 2022, the owner of the long-established restaurant sold the property next door to 211 Nostrand Avenue LLC for $4 million, city records show.
Further east on DeKalb Avenue, two seven-story development buildings at 639 and 652 DeKalb Avenue were recently completed and will add to the new development landscape.
But the two buildings will be entirely affordable rentals, with units ranging from studios to three-bedrooms. Developed in partnership with St. Nick’s Alliance and Bedford-Stuyvesant Restoration Corp. and designed by Magnusson Architecture and Planning, the two buildings, known as DeKalb Commons, will have a combined 85 units.
DeKalb Commons also includes a third building, at 1187 Fulton St., that will house more expensive units and help fund affordable housing.
A lottery is expected to open for affordable housing at 270 Nostrand Avenue and the two Dekalb Avenue buildings in the coming months. Once the lottery opens, applications will be available through the city’s Housing Connect website.
(Photographs by Anna Bradley-Smith unless otherwise noted)
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