On the eve of a vital public hearing to discuss freezing residential development
in parts of Sunset Park and Red Hook, property owners are being actively
courted by interest groups on both sides of the issue.
The hearing will be a chance for public officials, planners and business
owners to speak out on a city plan to preserve industrial zoning.
The so-called Industrial Business Zones are drawn by the city in a contentious
debate over preserving what is fast becoming an endangered species in
Brooklyn — factory and warehouse buildings that can’t be converted
into profitable condos or lofts.
That explains why one form letter sent to warehouse and factory owners
in Sunset Park reminded property owners that the hearing at City Hall
on Feb. 3 would “prohibit residential rezoning in the area.”
The letter writer, Ofer Cohen of Massey Knakal Realty Services, said the
“ultimate goal [of his letter] is to … help property owners
like you make informed decisions about their real estate assets.”
In other words, Cohen favors the current zoning, which allows property
owners to apply for zoning variances that could lead to residential redevelopment
— a profitable venture that is transforming much of industrial Brooklyn.
But letters like Cohen’s are provoking the ire of some of their recipients.
“An industrial building [that can be redeveloped into housing] sells
for three times as much as regular industrial buildings,” said Phaedra
Thomas, executive director of the Southwest Brooklyn Industrial Development
Corporation.
“The inflated values make it really hard for someone to expand his
business or develop an industrial building for an industrial tenant, but
it works for a Realtor who makes money on his commissions.”
Thomas said she has been urging businesses owners in her group to attend
the meeting and voice support for the business zoning plan.
In addition to a stretch of Sunset Park from Third Avenue to the waterfront,
the city proposes the zones for a section of the Red Hook waterfront and
in the Brooklyn Navy Yard. .
