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Wednesday: CB13 to discuss 1,000-unit Surf Avenue development at Jan. 24 meeting

Wednesday: CB13 to discuss 1,000-unit Surf Avenue development at Jan. 24 meeting
The Prusik Group

Coney Islanders horrified by plans for a massive real estate project reportedly slated to fill three blocks of Surf Avenue with 1,000 apartments are expected to turn out in force at Wednesday’s meeting of Community Board 13 to grill city officials on development in the neighborhood.

The plans for the massive project also include more than a football field worth of office space, and nearly twice as much retail, all directly across from MCU Park, according to real estate blog New York YIMBY, which first reported the news.

One irate local said that the development was probably the result of the nabe’s sweeping 2009 rezoning, but that the last thing the already crowded area needs now is another influx of more residents in luxury condos.

“We need to realize that Coney Island today is quite different than it was in 2009. Today there’s a building boom all over the place, and Coney has become a victim of its own success,” said Ida Sanoff. “You can’t just keep jamming in more density — it’s not midtown Manhattan.”

Two developers based on the distant isle of Manhattan — the Prusik Group and Tacomic Investment Partners — will partner on the property, according to New York YIMBY, and the developers hope to complete the project by 2020, according to the website of the Prusik Group.

But the 2009 rezoning would require that the developers allocate 35 percent of the units as affordable housing. The area is zoned for mixed-use commercial and residential use, city records show, and commercial use could not extend beyond the first two floors.

A rep at the Prusnik group declined to comment on the project, and iStar and Taconic did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

District Manager Eddie Mark confirmed that the city reps from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development would be at the Jan. 24 CB13 meeting to discuss development in the area in general, but might not be able to talk about the Surf Avenue project specifically.

Community Board 13 general meeting ay New York Aquarium (602 Surf Avenue at W. Eighth Street) Jan. 24 at 7 pm.

Reach reporter Julianne McShane at (718) 260–2523 or by e-mail at jmcshane@cnglocal.com. Follow her on Twitter @juliannemcshane.