The originally proposed 13-story buildings. Rendering courtesy of Gerald J. Caliendo Architects
Two buildings at the site of an industrial laundry business in Windsor Terrace are set to become a 250-unit housing complex. The City Council on Wednesday voted to approve the Arrow Linen rezoning at 441 and 467 Prospect Avenue, clearing the path for the construction of two 10-story buildings that will provide 250 new homes, 40 percent of which will be affordable. The approval comes after more than a year of negotiations, which reduced the project’s height from the original 13 stories and increased the share of affordable units from 25 percent.
The rezoning marks one of the highest proportions of affordable housing as part of a private Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) application without public subsidies in city history, according to a press release.
The inclusion of additional affordable housing is particularly significant due to the lack of affordable housing developed in Windsor Terrace over the last decade.
Under the rezoning, existing buildings within the project area will be rezoned to map Mandatory Inclusionary Housing onto them, making them compliant without enabling higher density, redevelopment, or additions.
The project also includes subsidized space for a childcare center and a domestic violence service provider on the ground level.
“This City Council is consistently delivering housing solutions that make our city and homes more affordable amidst the housing crisis,” Speaker Adrienne Adams said. “The revised project, negotiated by Council Member Hanif and approved by the Council’s Land Use Committee, will deliver permanently affordable homes and community services that benefit the surrounding neighborhood and all New Yorkers.”
Adams continued, “The Council will continue to prioritize expanding affordability and housing in every part of the city, including areas that have historically not produced affordable homes. I thank Council Member Hanif, Land Use Chair Salamanca, and Zoning and Franchises Chair Riley for their partnership to get this project across the finish line.”
Raising the number of affordable units required months of negotiation. The proposal was finally endorsed by Shahana Hanif, a Democratic councilwoman who belongs to the Democratic Socialists of America, a group that has been wary of real estate developers, according to the New York Times.
Hanif is facing an expectedly difficult re-election fight this year, with a group of residents opposed to the development telling the councilwoman at a recent public hearing that her vote on the project would determine whether or not they voted to re-elect her.
Sure enough, a group formed in opposition to the rezoning pledged to defeat Hanif in the June primary following Wednesday’s vote.
After the rezoning was first proposed in 2023, local residents formed the group Housing Not Highrises. Hundreds waited hours to testify against it at public meetings, and the local community board voted to oppose the plan despite approving Mayor Eric Adams’ “City of Yes” housing plan a few months earlier.
The group advocated for at least 40 percent affordable housing at the site, but a shorter building height of seven to nine stories. Many local residents associate the tall, glassy condos springing up across the city with higher rents and displacement, according to the Times.
Additionally, some residents believe the sleek, modern buildings would stand out against the low-rise brownstones of the area.
“We have always been advocating for deeper affordability at the Arrow Linen site,” Jack Walsh, a member of Housing Not Highrises, told Brownstoner. “However, we made it very clear to Council Member Hanif that we had come to what we saw as the middle on a nine-story building and anything above that would result in our organization organizing against her in the primary,” he said.
However, supporters of the project see the increased height as an opportunity to include more affordable housing units.
“The main opposition seems to be directed at height, but height is what will give us more affordable housing,” Rachel Fee, Windsor Terrace resident and director of the New York Housing Conference, told the Times, noting that she was not testifying on behalf of her organization.
“I understand the desire to keep the neighborhood as it is, because it’s charming. But this is a chance to add significant housing that is desperately needed by our neighbors and our city.”
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