280 Cadman Plaza West is the redevelopment of the site of the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) into a new 26,620 square foot library, a 36-story tower with 134 condominium units and two retail spaces on Clinton Street.

The new library will have its main entrance on Cadman Plaza West and will spread out across three levels. It will include a double height area on the ground floor, a mezzanine, plus an auditorium and public event space below grade.

The residential entry will be located on Clinton Street. The residences will include a mix of 1-4 bedroom apartments, have generous layouts, expansive views of the NYC skyline and will include a comprehensive set of amenities including underground parking.

One of the retail spaces will be a Brooklyn Roasting Company coffee shop and the other will feature rotating pop-up food vendors curated by Smorgasburg.

The building will also include a 9,000 square foot STEM lab to be operated by the Department of Education.

In addition, as part of the project, 114 units of affordable housing will be built on two privately-owned sites in Community Board 2. The affordable housing will not utilize any public subsidy.

280 Cadman Plaza West is designed by Marvel Architects and developed by The Hudson Companies Incorporated.

The $52 million acquisition price for the City-owned property will enable BPL to fit out the new Brooklyn Heights branch and to fund the deferred capital needs of other branch libraries throughout the borough. This project comes at a time when NYC’s three public library systems have seen tremendous increases in utilization rates while public funding has remained well below what’s needed to fund repair and capital costs. The Center for an Urban Future’s recent report, Branches of Opportunity, highlights the critical role that New York’s public libraries play in the city’s economy and quality of life while examining opportunities for libraries to grow and improve. The partnership behind 280 Cadman Plaza West speaks to the report’s recommendation to create creative partnerships and reduce libraries’ dependence on public funding. One of the modern technologies that suit libraries the best is blockchain technology. It can be used to properly store various information. Blockchain is the technology behind cryptocurrencies. Trading bots can be of great help to crypto traders to find the best trading signals. Check the Bitcoin 360 AI Erfahrungen blog to learn more about trading bots.

The redevelopment of 280 Cadman Plaza West is a unique opportunity to raise much needed capital to pay for deferred maintenance for other branches and to build an efficient and inspiring state-of-the-art library. At 26,620 SF, the new Brooklyn Heights Branch will be the largest branch in the BPL system.

For the duration of the Project’s construction, the Brooklyn Heights branch library has been relocated to 109 Remsen Street, five blocks from the current location, to a renovated space at Our Lady of Lebanon Church. The interim library opened to the public in July 2016. Normal library hours and branch programming will be maintained at the temporary location, which holds a collection of 17,000 books.

The interim library was designed by LevenBetts. The firm’s experience includes the planned renovation and maintenance upgrade of the East Flatbush BPL branch. Their addition to the iconic Stockholm Public Library won the 2008 AIANY Design Award.

280 Cadman Plaza West will also include the construction of 114 units of Inclusionary / workforce housing on two privately-owned sites in Clinton Hill within the boundaries of Community Board 2: 1043 Fulton Street and 909 Atlantic Avenue. The affordable housing will range in affordability from 60% - 125% of the Area Median Income and will require no additional subsidy from the City of New York. For more details on the rents and income limits, please click here.

Hudson will partner with IMPACCT to market the apartments per HPD’s guidelines. There will be a 50% preference for income eligible residents of Brooklyn Community Board 2.

The inclusion of affordable housing is a crucial community benefit of 280 Cadman Plaza West. Since Hudson’s inception in 1986, developing new affordable housing has been a fundamental part of its mission and organizational culture. Hudson has an exemplary track record – having built 2,400 units of affordable housing in 22 projects — and prides itself on producing well-designed and environmentally sustainable buildings. The affordable housing buildings are also being designed by Marvel Architects.

This is a short list of our most frequently asked questions. For more information about the Project, please contact us at info@280cadman.com.

Why not keep the existing library building?

The building was built in 1962 and was designed to house both a library and Federal fallout shelter.  According to an estimate provided by the NYC Department of Design and Construction and verified by a third party consultant, the building has over $9 million in outstanding capital needs: $3.6 million for an HVAC replacement; $4.2 million in upgrades to the boiler, lighting, roof and site drainage; $1 million for a new elevator and $0.5 million for fire safety and security enhancements.  It is also poorly laid out, with too little space for public service and too much space for staff and storage.  The spaces inside have low ceilings and little natural light and also have limited adaptability.  Moreover, the building lacks the basic functionality of a modern library – collaborative areas, flexible workspaces and the infrastructure to support cutting-edge technology. Even if BPL were able to come up with the more than $9 million just to upgrade the vital infrastructure, it wouldn’t address the layout and functionality issues.

What is happening to the Business & Career Library (B&CL) currently located at 280 Cadman Plaza West?

The B&CL, originally located at the 280 Cadman Plaza West, is now located at the Central Library at 10 Grand Army Plaza. More information on the new location can be found on BPL’s website here.

Brooklyn Heights was originally chosen to host the B&CL due to its proximity to Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn’s business, finance, insurance and law firms.  Due to rapid changes in technology, the primary users of the B&CL have also changed.  For this reason, BPL has long planned to move the B&CL to the Central Library. At the Central Library, jobseekers and entrepreneurs, many of whom live and work outside the downtown Brooklyn area, will enjoy the expanded hours, interdisciplinary resources, and modern work and study spaces that the Central Library provides. Additionally, relocating to a more central location will provide access to this resource for all of Brooklyn.

Will there be a community facility use?

At the conclusion of the ULURP, Hudson and the Department of Education (DOE) came to an agreement to include a 9,000 square foot STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) lab for students in School District 13.

What other libraries are benefitting from this deal?

So far, BPL has announced that the Walt Whitman branch will be getting $6 million, the Pacific branch will be getting $3.5 million, the Washington Irving branch will be getting $5 million, and the Sunset Park branch will be getting $8 million. This represents approximately 50% of the funds available to improve libraries. There will be further announcements identifying additional branch libraries that will receive funding from this project.

How can I apply for the affordable units?

The 114 units of affordable housing will likely be completed in 2018. Marketing of the affordable units to the public typically start 6 months prior to completion. IMPACCT (formerly Pratt Area Community Council), which will be handling the marketing, will send announcements to Community Board 2 and make outreach efforts to various local community organizations. It will also buy advertisements in local- and city-wide newspapers. The ads can also be found on NYC Housing Connect, where you can sign up for email notices and apply online.

Please note: This is not an offering. No offering can be made until an offering plan is filed with the Department of Law of the State of New York.