Wednesday, March 07, 2018
Williamsburg Planned Housing Complex Doubles in Value to $186M
Rabsky Group's proposed development in South Williamsburg's Broadway Triangle has jumped in value, now being assessed at $186 million, as per a report to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange filed by Spencer Equity. The eight building complex, planned at the former Pfizer pharmaceutical facility, was valued at $91.3 million in Spencer's 2016 year-end report. In the third quarter of 2017, it appreciated in value to $92.1 million.
As reported by the Real Deal, the City Planning Commission then approved a rezoning of the site, accepting the developer's plans for a 1.1 million square foot housing complex, doubling its assessed value. The plans include 1,146 housing units, 287 of which will be permanently affordable. Sixty percent of the project's affordable apartments will be one or two bedroom apartments. There will also be 65,000 square feet of retail space.
The development, bounded by Harrison and Union avenues, is 97.5 percent owned by Harrison Realty LLC. Harrison is owned in fifty -fifty partnership by Rabsky and Spencer Equity. Rabsky in turn is owned by Simon Dushinsky and Isaac Rabinowitz, and Spencer Equity belongs to Joel Gluck.
The project sparked a decade long dispute between the city and community groups. Groups including and Churches United for Fair Housing and the Broadway Triangle Community Coalition complained that the complex was being specifically geared towards the needs of the Hasidic community, leaving out other minority groups. In a re-enactment of the dispute, the Churches United for Fair Housing filed a new complaint in federal court last week, against the developers and the city. The coalition claims that Rabsky has a history of building either luxury homes, or housing that is "designed for and marketed exclusively to Hasidic families." Even Council Members including Antonio Reynoso stand against the plans, saying that the development would have "a devastating effect on the Latino community."
Steve Levin, the Council member representing the district that includes the site, supports the project. "People really truly need affordable housing in both communities … both the Jewish community and the Latino community in Williamsburg," he said. "They're both feeling the squeeze from an influx of hipsters or Yuppies or people like myself who moved to Williamsburg in the last 20 years and have driven rent up both on the Latino side of Broadway and the Hasidic side of Broadway."
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