Property owners in Brooklyn’s hippest neighborhood say they stand to lose more than $120 million because of a rezoning plan they claim city officials are ramming through with little public input.
The City Council tomorrow is set to ratify a plan proposed by Williamsburg’s Community Board 1 to rezone 13 blocks along or near Grand Street, capping new development for most of the area at 50 feet, or about five stories.
Most of the neighborhood consists of three- and four-story buildings. A proposed 14-story project at 227 Grand apparently prompted the effort.
But a number of property owners say they that didn’t learn about the rezoning until last week and that they’d be happy with a seven-story limit.
About 20 projects are already under way – but with less than 50 percent of their foundations laid, they could be stopped.
The Planning Commission says proper public notification was given before it held a hearing and supported the plan in February.
The “downzoning” plan affects 254 properties.
“We just found out we lost one-third of our property value, so you can imagine the outrage,” said Timothy Philips, who paid $1.3 million in January for a Roebling Street site where he hoped to build a seven-story apartment building.
He said given the rezoning, he overpaid by $1 million.