Sunset Park Library Groundbreaking

Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc. (FAC) and Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) broke ground on a new development which will bring a dramatically expanded library to the Sunset Park community as well as 49 deeply affordable apartments, FAC and BPL leadership announced today alongside local elected officials and community leaders. Developed in partnership with the New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR), FAC and BPL’s innovative project will provide Sunset Park with a modern, state-of-the-art public library that is nearly twice the size of the previous library, while simultaneously creating 49 new deeply affordable apartments in a pioneering shared-use model that is the first of its kind in New York City.

Built in 1972, the former building was too small to meet the needs of one of Brooklyn’s fastest growing communities and required more than $6 million in repairs. The new library, designed by Mitchell Giurgola, will occupy more than 20,000 square feet of the new building and will be outfitted for the modern era, with the collections, technology and flexible space needed to accommodate many uses and serve a large, diverse group of patrons. The new building will also include 49 deeply affordable homes (plus an apartment for the on-site building superintendent) above the library, with a mix of studios, one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments.

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Fifth Avenue Committee is constructing the eight-story, mixed-use building, including the library’s core and shell, at no cost to Brooklyn Public Library. BPL will fit out the new library using a portion of the proceeds from the redevelopment of its Brooklyn Heights branch. The City will own the library in perpetuity, as it does the current branch. The expansion of the Sunset Park Library and the development of deeply affordable housing is especially timely given the growth and increasing gentrification pressures in the neighborhood. The new building is expected to be completed in December 2020. Source by Fifth Avenue Committee, Inc. (FAC) and Brooklyn Public Library (BPL), images Courtesy of BerlinRosen.

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