CAMBA to Develop Brooklyn Affordable Community

Clarkson Estates. Image courtesy of CAMBA

CAMBA Housing Ventures has been selected for another project being undertaken as part of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s initiative to bring 4,000 units of affordable housing to central Brooklyn.

CAMBA will be developing Clarkson Estates, a 291-unit affordable and supportive housing community in Brooklyn’s Flatbush neighborhood. Half of the units, or 146 units, will be set aside for youth who are aging out of foster care, formerly incarcerated individuals and formerly homeless young adults. Clarkson Estates will be built on a parcel of land called Site L, which is currently owned by the Health Science Center at Brooklyn Foundation.

Governor Cuomo said in prepared remarks that it was important to expand access to safe, affordable housing as the COVID-19 pandemic creates hardships for New Yorkers.

The project will also be home to the “HUB,” a 30,000-square-foot center that offers childcare services, a health screening center, small business services incubator and workforce training, violence prevention and meditation center, youth education and development center, technology training center, recording and rehearsal studio and performance space, full-sized basketball court, food pantry and cafe and design studio with exhibition space. The HUB, which was named after community leader Dr. Roy Hastick, will be open to the public.

The building’s amenities will include an underground garage with 80 parking spaces for residents and those using the HUB facilities, free Wi-Fi, supportive services and case management spaces, a laundry room, fitness room, training kitchen, library, computer room, bike storage and community room. Clarkson Estates will also have a drop-off point for fresh produce for residents and a Homes Screening Center for nurse visits and health screenings.

The affordable housing project also includes many outdoor amenities including gardening spaces, outdoor fitness programming, children’s play area, and landscaped courtyard that offers a serenity garden, wooded walk, turf field and communal seating. The roof of Clarkson Estates will also be outfitted with a rooftop terrace and community garden.

BUILDING AN AFFORDABLE BROOKLYN

CAMBA’s plans for Clarkson Estates was the latest winning proposal of the Vital Brooklyn initiative, a $1.4 billion effort to address economic and racial disparities in some Brooklyn neighborhoods and create thousands of affordable housing units. Cuomo launched the program in spring 2017 and has since worked with seven other winning proposals.

CAMBA previously won another request-for-proposals with the Vital Brooklyn initiative in November 2018, where the developer was selected to develop 57 units of affordable housing in Bed-Stuy. Outside of the governor’s program, CAMBA also opened two affordable housing communities in Brooklyn in 2018, a 101-unit building in Brownsville and a 293-unit property in Wingate.