Adams targets city-owned sites in Williamsburg and East Harlem for 1,700 homes

Two city-owned sites could be redeveloped into at least 1,700 new homes. Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said the city will issue requests for proposals for 900 homes at 390 Kent Avenue, one of the last underutilized waterfront sites in Williamsburg, and 800 homes at 1880 First Avenue in East Harlem, currently a parking lot for NYC Health + Hospitals. The two properties were identified through an executive order Adams signed in August 2024, directing city agencies to determine if housing could be built on any properties they owned.

The executive order established the interagency City Housing Activation Task Force (CHAT) in order to find city-owned locations for housing. Through the program, Adams said 11 projects have been advanced for approximately 9,750 new homes, including the two new projects announced Thursday.

“Where past administrations saw vacant lots and old office buildings, our administration saw housing,” Adams said. “That’s why we issued a historic executive order requiring every agency to look for places where we could build homes and advanced nearly 10,000 new homes on city sites over the past year alone. We have been clear that the only way out of our housing crisis is to build more housing, and that is exactly what we are doing.”

The waterfront property at 390 Kent currently houses a 72-year-old building in need of repairs, used by the city’s Departments of Transportation and Citywide Administrative Services. The redevelopment will replace the aging structure, create public open space along the waterfront, and deliver new housing, with at least a quarter of the units designated as affordable.

Ahead of the mayor’s official announcement, Brooklyn Borough President Antonio Reynoso and Council Members Jennifer Gutierrez and Lincoln Restler criticized Adams for creating the plan without consulting them and for not making the site a park, which had been advocated for previously.

“The Southside and South Williamsburg neighborhoods have among the lowest rates of green space of any area in NYC,” the joint statement reads. “The Southside or Los Sures was famously ravaged by the BQE and has been a longtime environmental justice community that has prioritized addressing health inequities with more green space and parks.”

“Alongside our community leaders, we have been advocating for relocating this DOT repair shop to make way for a much-needed park for over 15 years. This proposal from the lame duck Adams administration is unserious and we look forward to working with the next Mayor to transform this waterfront lot into urgently needed green space for our community.”

At 1880 First Avenue, the city plans to redevelop a parking lot across from the NYC Health + Hospitals Metropolitan facility, creating roughly 800 new homes, with at least a quarter designated as affordable.

The proposal falls under the city’s “Housing for Health” initiative, created to address a key barrier to treating chronic health issues among unhoused patients, which is that meaningful improvements require access to stable housing.

As of late June, the program has helped more than 3,000 patients and their families navigate housing and access medical respite services, placing nearly 1,500 households in stable housing, as 6sqft previously reported.

Other Housing for Health projects include Morrisania River Commons in the Bronx, Woodhull Residences in Bed-Stuy, which opened in March with nearly 100 affordable and supportive homes at Woodhull Hospital; Just Home at NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi in the Bronx, and 1727 Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan.

Public engagement for 390 Kent Avenue will begin this year, while outreach for 1880 First Avenue is scheduled to start next year.

These two city-owned sites join a growing list of properties slated for redevelopment under Adams’ executive order, including public libraries in Bensonhurst, Grand Concourse, and on the Upper West Side, the long-vacant Flushing Airport in College Point, the 600-unit Gansevoort Square project, Coney Island West, 395 Flatbush Avenue Extension, and more.

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