Community Development

625 Jamaica Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11208
718.647.2800

Division Director: Betsy MacLean

The Community Development Division develops and maintains affordable housing and community facilities to stabilize the neighborhood through construction and renovation of distressed or underutilized properties.

Current Projects

Cypress Hills Community School Permanent Facility project: Permanent Facility projectSubstantial renovation of a 52,000 square foot former industrial facility into the 400-seat permanent home of CHCS, a community-founded alternative public school. The building is slated to open in 2009.
Cypress Hills Homeownership Initiative Project (CHHIP): Acquisition, rehabilitation and sales of formerly vacant 1-4 family homes to low income, first time homebuyers.
Renovation and maintenance of multifamily affordable rental housing: We have created and currently maintain approximately 200 affordable rental apartments in Cypress Hills and East New York with 50 additional units at various stages of renovation.
Cypress Plaza/Mews: Development of a building with 18 affordable rental units and six commercial storefronts, on Van Siclen Avenue and Fulton Street.
Vacant land development: We are working to construct affordable housing on vacant land parcels in our neighborhood.

Recent Highlights:

CHLDC recently completed a new Housing Plan for Cypress Hills with the Pratt Center for Community Development that identifies a significant pipeline of new sites to develop into affordable housing and several new preservation strategies.