Yet Another Luxury Condo Tower To Grow in Brooklyn

Dec. 14, 2015 — Just what Brooklyn needs – a public library with a luxury condo tower on top!

And that, most likely, is just what the borough will be getting after a closed-door meeting last week between City Councilman Steve Levin and Hudson Properties, which wants to demolish the aging Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library on at 280 Cadman Plaza West, then replace it with a 36-story condo tower that will sit atop a new library.

Levin, who supports the project, has called it “the most controversial issue” he has faced since his election in 2009, according to Gothamist. Last week’s negotiations resulted in Hudson agreeing to expand the new ground-floor library by 5,000 square feet, bringing it to 26,620 square feet. The company also agreed to build a new 5,000-square-foot library to service DUMBO, Vinegar Hill and the the Farragut Houses, as well as 114 units of affordable housing in nearby Clinton Hill.
 

Citizens Defending Libraries, vehement opponents to the project, said after Levin’s private meeting with the developer, “We are most saddened by the lack of transparency.”

The Brooklyn Public Library system plans to use its $40 million windfall from the sale to renovate several branches and build a new $8 million library in Sunset Park.