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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, MARCH 8, 2020
FLOODED WITH DEVELOPMENT
Large-scale development continues on southern Brooklyn waterfronts
BY JESSICA PARKS
Eight years after Hurricane
Sandy devastated
southern Brooklyn’s
coastal communities, developers
continue to erect
multi-family and singlefamily
homes along the
Kings County shoreline
as homebuyers seek out
luxury waterfront properties.
“People want to live
in specific communities
along the water,” said
Alexander Lotovsky of
Citiscape Consultants,
an architecture firm
based in Sheepshead
Bay. “When Hurricane
Sandy happened, everyone
thought this was the
end to an era in Manhattan
Beach and that has
proven to have been completely
wrong.”
From the onset of 2019
to the publication of this
article, developers have
filed more than a dozen
new building applications
in Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan
Beach and Gerritsen
Beach with the city
Department of Buildings,
which if approved could
bring hundreds of new
residents to the shoreline
communities, where
just years ago locals were
holed up in their buildings
waiting for the water
lines to recede.
“When Sandy hit we
had somewhere around
10 feet of water in our
building,” said Maurice
Kolodin, a resident of the
Bel Air apartment complex
on E. 12th Street.
“The entire first floor
was wiped out of each
building. There was no
out, you could not get out
of the building.”
While the risk of
building in a f lood plane
— especially as the federal
Environmental Protection
Agency prepares
to release new maps that
will place coastal communities
such as Manhattan
Beach in critical
f lood zones by 2024 —
may seem extreme, Lotovsky
has designed his
buildings with the threat
of tidal surges in mind.
“They are going to be
completely prepared for
a flood,” Lotovsky said.
“They will be able to live
in their homes for as long
as they want, as long as
they have food.”
The new buildings
feature mechanical and
electrical equipment installed
above the designated
flood elevation
— two feet above the advisory
base flood elevation
— thereby lessening
the risk of power outages
during storms.
In addition to the utilities,
the builders are raising
their tenants above
the flood plain as well,
essentially elevating domiciles
to second floors
and above as part of an
architectural strategy
called wet f loodproofing,
which leaves residents
high and dry, while creating
space for additional
parking below.
“People are actually
benefitting from this additional
space,” Lotovsky
said. “It is not as bad as it
sounds when you comply
Renderings show a fl ood proof home proposed for Gerritsen Beach (top), a fl ood-resistant mixed-use
residential and commercial building slated for 2235 Emmons Ave. (bottom), and an “eco-friendly”
longterm care facility proposed for Sheepshead Bay (left). Renderings by Citiscape Consulting
with f lood design.”
For larger structures,
developers are using watertight
materials to coat
floors below f lood plane,
in addition to using
thicker concrete slabs
able to withstand high
water pressures, Lovotsky
said.
The cost of developing
waterfront structures
has certainly increased
in the wake of Hurricane
Sandy, but as long as people
continue to seek out
luxury housing along
Brooklyn’s coastal communities,
developers will
continue to build it for
them.
“There are additional
construction costs that
are fairly reasonable,”
Lotovsky said. “But the
only benefit really is for
residents to live by the
water.”
CitiScape Consultants
LTD is currently seeking
city approval for a handful
of developments proposed
for Sheepshead Bay
and Gerritsen Beach’s
high-fl ood risk areas such
as Emmons Avenue and
Keen Court that will all
abide by fl ood protection
protocol, Lotovsky said.
The firm is also awaiting
final approvals from
the city Department of
Buildings for variances
to construct a 14-story elder
care facility at 1508
Avenue Z that would feature
commercial space
on its ground floor and 88
living units with 110 beds
on floors four and up that
neighbors fear will bring
a massive traffic jam to
the streets of Sheepshead
Bay.