Hochul Announces Revamp Of Clinton Hill Building Vacant For Almost 50 Years

By Reuven Blau, The City

Feb. 16, 2026

A long-derelict state-owned building at 1024 Fulton St. in Clinton Hill, which THE CITY has reported on for years, may finally be headed for rebirth after nearly half a century of vacancy, political detours and collapsed redevelopment plans.

Gov. Kathy Hochul on Friday announced the selection of a nonprofit development partnership to transform the site into a $111 million mixed-use project featuring 125 permanently affordable apartments, a 27,000-square-foot intergenerational community center and a health clinic.

The proposal — led by Fifth Avenue Committee, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation and One Brooklyn Health — was chosen through a competitive process run by Empire State Development. The project would be 100% nonprofit-owned, a key demand voiced by local residents during a series of community workshops over the past year.

“New York is proving that when we leverage state-owned land and listen to communities, we can build the affordable housing that our neighborhoods and our state needs,” Hochul said in a statement.

If built as envisioned, the roughly 149,000-square-foot development would include apartments — ranging from studios to three-bedroom units — for households earning between 30% and 80% of Area Median Income. Plans also call for a community center operated by Fort Greene Council, and a 1,000-square-foot health clinic run by One Brooklyn Health. The building would be designed to “passive house” energy-efficient standards and include all-electric systems and a green roof.

The state released a rendering for a proposed affordable housing building on Fulton Street near Classon Avenue in Brooklyn. Credit: Render via Governor's Office

The announcement marks the latest — and most concrete — attempt to revive a property that has stood boarded up through decades of neighborhood change.

Originally opened in 1912 as a Brooklyn Union Gas appliance showroom, the three-story structure has been vacant for close to 50 years. The city took it over in 1986 for unpaid taxes, and the state purchased it in 1997 with plans to create a community facility. That idea was scrapped after officials discovered major structural problems.

Since then, THE CITY has documented how multiple efforts to redevelop or sell the property have unraveled.

In 2014, then-Assemblymember Walter Mosley intervened to halt an open-market sale of the building, arguing it should be steered toward an affordable housing outcome. A nonprofit selected through special legislation ultimately failed to produce a viable plan.

Subsequent proposals — including one that Mosley predicted would break ground by summer 2020 — also fell apart.

Last year, the state moved toward demolition, estimating it could take more than two years just to clear the structure.

Now, state officials say the new proposal reflects extensive community input gathered in late 2024 and early 2025, when more than 150 residents participated in workshops about the site’s future. Housing for low-income New Yorkers and space for seniors and children emerged as top priorities during those community talks.

In a statement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the project “a declaration that our city can and must deliver an affordability agenda that puts people before profit.”

Assemblymember Phara Souffrant Forrest (D-Brooklyn), who represents the area, and other local elected officials have long pushed the state to move more urgently on the property. Neighbors have long described the location as a persistent blight on a stretch of Fulton Street that has otherwise boomed.

To advance the project, the state’s Office of General Services will oversee demolition of the existing building. The development must still undergo public review before final approval under an Empire State Development General Project Plan.

State officials estimate construction will generate roughly 350 jobs, with commitments to exceed 35% MWBE participation and 30% local hiring.

Housing and Planning Deputy Mayor Leila Bozorg framed the project as part of a broader push to build on publicly owned land.

“Delivering affordable housing on publicly-owned land,” she said in a statement, “is a key component of building a city that New Yorkers can afford.”

This press release was produced by The City. The views expressed here are the author’s own.