On October 15, 2024, the New York City Planning Commission (CPC) certified the city-led Atlantic Avenue Mixed Use Plan (AAMUP, pronounced aim up) into public review. AAMUP seeks to rezone a low-density industrial stretch of Atlantic Avenue and surrounding blocks in Brooklyn's Crown Heights and Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhoods to spur higher-density, mixed-use development on and around the 120-foot-wide thoroughfare.

"After years of calls from the community to fix outdated zoning along Atlantic Avenue, our administration is taking real action to rejuvenate the corridor and transform the area into a place where hardworking New Yorkers can live, work, and play," said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer in a press release. "We are thrilled to be kicking off the official public review process for the Atlantic Avenue Mixed-Use Plan that will deliver approximately 4,600 new homes and 2,800 jobs alongside critical investments that will allow Central Brooklyn to flourish."

Of the 4,600 new residential units expected to be created under AAMUP, between approximately 1,400 and 1,600 would be permanently affordable pursuant to the Mandatory Inclusionary Housing program. These projections include the anticipated redevelopment of four city-owned sites and one not-for-profit-owned site within the project area.

"For far too long, this stretch of Atlantic Avenue has been stymied by outdated zoning that has limited opportunities for new homes and jobs," said CPC Chair and Director of the Department of City Planning (DCP) Dan Garodnick. "It's past time for a change, and this plan delivers on a community-driven roadmap for the homes, jobs, safe streets, and investments that Central Brooklyn needs."

AAMUP resulted from more than a decade of community-led planning efforts started by Brooklyn Community Board 8 in 2013. Since early 2023, DCP staff have led a formal planning effort alongside community leaders and the two Council Members whose districts overlap the project area, Crystal Hudson and Chi Ossé.

"For more than a decade, the community surrounding Atlantic Avenue has called for a new vision for this dangerous corridor that delivers more deeply affordable housing, increased investments in the area's local economy, safer streets, and greater consideration of local infrastructure needs," said Councilmember Crystal Hudson. "Community stakeholders shared local priorities and dozens of community-informed recommendations to ensure this vital section of Brooklyn can support its small businesses, visitors, and, most importantly, protect and uplift its longtime residents."

If adopted, AAMUP would create a new special zoning district spanning the majority of Atlantic Avenue between Vanderbilt Avenue to the west, Nostrand Avenue to the east, and several blocks to the north and south. Properties along Atlantic Avenue would largely be rezoned from existing low-density manufacturing districts to high-density districts, allowing a mix of uses, including significant residential floor area.

Mixed-use districts within the rezoning area would be mapped with new contextual manufacturing districts introduced by City of Yes for Economic Opportunity, adopted in June 2024, and reflect principles of the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity, a city-wide zoning initiative currently under public review at the New York City Council. For example, new developments within AAMUP would not be required to provide off-street parking.

AAMUP now begins the approximately seven-month Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, or ULURP, during which it will be heard by the affected Community Boards, Borough President, CPC, and City Council. We will continue to monitor AAMUP as it advances through public review.