Cypress Hills monastery may be razed for apartments, stirring controversy * Brooklyn Paper

A developer plans to rezoning a monastery property in Cypress Hills to build a nine-story, 345-unit apartment complex. Plans presented to Community Board 5 call for a 95-foot-tall, 279,208-square-foot building on the grounds of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Joseph at 341 Highland Boulevard. City of Yes zoning changes would allow more multi-family development on areas previously limited to smaller homes, but the developer wants to build even larger and plans to apply for spot rezoning. The proposal would replace four of five monastery buildings owned by the Catholic Diocese, while preserving a three-story red brick Edwardian house near the street. Community members organized against the project after learning of it, and the meeting was moved to a larger venue due to strong feedback.

"A consultant for Watermark Capital Group presented plans for a new 95-foot-tall, 279,208-square-foot building on the grounds of the Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Joseph at 341 Highland Boulevard to Community Board 5's Land Use Committee last week."

"With City of Yes zoning changes, developers can now, in many cases, build multi-family buildings on areas that previously allowed only single-, two-family, and semi-detached homes, as was the case for much of Highland Boulevard. The revision could mean streetscapes with historic standalone houses, such as Highland Boulevard, could see big changes in coming years. However, Watermark Capital wants to build even larger than what is allowed with City of Yes changes, and is planning to apply for a spot rezoning to accommodate that."

"The presentation shows the development would replace four of the five buildings that make up the monastery, owned by the Catholic Diocese, which backs onto upper Highland Park's grassy hills. The three-story red brick Edwardian house near the street on the western side of the site, previously home to individuals contemplating religious life, will be preserved in the plans."

"A rep for Community Board 5 said the item was added to the board's agenda at the last minute after board members got wind of the plans through the community and asked the developer to share the plans with the land use committee. Already the proposal has generated a lot of feedback from locals, the rep said, and the meeting was moved to a bigger venue to accommodate a large aud"

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