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Brooklyn Village developer proposes cutting number of apartments in first phase by half

The Peebles Corp. has proposed building fewer apartments in the first phase of Brooklyn Village.
Mecklenburg County
The Peebles Corp. has proposed building fewer apartments in the first phase of Brooklyn Village.

The developer of the long-delayed Brooklyn Village project in uptown’s Second Ward is proposing to reduce by half the number of apartments built in the first phase of the project, according to a proposal Mecklenburg County Commissioners are set to review this week.

The Peebles Corporation had proposed the first phase of the $700 million project would have 522 apartments on two parcels, 55 of which would be affordable. The company also planned to build 22,000 square feet of retail space.

That was to be built at East Brooklyn Village Avenue, near the Mecklenburg County Aquatic Center.

The new proposal calls for only 250 apartments, all of which would be affordable housing, including 100 units for people earning less than 30% of the area median income. That's about $32,000 for a family of four.

There would also be half as much retail. All of the new apartments would be built in partnership with Inlivian, which used to be called the Charlotte Housing Authority.

In a presentation for Mecklenburg commissioners last August, Peebles said construction could begin in the spring of 2026. That would be roughly 10 years after Mecklenburg commissioners voted for that company to lead the project.

Nothing has been built so far.

Peebles told commissioners last year that high interest rates are one reason the project is stalled.

On one hand, the new proposal that has more affordable units could be seen as a win. That could alleviate a housing crunch for the city’s poorest residents.

But one goal of Brooklyn Village was to provide mixed-income housing, where affluent residents lived next to people earning less than 30% of the area median income.

The Brooklyn Village is one of the largest public-private partnerships the county has undertaken. It's meant to atone for the razing of the historic African American Brooklyn neighborhood. It was demolished in the 1960s as part of an "urban renewal" project, with the homes and businesses replaced mostly by government buildings.

Mecklenburg County Commissioners are scheduled to get an update about the project Tuesday night.

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Steve Harrison is WFAE's politics and government reporter. Prior to joining WFAE, Steve worked at the Charlotte Observer, where he started on the business desk, then covered politics extensively as the Observer’s lead city government reporter. Steve also spent 10 years with the Miami Herald. His work has appeared in The Washington Post, the Sporting News and Sports Illustrated.