Brooklyn Needs Housing. She Has a Vacant Lot. Why Can’t She Build?

This is The Housing Crunch, a five-part series on New York City’s affordable housing crisis.

The Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn has felt the housing crisis deeply.

The area, which for decades had been home to mostly Black and Orthodox Jewish families, has seen an influx of white residents in recent years. Compared with Manhattan, the neighborhood had been diverse and relatively affordable, with ready access to transit and amenities like Prospect Park and the Brooklyn Museum.

A lot of housing has been built to accommodate the demand. The area around the neighborhood has added nearly 5,000 units over the past 10 years — more than most other areas, according to the Planning Department.

But at the corner of Grand Avenue and Pacific Street, a 33,000-square-foot lot has been vacant for more than 50 years. In such a high-demand neighborhood, where rents have risen roughly 30 percent in the past decade or so, why does this spot remain empty?

The story of the lot, at 962 Pacific Street, illustrates in many ways why housing developments fall apart in New York City, including how challenging and unpredictable projects can be and how the results of contentious negotiations can leave few people happy.

Like every housing project, this one has its own context. The 962 Pacific Street development became embroiled in the politically fraught debate over how to plan for growth in a neighborhood that has gentrified rapidly. The changes have angered longtime residents who feel they are being pushed out.