A unique project addressing the need for affordable housing and library services has debuted in central Brooklyn with the completion of the recent Sunset Park Library & Apartments renovation from Magnusson Architecture and Planning and Mitchell Giurgola.

The project establishes a new 49-unit housing development in addition to an existing single-story structure from the 1970s. The program entails adding a six-story, 50,000-square-foot residential component above the now 20,000-square-foot library, which is expanded to twice its original size. The new building stands at eight stories in total, topped by a 45-kW rooftop PV array.

“The Sunset Park Library and Apartments is a crowning achievement that tackles essential community needs and affordable living at a time when New York must urgently address its housing crisis. This historic collaboration between the Brooklyn Public Library and Fifth Avenue Committee exemplifies visionary leadership and prudent financial stewardship because the New York City pension funds provided a mortgage to finance the affordable housing apartments,” NYC Comptroller Brad Lander said in a statement.

Air rights for the development also had to be secured before the first-of-its-kind development could get underway. The project was the result of a collaboration between the Brooklyn Public Library, Fifth Avenue Committee, New York State Homes and Community Renewal, and the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development.

The library component, which was completed for $17 million, is said to have cost just half the price of a typical stand-alone library construction of similar size in the borough. This is the first new 100% affordable housing development in Sunset Park in 20 years.

New York City is currently looking for ways to meet its incredible housing demands as the rate of new constructions has slowed considerably over the last year. The city recently overhauled its zoning policies for Midtown and has published a plan to create at least 40,000 units via adaptive reuse schemes ahead of 2030. Public libraries, which are already known for adapting to the modern social needs of cities, could become a cog in the process, meaning the project will serve as a precedent for the rest of the city.

The Sunset Park Library joins another 114-unit mixed-housing development at the new Brooklyn Heights Library branch from Marvel and Gensler, which opened in 2022.