The New York City Council has signed off on plans for 395 Flatbush Ave., clearing the way for a major new residential tower led by Rabina and Park Tower Group. Rising to 840 feet, the building is slated to become the second-tallest structure in Brooklyn, positioning it as a prominent new addition to the borough’s skyline.
The project will replace a largely vacant, city-owned seven-story office building on a key Brooklyn block. According to reports, 395 Flatbush is expected to be the first development in Brooklyn to move forward under the city’s new high-density zoning framework, making it an early test case for how the updated land-use rules translate into large-scale housing production.
The tower is planned to deliver 1,263 residential apartments. Of those, 325 units are designated as affordable, with homes intended to serve a range of income levels, including low- and very low-income households. The mix of market-rate and affordable units is central to the project’s positioning as a response to New York City’s ongoing housing shortage.
In a statement, Josh Rabina, president and CEO of Rabina, said that 395 Flatbush is designed as a state-of-the-art mixed-use development that addresses the city’s urgent demand for housing across income bands. He noted that the project is expected to transform an important Brooklyn block by introducing a substantial number of new homes while also integrating non-residential uses.
Beyond the residential component, plans call for 66,000 square feet of retail space within the tower. This retail program is anticipated to activate the surrounding streetscape and provide additional amenities for residents, visitors, and the broader neighborhood.
The development will also incorporate 75,000 square feet of space that can be used for commercial offices or community facilities, according to reporting from the New York Post. This flexible allocation is intended to support either traditional office users or community-serving organizations, depending on how demand evolves as the project progresses.
Overall, the approval of 395 Flatbush Ave. underscores the city’s push to leverage higher-density zoning to deliver more housing, particularly in areas anchored by underutilized public assets such as largely vacant office buildings. A rendering of the planned tower was released by TenBerke Design, offering an early glimpse of how the mixed-use project could reshape its immediate surroundings once built.
