Two weeks ago, in our predictions for New York City real estate in the year to come, we wrote that, “we will start to see more omens of convergence around Broadway Junction between the two kernels of gentrification that started in Williamsburg and around downtown Brooklyn.”

Well, that moment has arrived: today we spotted a filing to construct a new 22-unit market-rate apartment building at 2288 Atlantic Avenue, on the border between Brownsville and the Ocean Hill section of Bed-Stuy, between Rockaway Avenue and Eastern Parkway, a few blocks from Broadway Junction.

The six-story, 70-foot-tall building would, if built, have nearly 15,000 square feet of residential floorspace, for a modest average apartment size of 675 square feet. It would have three apartments – almost certainly rentals – on the first and sixth floors and four units each on the floors in between. The cellar would hold 10 parking spaces (required by code), and the roof would have a tenant recreation space.

Jacob Blatter is the developer (though, oddly, the email address provided appears to belong to someone by the name of Israel Weber), and Julien Flander is listed as the architect.

While some will no doubt be disturbed by the construction of market-rate housing in Brownsville – a clear sign of gentrification, with rents rising (or being expected to rise) to the point where new construction pencils out – the blame lies squarely on the lack of allowed construction in neighborhoods closer to the city, in trendier Bushwick, Crown Heights, and Bed-Stuy.

Of course, there’s always the possibility that the permit won’t actually result in new construction. Back in 2006, an application was submitted to build a smaller 10-unit building on the same site, which was obviously never carried out to fruition.

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