Our office represents the property owner of 1519-1535 Bedford Avenue, Brooklyn. The project will include a supermarket and involves an application to the NYC Department of City Planning seeking a certification that the proposed food store complies with the FRESH program (discussed below). This is not a rezoning; instead, we are seeking a Certification from the Chair of City Planning. Project Site The Project Site is located at Tax Block 1260, Lots 1 and 5 (the “Project Site”). The Project Site is located within R7D/C2-4 (Inclusionary Housing designated area) and R6B zoning districts. The requested Certification will facilitate the establishment of a FRESH food store on the ground floor of a 11-story mixed use building (the “Proposed Development”) FRESH Program The Food Retail Expansion to Support Health Program (the “FRESH” program) was developed in response to a citywide study, “Going to Market”, conducted in 2008 by City Planning, which highlighted the widespread shortage of neighborhood grocery stores providing fresh food options in several communities of New York City. The FRESH program is intended to encourage the development and retention of convenient, accessible stores that provide fresh meat, fruit and vegetables, and other perishable goods in addition to a full range of grocery products. Despite the well-documented need, since adoption of the FRESH program in 2009 only six applications for FRESH certifications have been approved. Two of these FRESH stores are located in Manhattan Community District 10, one is located in Bronx Community District 3, two are located in Brooklyn Community District 3, and one is located in Brooklyn Community District 9. None are located in Brooklyn Community District 8. The FRESH program provides zoning incentives for providing a FRESH food store, including additional floor area in mixed buildings. FRESH food stores must provide a minimum of 6,000 square feet of retail space for food and non-food grocery products. 30% of the selling area must be set aside for the sale of perishable goods, such as fresh produce, dairy and frozen foods, with S00 square feet used for the sale of fresh meats, fruits, and vegetables. At least 50% of the selling area must be used for the sale of a general line of food products. The FRESH program provides zoning incentives for mixed-use commercial and residential buildings, and also permits one additional square foot of residential floor area for every square foot provided for a FRESH store, up to a 20,000 square foot maximum. In this application, theapplicant is pursuing 7,066 square feet of floor area generated by inclusion of a FRESH food store (1 sq, ft. of floor area for each 1 sq. ft. of FRESH food store). Attached please find a copy of the application drawings. We look forward to the opportunity to meet with the community board to present our project, answer questions, and hopefully obtain the community's recommendation. Thank you, Ron9u e-89 vou} * sewomnaninares GS] comatneztnes OLY ‘ino ‘onvany pojpag SeSL-BISLFRE nm he =PP PR Cetre paeeca eos PP FP PPPoE .