On Tuesday, May 23, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz will join representatives from the Actors’ Fund of America, Common Ground Community, Hamlin Ventures, Time Equities, and fellow public officials for the groundbreaking of Schermerhorn House, a new supportive housing development in Downtown Brooklyn.

Borough President Markowitz contributed $500,000 to the project to ensure that its units remain 100 percent affordable. More than 50 percent of the development’s 217 units will be reserved for formerly homeless and special-needs individuals. Low-income working tenants, including local actors and artists, will occupy the remainder of the units. The facility will also include a 200-seat black box theater and multipurpose space that will be open to the public for community art shows, rehearsals, and performances.

"As the new Downtown Brooklyn takes shape as a world-class 24/7 live-work community, Schermerhorn House will ensure that the area reflects the diversity that defines Brooklyn," said Borough President Markowitz. "The development’s 200-plus moderate-income units will enable artists to continue to make Brooklyn New York City’s creative capital, while empowering the formerly homeless to pursue their own American Dream. I wish we had a dozen more like it."

The project marks the beginning of the transformation of Schermerhorn Street into a new residential corridor in Downtown Brooklyn, which was rezoned in 2004 to encourage new mixed-use developments. Schermerhorn House will feature several "green design" elements such as rooftop gardens and a high-efficiency boiler system, and will reflect the vision of transforming Downtown Brooklyn into an integrated, dynamic urban neighborhood with market-rate housing, retail, and supportive housing that will preserve its ethnic and income diversity.