Will Pfizer Need Anti-Depressants Over Brooklyn Property?

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[Photo courtesy hi-lo/flickr]

It's been almost exactly a year since Pfizer announced it was closing its huge manufacturing plant in Williamsburg/Bed-Stuy and setting plans in motion about the 15 acres of real estate that would become available. Now, a battle for control of the property seems to be emerging. Today's Observer reports that Pfizer is putting out an RFP for "developers to create a mixed-use, mixed-income complex." Wait. State Assemblyman Vito Lopez is pushing to get the site via eminent domain. He's drafting a bill in Albany that would have the state get control of the site, then issue its own RFP for 1,700 affordable units. Pressure tactic to make sure more affordable housing is built? Possibly. Odds of Pfizer execs dipping into the company medicine box for Xanax or Zoloft before it's over: significantly better than 50-50.
· Pfizer Offering Williamsburg Plant Site for Affordable Housing [NYO]
· Annals of Manufacturing: Debating Pfizer Site's Future [Curbed]

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