Permits have landed for a 15-story mixed-use building at 530 Utica Avenue in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, marking one of the bigger residential plays to surface along Utica in recent memory. The application details a roughly 177-foot-tall, concrete-based tower with 224 apartments stacked over a compact ground-floor commercial space. The filings list Mimi Ho as the owner and name Shay Alster as the architect of record.
What the Filings Show
According to New York YIMBY, the project would span about 157,852 square feet in total, with roughly 156,322 square feet devoted to residential use and 1,530 square feet reserved for commercial space. The filing points to an average unit size near 697 square feet, includes a cellar level and a 48-foot rear yard, and describes the structure as a 177-foot-tall concrete building. Demolition permits have not yet been filed, and the paperwork does not offer an estimated completion date.
Design and Team
Shay Alster is listed as the architect of record. Alster is a managing partner at GF55 Architects, a firm whose public profile highlights multi-unit residential and mixed-use work. That kind of portfolio lines up with what is proposed here: a sizable concrete mid-rise with a blend of housing and street-level commercial space.
Where This Fits in the Neighborhood
The development site sits between Rutland Road and Winthrop Street, closest to the Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road stop on the 3 train, anchoring it along a busy commercial stretch of Utica Avenue that has seen other mid-rise plans filed in recent months. As New York YIMBY notes, the application names Mimi Ho as the owner and calls out the project’s bulk compared with the surrounding low-rise buildings. Earlier alteration permits at the address, recorded in late 2025 and compiled by OpenPermitData, suggest the property has already seen some recent activity ahead of this new building filing.
