A long-vacant lot on Cooper Street in Bushwick is about to get a new four-story residential building with six apartments, according to permit filings submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings. The project at 115 Cooper Street, sandwiched between Central Avenue and Evergreen Avenue, would rise on a site that currently sits empty just blocks from the Wilson Avenue L train station.
The job application for new construction at the address was officially submitted on August 25, according to permit records published by PermitRadar. As reported by New York YIMBY, the six residences are most likely to be rental units, and the proposed building would total 4,397 square feet of residential space, averaging out to about 732 square feet per unit.
Hizar Mojahed, the owner behind the applications and the figure behind Mojahed Group, is listed as the developer, per the same New York YIMBY report. Carlos DeFonseca of DeFonseca Architects is the architect of record for the project, which calls for a steel-based structure, a cellar, and a 36-foot-long rear yard. No demolition permits are needed since the lot is currently vacant, and no estimated completion date has been announced.
Developer and Architect Have Other Brooklyn Projects in the Works
Mojahed is not limiting his activity to Bushwick. In August, he also filed DOB plans for a separate four-story, 54-foot-tall residential project with seven units at 337 Winthrop Street in Prospect Lefferts Gardens, according to PincusCo. Earlier this year, in April, Mojahed acquired a Brooklyn residential development site from Wells Fargo Bank for $1,000,000, paying roughly $214 to $227 per square foot for a 4,400-square-foot lot, according to Traded.
DeFonseca's firm has been similarly busy. Between 2023 and this August, the architect submitted six new building filings and four major alterations across New York City, comprising 40 residential units and more than 68,000 square feet, PincusCo's records show. DeFonseca Architects previously designed Artissima, a seven-story, 25-unit rental building at 282 Grand Street on Manhattan's Lower East Side that completed construction in 2023, according to Prosper Property Group.
Transit Access Near Wilson Avenue Could Drive Demand
The Wilson Avenue L station near the Cooper Street site logged 981,068 total passengers in 2024, a 3% increase from the prior year, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority figures published on Wikipedia. That ridership growth comes as the station has also been designated a planned interchange point for the MTA's proposed $5.5 billion Interborough Express light rail line connecting Brooklyn and Queens, according to the Brooklyn Eagle.
That kind of transit investment, paired with rising rents, helps explain why developers are targeting small parcels in eastern Bushwick. Average monthly rents in the neighborhood stood at approximately $3,381 in August, with studios averaging $2,850 and two-bedroom units reaching $3,750, according to RentCafe. Borough-wide, median Brooklyn rents hit record highs of $4,296 to $4,350 per month earlier this year amid tight housing supply and strong demand, per a Corcoran Group report relayed by News 12 Brooklyn.
Zoning Changes Are Reshaping Small-Lot Development
Small-to-medium multi-family infill projects like the one planned for Cooper Street now operate under updated bulk and density provisions enacted in December 2024 through the New York City Council's City of Yes for Housing Opportunity zoning amendment, according to the NYC Department of City Planning. The policy shift is designed to encourage residential additions near transit corridors, and the Cooper Street filing, alongside Mojahed's Prospect Lefferts Gardens project, reflects a broader pattern of boutique rental construction taking shape on previously vacant lots across Brooklyn's transit-adjacent neighborhoods.
