Beverly Square West residents say they hope homes are designated as landmarks before developers move in
The neighborhood sits next to a current Historic District, but only some streets in Beverly Square West were slated to be part of a new district, until residents pushed back.
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Homeowners in the Beverly Square West Neighborhood in Flatbush say they have been spammed with letters from developers looking to purchase their historic homes, many of which were built in the 1800s.
"I've gotten three of these letters in the last three months; they keep coming. I usually shred them," said resident John McVicker, who owns a historic home that once belonged to the founder of the Beverly Square West Neighborhood.
The neighborhood sits next to a current Historic District, but only some streets in Beverly Square West were slated to be part of a new district, until residents pushed back.
At a recent Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) meeting, residents said they were glad to see the commissioners considering their comments and moved to consider their petition.
In a statement to News 12, LPC said it is “currently reviewing testimony from the LPC Public Hearing on October 21, 2025. No date has yet been scheduled for the LPC public meeting at which Commissioners will vote on the proposed Beverley Square West and Ditmas Park West Historic Districts.”
But residents are worried that developers with an eye on the properties are moving faster than the LPC.
"They're going to give a lot of money to the first person, and the property is going to go up, and everything else is going to go way down in value," McVicker said.
He is far from the only concerned resident.
"Leaving half of these streets open sends developers the message these streets are for sale," said
Mickey Revanaugh, who tells News 12 that many residents have spent big money to restore the Victorian homes to closely match their original designs.
She fears developers won't put that effort in or may add higher-density units without the Landmark status protections.
Residents say they've been burnt once before, as an abandoned concrete husk currently stands in the neighborhood where a developer tore down a historic home, built out the outer concrete walls, and then deserted the project. Years later, it's still standing there, a looming future for the neighborhood they hope to avoid.
"I can't imagine a developer with deep enough pockets that actually makes something that fits in with this neighborhood," she said.
"We are going to be calling, reaching out and letting landmarks know how this is one neighborhood, and we don't want them to split the body in half, or how many could be sold and toppled first," Revanaugh said.
