Exterior of Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center. A large brick building with arched windows and modern glass addition, lit up at dusk. Cars and a cyclist move along the street, and an American flag is visible near the main entrance.

Culture & Entertainment Commercial & Residential

Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center (Bedford Union Armory)

Location: Crown Heights

Project Status: Ongoing

Bringing a Vision to Life through Innovative Community Development

The Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center is New York City's first-ever comprehensive health and wellness community. The state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot Major Owens Center acts as a one-stop shop for one of Brooklyn's most historically underserved neighborhoods—bringing a long-held community vision to life.

The Major Owens Center offers affordable housing, recreational opportunities, and nonprofit space for the Crown Heights community, and honors the legacy of the late Congressman Major R. Owens—a longtime advocate and voice for the community. In his more than 50 years in public service–as a local information librarian, Community Development Agency commissioner, New York State Senator, and US Representative—Owens was an unwavering civil rights and disability rights supporter and promoter of social justice.

Community Impact

By The Numbers

250

Affordable homes, 10% set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families

Major R. Owens

By The Numbers

60K

Square feet of multi-sport courts and a swimming pool

Indoor Swimming Pool

By The Numbers

Nonprofits coming to the Major Owens Center, providing educational, cultural, and healthcare services

Spacious indoor courts at Major R. Owens Health & Wellness Community Center, with a basketball court, soccer field, and bleachers, under a high arched glass ceiling. The wall reads Carey Gabay Recreation Center.

Community and Sports Facility

By The Numbers

250

Affordable homes, 10% set aside for formerly homeless individuals and families

Indoor Swimming Pool

Major R. Owens

By The Numbers

Nonprofits coming to the Major Owens Center, providing educational, cultural, and healthcare services

By The Numbers

60K

Square feet of multi-sport courts and a swimming pool

Community and Sports Facility

A New Vision

The Major Owens Center is a focal point for community and culture that features:

A state-of-the-art, 60,000-square-foot recreation center operated by The Boys’ Club of New York, with hardwood basketball courts, a competitive-length swimming pool, and a multi-purpose court able to accommodate a wide variety of sports and community programming
Athletic facilities for local public schools and youth sports leagues
Free and low-cost sports and fitness programming for the community
A flexible space to host cultural events, as well as local civic and community meetings
STEM classes and tutoring, LGBTQ support services, and additional cultural programming
415 homes, 250 of which are affordable for families of three making up to $58,000/year

A new, 60,000-square-foot recreation center

The Major Owens Center also offers affordable space to local nonprofit organizations, including:

These organizations provide educational, recreational, and cultural opportunities along with career-development and healthcare services.

A Historic Site

The Major Owens Center, formerly the Bedford Union Armory, occupies nearly an entire city block in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, covering approximately three acres of land. Opened in 1908, the Armory was used by the US Army’s Cavalry Troop C for training and equipment storage, in addition to serving as a horse stable. When not being used for military purposes, the large, open space provided an excellent venue for sporting events and local community gatherings. Sometime after 2008, Congressman Owens, then a professor at nearby Medgar Evers college, began to envision a future for the Armory as a full-time community center with recreational opportunities and gathering spaces for Crown Heights. Along with his students and other stakeholders, he built local support for the idea. The military decommissioned the building in 2013, and the City of New York took ownership of the site.

Opportunity for Change

In 2013, local elected officials asked NYCEDC to issue a request for proposals (RFP) to redevelop the vacant site and transform it into a space for housing, jobs, and the community. After years of extensive engagement with residents, business owners, elected officials, and other local stakeholders to better understand the needs of the Crown Heights community, it was evident that residents shared Congressman Owens’s desire for an institution that would positively support the vibrant communities of Crown Heights and greater Central Brooklyn.

Specifically, the community expressed the need for affordable recreational opportunities for all ages (including a swimming pool) and space for local nonprofits to offer cultural, educational, and healthcare services. With the community’s ideas in mind, in 2015 NYCEDC selected a proposal from Bedford Courts LLC, an affiliate of BFC Partners, that most closely aligned with this vision for the future of the site.

Having these community organizations under one roof will change lives. This place will strengthen the community, strengthen families, and offer youth the opportunity to pursue their dreams.

Geoffrey A. Davis

Executive director, James E. Davis Foundation

The Major Owens Center represents the culmination of a years-long effort by the Crown Heights community to honor and cherish the past, while bringing to fruition its vision for the future—where a new generation will create their own memories and build closer connections to the community and to each other.