BROWNSVILLE, NY-Brooklyn's long-struggling Ocean-Hill Brownsville neighborhood is currently being revitalized through the creation of more than 1,000 new market-rate housing units and a surge in home ownership. But the area remains severely lacking in retail options and other commercial amenities, according to a study commissioned by the Brooklyn Economic Development Corp.

The results of the study were released at a BEDC breakfast at Park Avenue Building and Roofing Supplies' newly completed 32,000-sf warehouse at 2074 Atlantic Ave. The warehouse is the first phase of an overall $12-million, 132,000-sf retail/office/warehouse complex which will serve as headquarters for Park Avenue and its sister company, AM&G Waterproofing.

"We would like to be an anchor in this community," said Gilbert Rivera, principal of Park Avenue and AM&G Waterproofing. "When we first came to Bedford-Stuyvesant, we were surrounded by vacant lots and abandoned property and we worked to change that. Now, those lots are all filled. We hope to do the same thing in Brownsville."

According to the results of a survey mailed to 900 area homeowners, local residents are dissatisfied with the quality and types of goods and services currently available, and often leave the community to fulfill their shopping needs. Residents identified a bookstore as the type of business they would most like to see, and also indicated a desire for more sit-down restaurants, gift shops and banks. The community is currently home to only two banks.

The BEDC is hoping to stimulate commercial development in the area by drawing attention to the widespread availability of development sites in the community, which abuts Bushwick, East New York, Bedford-Stuyvesant and Crown Heights, areas that have seen a recent influx of new development. "We see a lot of housing going up but we still see a lot of vacant lots," said Margaret Nelson, director of real estate programs for the BEDC.