Proposal lists a $1 purchase price for Williamsburg firehouse. The New York City Economic Development Corporation issued requests for proposals for the two former Brooklyn FDNY firehouses that spurred controversy when DCAS proposed to sell the buildings at public auction. Opposition by local community boards and Borough President Marty Markowitz to the outright sale resulted in a compromise under which the City Council voted to limit future users to community facility providers and to prohibit a sale of the firehouse at 299 DeGraw Street in Brooklyn’s Cobble Hill neighborhood. 4 CityLand 71 (June 15, 2007).
The RFPs follow-up on the Council’s vote. At 299 DeGraw Street in Cobble Hill, the proposal seeks a viable not-for-profit tenant to redevelop the 4,250-square-foot firehouse for a community, education or cultural use. The $1-a-year lease would be limited to one ten-year term with two five-year renewal options.
With Williamsburg’s former firehouse at 134 Wythe Street, the RFP seeks proposals from not-forprofit cultural institutions or community entities involved in services such as real estate, health, community advocacy or historic preservation. In exchange for the $1 sale price, the developer must redevelop the site with a design that EDC describes as “context-sensitive.”
EDC set a September 17, 2007 deadline for responses on both proposals.
New York City Economic Development Corporation Request for Proposals, DeGraw Street Firehouse Redevelopment (July 27, 2007); New York City Economic Development Corporation Request for Proposals, Wythe Avenue Firehouse Redevelopment (July 25, 2007).