Enrique Norten-designed 12- story condo building will feature 6 stories of glass penthouses. The City Council approved a text amendment and special permits to allow the enlargement and conversion to loft dwellings of an existing building located at One York Street in Manhattan. The approved text amendment establishes a new special permit to allow loft buildings to be enlarged up to a 5 FAR within the Tribeca Mixed Use District. The development also required special permits to allow community facility space and parking.
The 15,360 square-foot project site is bounded by Avenue of the Americas, St. John’s Lane, and Canal, Laight and York Streets. It currently contains two six-story buildings with commercial and residential use. The smaller building will be demolished and the second six-story structure will be enlarged and converted into 43 loft dwellings, 6,000 sq.ft. of commercial and retail use on the ground floor, 14,000 sq. ft. of community facility space, and a fully automated 47-space accessory parking garage. In total, the proposed building will rise to 12 stories amounting to 150 feet in height and 122,000 sq.ft. One of the current tenants, the Chinese American Planning Council, a not-for-profit organization providing social services to Asian Americans, will occupy the new community facility space.
The new building, designed by Mexican architect Enrique Norten, features a hybrid design melding a transparent glass tower on top of the existing industrial-style loft building. The top six floors will be glass penthouses with 360-degree views of the Manhattan skyline. A resident parking garage will use innovative technology to park vehicles through a fully automated system, allowing residents to retrieve their cars either from a computer terminal at the garage or from their loft dwelling. Construction is projected to be finished in early 2007.
No opposition appeared at the August 15, 2005 hearing before the Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises. The Subcommittee unanimously approved and referred the project to the full Land Use Committee, which approved on August 16, 2005. The full Council approved at the stated meeting on August 17, 2005.
ULURP Process: On March 28, 2005, the Planning Commission, as lead agency, issued a negative declaration with the condition that One York prepare and submit to DEP a hazardous material sampling protocol. Community Board 1 approved on April 19, 2005 on condition that: Buildings appoints a construction coordinator to monitor neighborhood construction; One York employs a neighborhood construction liaison to address community concerns; the Planning Department evaluates the project’s 150-foot building height in light of the Department’s contemplated rezoning of the area to a 120-foot height limit; One York restricts the parking to residents; and One York works with the Community Board if the Chinese American Planning Council does not occupy the community facility space. Borough President C. Virginia Fields recommended approval on May 4, 2005.
On May 25, 2005, the Commission held a public hearing at which no one spoke in opposition. The Commission unanimously approved on July 13, 2005, noting that the residential character of the neighborhood would benefit from the responsive and innovative architecture of the building.
Council: One York Street (August 17, 2005); CPC: One York Street (N 050281 ZRM – text amendment); (C 050282 ZSM – conversion to loft dwellings); (C 050283 ZSM – increase bulk); (C 050284 ZSM – community facility use); (C 050285 ZSM – accessory parking) (July 13, 2005). CITYADMIN