BSA permits bldg. to exceed limits of new rezoning

Owner claimed soil cleanup and structural repair made smaller building infeasible. Prior to the City’s 183-block rezoning of North Brooklyn, Selik Realty sought BSA approval to convert a three-story manufacturing building on North 7th Street and Meeker Avenue in Williamsburg into residential units and to add four additional stories. When the site was rezoned in May 2005, residential use became permitted as of right, but Selik maintained its BSA application, seeking approval of a building exceeding the new zoning’s floor area and height limits.

The proposal, a 77,180- square-foot building with residential and retail uses and a total height of 80 feet, exceeded the floor area limit by 20,200 sq.ft. and failed to provide a needed setback. Selik argued that the existing manufacturing building was not easily adaptable to residential use and that removal of arsenic, lead and mercury in the soil rendered an as-of- right building infeasible. To support this claim, Selik submitted a $2.3 million cost estimate for the soil remediation and structural reinforcement and a letter from the City’s Department of Environmental Protection requiring clean up of the site prior to its development.

At the hearing, BSA expressed concerns over the proposal’s overall size and height, principally along North 7th Street, and asked Selik to study a reduced, 66,810-square-foot project with a 3.0 FAR. Although Selik’s analysis found the reduced project infeasible, BSA questioned Selik’s site valuation and construction costs.

In response, Selik reduced its proposal to a 66,810-square-foot building with a 15-foot setback and a 41-foot street wall height along North 7th Street. BSA approved, prohibiting Buildings’ release of a C of O before receipt of a DEP notice of no objection or satisfaction.

BSA: 302/10 North 7th Street (355-04- BZ) (November 15, 2005) (Slater & Beckerman, for Selik). CITYADMIN

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.