Developer wanted to build three additional townhouses after discovering concrete bunkers during construction of as-of-right development. 25 Garfield Sparta LLC applied to BSA for a variance to build three townhouses on a through-block lot at 580 Carroll Street in Park Slope, Brooklyn. In 2007, the developer obtained permits to build an Enrique Norten-designed five-story condominium at the site that would front Garfield Place, provide open space along Carroll Street, and include nine underground parking spaces.

During construction, Garfield Sparta discovered below-grade concrete bunkers on the Carroll Street-side of the lot that were related to the site’s former use as a Brooklyn Edison substation. In order to compensate for the costs associated with removing the bunkers, the developer proposed building three four-story townhouses on the portion of the lot set aside for open space. Garfield Sparta needed a variance because the proposal exceeded the maximum floor area, maximum lot coverage, and violated minimum rear-yard depth. (more…)

Owner claimed that narrow lot adjacent to elevated rail line could not accommodate conforming manufacturing use. Hayden Hester applied for a use variance to construct a three-story residential building on a vacant lot at 1978 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Hester’s proposal called for a 4,200 sq.ft building with five dwelling units on a lot twenty feet wide and zoned for light manufacturing. A Long Island Rail Road elevated rail line runs along Atlantic Avenue in front of the project site.

Hester claimed the narrow lot and the presence of the elevated rail line would constrain a viable manufacturing or commercial development. The lot’s width would result in inefficient, small floor plates, and the rail line would interfere with loading and unloading from Atlantic Avenue. Hester submitted evidence indicating that a residential structure had formerly occupied the site and that there had been no manufacturing or commercial use on the site in the past 100 years. Out of the 103 lots fronting the south side of Atlantic Avenue, only two had twenty-foot frontages and commercial uses.

BSA granted the variance, finding that the lot’s narrow width created a hardship in developing a conforming use. BSA also found that introducing five residential units on the site would not negatively affect the neighborhood character, noting that the subject block’s southern portion permitted residential uses and that the proposal would be permitted as-of-right on the north.

BSA: 1978 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn (256-07-BZ) (March 23, 2010) (Rothkrug, Rothkrug & Spector, for Hester). CITYADMIN

NYU claimed that academic center required taller street wall and larger floor plates in order to integrate with neighboring Kimmel Center. New York University applied to BSA for a variance to construct a six-story building, to be called the Center for Academic and Spiritual Life, at 58 Washington Square South in Manhattan. The 12,650 sq.ft. project site is part of a 36,205 sq.ft. zoning lot that includes NYU’s eleven-story Kimmel Center for University Life. The project site was formerly occupied by the Catholic Center of NYU’s Holy Trinity Chapel, which the Archdiocese of New York demolished before selling the land to NYU in May 2009.

NYU’s plan calls for an 88-foot building with no setbacks that would connect to the Kimmel Center on the second through fifth floors, allowing NYU to integrate the Kimmel Center’s food service and kitchen space with the new building. The building would house a new Catholic Center at NYU in the first floor and provide space for twenty classrooms accommodating 25 to 125 persons each and acoustically-isolated music rooms. NYU needed a variance because the design violates the area’s R7-2 zoning regulations, including requiring a twenty-foot setback after reaching a maximum street wall height of 60 feet or six stories, whichever is less. (more…)

Owner claimed that lot, which is occupied by a one-story building that could not be safely enlarged, was underutilized. 71 Laight Street LLC applied to BSA for a variance to build a six-story, eighteen-unit residential building with twelve accessory parking spaces at 412 Greenwich Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca North Historic District. The site is occupied by a one-story freight-loading structure built in 1956 and currently used for parking, which the owner would demolish in order to construct the new building.

The owner initially proposed a 55,055 sq.ft., six-story building with a penthouse and unrestricted ground-floor retail uses. The proposed building would replicate the massing and design of an adjacent warehouse building at 401 Washington Street that was built in 1906. The proposal included a cast aluminum facade etched with a brick pattern mimicking the warehouse’s red-brick facade. The owner received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the Morris Adjmi-designed project in September 2008. 5 CityLand 140 (Oct. 15, 2008). (more…)

Property owner claimed that a complying development was difficult because the High Line crossed the lot. Romanoff Equities applied to BSA for a variance to construct a twelve-story, 215-foot tall office building at 437 West 13th Street, a site occupied by a portion of the High Line. The original design included cantilevering a portion of the building ten feet over the High Line and using the first three floors for retail space.

Residents and preservation groups opposed the proposal, while others supported certain aspects of the application. Manhattan Community Board 2 approved the proposal but recommended that Romanoff reduce the total floor area. The City Planning Commission submitted a letter stating that it supported the height and setback waivers, but objected to the original proposal’s total floor area, the extension of retail uses above the second floor, and cantilevering any portion of the building over the High Line.

During the hearing process, Romanoff modified the proposal to a ten-story building with a two-foot cantilever that would not extend over the High Line, and agreed to use only the first two floors for retail. Romanoff still needed a variance because the project included a noncomplying retail use and exceeded the M1-5 district’s permitted floor area and minimum setback and rear yard requirements. (more…)