Diagram of rezoning area in the Special Clinton District in Manhattan. Image credit: CPC.

Council-approved developments in Special Clinton District will achieve 39 percent affordability across a range of Area Median Incomes. On June 26, 2014, the City Council unanimously voted 48-0 to approve applications which would facilitate the development of two new mixed-use buildings, the rehabilitation of another building, and creation of three new community gardens in the Special Clinton District in Manhattan. The joint applications were proposed by the Clinton Housing Development Company, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Taconic Investment Partners and Ritterman Capital. The project area is generally bounded by West 51st Street and West 53rd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.

(more…)

Rendering of proposed addition to Rockefeller University. Image credit: Rafael Viñoly Architects.

Council Member requests Rockefeller University to consider Community Board 8 and Borough President conditions. On April 23, 2014, the City Council Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises heard an application by Rockefeller University for a special permit and related actions to allow the expansion of its campus. Rockefeller University, located on the east side of York Avenue between East 64th and East 68th Streets in Manhattan and founded in 1901, is the first institution in the United States devoted solely to biomedical research.  Rockefeller University is proposing to build a new structure that would serve its existing population and provide the modern bio-medical research space necessary to recruit and retain top researchers and faculty. The proposed expansion of the Rockefeller University campus includes a two-story research building, one story- interactive conference center in a demapped airspace over the Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Drive, and a one-story building for a recreational facility. Rockefeller University is located on the southern end of a large medical and academic corridor in Manhattan, which includes New York Presbyterian Hospital, Hospital for Special Surgery, Memorial Sloan Kettering, and Weil Cornell Medical College. (more…)

Rendering of Rheingold Development as seen from Bushwick Avenue and Forrest Street, Brooklyn. Image Courtesy of Forrest Lots, LLC.

Controversial Bushwick development project questioned on affordable housing goals in public hearings. On December 10, 2013, the full City Council voted 48-1 to rezone six blocks in Bushwick, Brooklyn, in order to allow the development of ten mixed-use developments. The rezoning area is bounded by Bushwick Avenue, Flushing Avenue, Melrose Street, Stanwix Street, and Forrest Street.  Council’s Committee on Land Use voted 18-1 and Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises unanimously voted 10-0 to approve the project. Council Member Charles Barron voted in the negative at the Stated Meeting and Land Use Committee meeting, citing concerns about housing affordability. (more…)

Renderings of the proposed complex at FDR Drive and 74th Street by Memorial Sloan-Kettering and The City University of New York/Hunter College. Image Credit: MSKCC and CUNY.

New Memorial Sloan Kettering/City of New York dual educational and hospital facility approved by City Council. On September 16, 2013, the City Council’s Land Use Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on a proposal to develop a hospital and educational complex on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The applicants were Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (MSK) and The City University of New York (CUNY)/Hunter College. The project site is located on 74th Street between York Avenue and Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) Drive, immediately north of the “medical corridor,” which includes Cornell Weill, New York Presbyterian Hospital, MSK, and Hospital for Special Surgery. The application would amend the zoning map to convert the current industrial zoning to support community facility development; amend the zoning text to allow contributions to public park improvement in exchange for additional floor area; provide special permits to waive certain height and setback requirements; and provide a special permit to increase the number of parking spaces in the MSK parking facility from 166 to 248. (more…)

Map of Special Hudson Square district. Subdistrict B was eliminated from the proposal by the CPC. Image Courtesy: DCP.

Modifications to private rezoning application centered on encouraging affordable housing. On March 13, 2013, the City Council voted to approve Trinity Church’s Special Hudson Square District proposal with modifications. The proposal was intended to facilitate residential development and protect existing office space. Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee Chair Mark Weprin announced modifications to the proposal at a Subcommittee meeting on March 13, 2013. The modifications addressed many of the concerns expressed by community residents and building owners at the City Planning Commission’s hearing on November 28, 2012 and the Subcommittee’s hearing on February 12, 2013. (See CityLand’s past coverage here).

Chair Weprin announced a few modifications meant to encourage and increase the amount of affordable housing in the District. During the Subcommittee’s hearing, several building owners testified that in order to reach the 12.0 floor area ratio allowed under the City’s Inclusionary Housing Program, the height limit on narrow streets should be set at between 210 and 230 feet. Owners also criticized the City Planning Commission’s imposition of a special permit in order to achieve a maximum height of 210 feet on narrow streets. Under the Council’s modifications, the maximum building height on narrow streets will remain at 185 feet as originally proposed. However, the height limit can be increased to 210 feet for residential developments, but only if 20 percent of the development’s units are permanently affordable. The modification thus eliminated the City Planning Commission’s special permit provision.

(more…)