Illegal landfill slowed approval of Queens development. In 1976, a developer received approval from the Planning Commission for the Riverview development, a 500-unit project on a 28-acre parcel stretching north from 5th Avenue and west from Lax Avenue along the East River waterfront in College Point, Queens. The state then denied a needed permit for the development after discovering 123,000 cubic yards of illegal landfill on the site. After constructing only 236 of the 500 planned units, the developers sold off 14 acres.

New owner Powell Cove Associates LLC proposed construction of 74 two- and three-family homes with 202 total units on the two-lot, 14-acre site after receiving approval from the state for a plan to vegetate the landfill. The new project, which would result in 62 fewer units than originally proposed, required an amended approval from the Commission to permit the ownership change. Powell Cove also proposed to exceed floor area and height limits on the lot north of Powell Cove Boulevard to allow the majority of the units to be constructed on one lot. To allow this, Powell Cove requested that the Commission approve the transfer of unused floor area from the second lot and allow a height exception. (read more…)

Commission recommends that the project be reduced by 635,000 sq.ft. and its open space increased. On September 27, 2006, the Planning Commission recommended to the Empire State Development Corporation that Forest City Ratner Companies reduce the overall size of its proposed downtown Brooklyn Atlantic Yards project by eight percent or 635,000 sq.ft. and increase the proposed open space from seven to eight acres to address the significant amount of pedestrian traffic that the project would generate. Ratner’s plan calls for a massive redevelopment of Brooklyn’s Atlantic Yards with an arena for the Nets, thousands of residential units, office space, new street retail, a transit hub, public open space and a possible hotel.

Ratner’s project triggered a Commission recommendation because the development would necessitate an override to local zoning restrictions on use, parking, loading, height, floor area, setback and signage. The Commission’s letter stated that the Nets arena was not a permitted use within the site’s residential districts or its residential/commercial overlay districts, and that the site’s residential zoning prohibited the proposed commercial uses. (read more…)

Theatre obtains expanded air rights after Commission modifies plan. Allen Goldman, of Fifth Street Holdings, LLC and SJP Residential Properties, sought to increase the air rights available for sale from the Hirschfeld Theatre on West 45th Street through a text amendment application. The theater site lies within two zoning lots; air rights, however, can only be sold from one lot under the current text. The restricted lot lies within the Preservation Area of the Special Clinton District, an area created to restrict the size of development in Clinton. Goldman’s amendment sought to transfer air rights from both lots and remove the floor area restrictions of the Special Clinton District solely for the purposes of an air rights sale. This would increase the unused air rights from 22,155 to 37,384 sq.ft. (4.2 FAR to 6.02 FAR).

If approved, Goldman would transfer the air rights to a proposed 42-story, 220-unit residential development to be located at 750 Eighth Avenue. Along with the text amendment, Goldman applied for a special permit for a 101-space garage within the 750 Eighth Avenue development. Both applications started the City’s land use review process in April 2006. 3 CityLand 56 (May 15, 2006). (read more…)

Owner required additional permit to complete Plaza Hotel’s conversion plan. When El-Ad Properties bought the Plaza Hotel in October 2004, it proposed to convert the hotel’s 805 rooms into luxury residential condos and use the hotel’s banquet rooms, meeting spaces and existing retail as high-end retail destinations. Public opposition to the plan resulted in a compromise by which El-Ad agreed to maintain 284 hotel rooms and convert the remaining 511 rooms into 181 private condos. During the process, Landmarks designated several of the Plaza’s interior spaces, including the Oak Bar, the Oak Room, the Palm Court, the Terrace and the Edwardian Rooms. 2 CityLand 105 (Aug. 15, 2005).

Because the reduced number of hotel rooms no longer justified accessory retail space, the proposed retail required a special permit. The Plaza sits on a split-zone lot predominately within an R10-H zone, a residential zone that only permits residential use as of right. Only one quarter of the site is zoned for commercial retail uses. The Palm Court, the Oak Room and other commercial space within the Plaza Hotel had been considered accessory to the hotel. (read more…)

A private developer sought to rezone four city blocks of Tribeca. Truffles, LLC applied for a zoning map amendment to rezone four waterfront blocks along the western edge of Manhattan’s North Tribeca neighborhood to enable construction of a 260,000-square-foot residential development at 88 Laight Street. Truffles also applied for a text amendment to increase the maximum streetwall and building height restrictions, and a special permit to replace an existing 43-space parking lot with a 180- space underground garage.

The area, bounded by Washington Street to the east, West Street to the west, Watts Street to the north, and Hubert Street to the south, is characterized by a mix of commercial, residential, automotive, and industrial uses. The two northern blocks comprise mainly low-rise and underdeveloped properties such as surface parking lots, automotive repair shops, warehouses, loft residences, and a restaurant, while the two southern blocks – both located within the Tribeca North Historic District – include 9- and 10-story residential buildings and an 11-story office building. (read more…)