BID will encompass 366 properties and address sanitation, security and marketing needs. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a DUMBO Business Improvement District. The proposed BID would encompass 366 properties containing 575 existing businesses bounded by DUMBO’s York, Old Fulton, Gold, and Bridge Streets and extending to the East River.

Under the proposed BID, businesses and industrial uses would be assessed $.05 per-square-foot and $.004 per dollar of assessed valuation. DUMBO residents would pay an annual $1 assessment. Government and not-for-profit groups will be exempt from the assessment, relieving the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which, in 2004, obtained City Council’s approval for a 736,000-square-foot development on a full city block within the BID area. 1 CityLand 33 (Dec. 15, 2004).

There were no speakers in opposition at the Commission’s April 27, 2005 hearing. The Commission approved the BID as submitted.

BID Approval Process The Department of Small Business Services, as lead agency, issued a negative declaration on March 9, 2005 and submitted the BID plan to Mayor Bloomberg, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, Community Board 2, Council Speaker Gifford Miller, and Brooklyn Council Member David Yassky.

Community Board 2 unanimously approved. Mandatory public hearings before the City Council Finance Committee and the mayor are pending.

CPC: DUMBO BID (N 050365 BDK) (May 25, 2005). CITYADMIN

Public parking garage will be component of new as-of-right mixed-use tower. Edison Parking sought approval for a 225-space public attended parking garage to be located at 88 Leonard Street between Broadway and Church Street in Tribeca. Currently the site contains a 204-space at-grade parking lot, which Edison plans to replace with a 21-story mixed-use development with 352 residential units, retail, and medical office space to be constructed by AI & Boymelgreen. The proposed public garage would operate 24-hours a day, seven days a week, and would be accessed from Leonard Street.

At the April 27, 2005 public hearing, Paul Selver, Edison’s attorney, explained that the new garage would replace the existing lot and provide the option of parking for the new building’s tenants. When questioned about neighbors’ opposition, Selver responded that their concerns partly related to late-night problems caused by the Knitting Factory, an adjacent Leonard Street nightclub, which the neighbors believe could be exacerbated by a 24-hour garage. Selver argued that a 24-hour commercial use would improve Leonard Street’s security. (read more…)

Developer abandoned plan to convert loft to residential. 96 Springs LLC sought a special permit to allow ground floor retail use and 14 residential units at 96 Spring Street, an eight-story, 53,700-square-foot loft located on the corner of Spring and Mercer Streets in a manufacturing zone within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Currently the building contains a mix of commercial uses, with the fourth and fifth floors vacant and the ground floor occupied by a non-conforming retail use.

At the April 13, 2005 Commission hearing, the attorney for 96 Springs described the proposal and the need for the special permit. There were no speakers in opposition. Following the hearing, 96 Springs withdrew the original application and filed a modified plan, requesting 14 joint living-work units for artists instead of the original purely residential units. (read more…)

Uptown retail center will have national retail chain, local vendors and restaurant. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services sought approval for the disposition of Mart 125, the one-and-a-half story, 12,210-square-foot building, located at 260 West 125th Street across from the Apollo Theater. Mart 125 was originally built in the early 1980’s as a market for local Harlem vendors and businesses. Occupancy declined over the years and the building began to deteriorate. It is currently vacant.

DCAS would transfer Mart 125 to the New York City Economic Development Corporation for sale or long-term lease to a selected developer. The existing mezzanine in the building would be replaced by two new, internal floors, providing 10,000 sq.ft. each, and subdivided into smaller retail spaces ranging from 500 to 1,500 sq.ft. The revitalized Mart 125 would provide a total of 34,400 sq.ft. of retail space with the ground floor reserved for a national or regional retail chain and the third floor for restaurant use. (read more…)

Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On April 27 and May 11, 2005, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained the Planning Commission’s approval of seven affordable housing projects, totaling 668 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Three of the Bronx projects, including the 194-unit Prospect Avenue Tower in Melrose, the 102-unit East Clarke Place project in High Bridge, and the 63-unit Jacob’s Place project in Mount Hope, will include housing for formally homeless and units for very low-income individuals and families. Four of the projects include a commercial component or a community facility use. In total, HPD applied for 591 affordable housing units in the Bronx, 56 in Brooklyn and 21 in Manhattan. In each of the seven applications, HPD applied for the designation of a UDAAP, which, if approved by the City Council, will provide the projects with state tax exemptions. (read more…)