Aerial View of Willets Point with Convention Center to the North. Image: Courtesy of EDC.

Willets Point 126th Street Across from CitiField. Image: Courtesy of EDC.

City targeting 12.75-acre site adjacent to Citi Field for first phase of construction. On May 9, 2011, The City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals seeking a developer for Phase 1 of the Willets Point District redevelopment plan in Queens. The triangle-shaped Willets Point District comprises 61.4 acres generally bounded by Northern Boulevard, the Van Wyck Expressway, and 126th Street. The contentious redevelopment plan was approved by the City Council in November 2008. 5 CityLand 167 (Dec. 2008).

The Phase 1 site is a 12.75-acre parcel along 126th Street and Roosevelt Avenue across from Citi Field. The approved program for Phase 1 construction would permit up to 400 units of mixed-income housing, 680,000 sq.ft. of retail space, and 387 hotel rooms. The developer must create at least 2.08 acres of publicly accessible open space. There will be 7.5 acres of unbuilt area buffering the Phase 1 site. (read more…)

City is in process of reclaiming landmarked building after owner failed to redevelop property. On March 22, 2011, the City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for expressions of interest for the purchase and redevelopment of what remains of the landmarked Corn Exchange Building at the corner of East 125th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem. The Lamb & Rich-designed six-story building was built in 1884 and has deteriorated significantly over the years.

The building was abandoned in the 1970s and lost its two-story mansard roof after a fire in the late 1990s. EDC in 2000 selected Ethel Bates, under Corn Exchange LLC, to rehabilitate the building and establish a non-profit culinary school. EDC sold the building to Bates for $10,000 in 2003. Bates failed to redevelop the site in the required three year period, and EDC sued to reclaim the property in 2007. Supreme Court Justice Judith J. Gische awarded title of the building back to EDC in January 2009. 6 CityLand 33 (March 15, 2009). Bates has appealed the decision. While EDC’s lawsuit was pending, Landmarks filed a demolition by neglect lawsuit against Bates for failing to maintain the building, citing collapsed floors, missing windows, and water damage. Justice Gische, however, declined to order Bates to make immediate repairs, ruling that the court could not compel Bates to rehabilitate a building she no longer owned. Subsequently, the Department of Buildings in April 2009 issued an emergency violation citing dangerous conditions above the second floor and demolished the building’s top two floors. (read more…)

EDC faulted: Comptroller found waterfront restaurant violated lease’s revenue- reporting and site-improvement requirements. An audit by City Comptroller John C. Liu concluded that MDO Development Corporation violated its lease agreement for a City-owned site occupied by the Water Club restaurant along the East River between East 30th and 32nd Streets in Manhattan. The audit found, among other things, that MDO did not accurately report revenue from the restaurant and failed to make required site improvements. The City’s Economic Development Corporation administers the lease agreement on behalf of the Department of Small Business Services.

MDO in 1979 entered into a 25-year lease with the City to build and operate the restaurant. The City in 2001 amended the lease and extended its term to 2030. For 2009, the agreement entitled the City to an annual fixed rent of $495,000, but if gross receipts exceeded $8,250,000 MDO would pay six percent of its sales, plus seven percent of receipts exceeding $10,500,000. MDO was also obligated to expend $450,000 on tenant improvements within two years of the amended lease’s commencement date. (read more…)

EDC awarded $9 million contract to BillyBey Ferry Company to provide new ferry service to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens starting in Spring 2011. On February 2, 2011, the City’s Economic Development Corporation awarded BillyBey Ferry Company a three-year $9 million contract to provide expanded ferry service along the East River. Billybey, operating under the NY Waterways brand, will make seven regular stops connecting riders to Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Queens. The stops will include: Pier 11 in lower Manhattan, Fulton Ferry Landing in DUMBO, South Williamsburg’s Schaefer Landing, North Williamsburg between North Fifth and North Sixth Streets, India Avenue in Greenpoint, Hunter’s Point South in Long Island City, and East 34th Street in Manhattan The service will also stop at Pier 6 in Brooklyn during summer weekends and Governors Island on summer Fridays.

The ferries will run every twenty minutes during weekday peak hours, every thirty minutes during off-peak summer hours, and every hour during off-peak winter hours. Fares will be $3 for up to three stops, and $5.50 for more than three stops. There will be a free bus line from the East 34th Street ferry landing during peak hours that will make stops along the 34th Street corridor. The MTA’s M34 bus will provide service during off-peak hours. (read more…)

First phase of Hunter’s Point South will include two towers with at least 685 affordable apartments, parkland, and a new school. On February 9, 2011, the City announced that it had selected Phipps Houses, the Related Companies, and Monadnock Construction to develop the residential portion of the first phase of the Hunter’s Point South redevelopment plan. The City Council in November 2008 approved the City’s plan to develop a multi-building project on an eight-block 30-acre site along Long Island City’s waterfront. The proposal included low-, mid-, and highrise buildings, five acres of waterfront parkland, and a new public school. Of the proposed 5,000 apartments, 60 percent were targeted for middle-income families earning between 80 and 165 percent of the area median income. In response to community concerns, the City modified the plan to include a low-income affordable housing component. 5 CityLand 169 (Dec. 2008). The City in June 2010 issued a request for proposals seeking a developer for the first phase of construction. (read more…)