Sites for applied sciences academic campus include Brooklyn Navy Yard, Roosevelt Island, Governors Island, and Staten Island. The City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for expressions of interest from universities, applied sciences organizations, or related institutions regarding the development and operation of a new applied sciences research facility and academic campus in the City. According to EDC, the City is interested in a facility specializing in applied engineering, but it could provide additional programs including environmental science, mathematics, chemistry, and computer science. A facility with a biotech focus is of less interest but would still be considered. The development may include non-academic uses such as faculty and student housing, restaurants and retail spaces to enhance the project’s educational facilities.
Interested developers may propose a privately owned development site, but the City has identified four City-controlled sites as potential locations for the facility. The sites include: the Navy Hospital Campus at Brooklyn Navy Yard; development sites on Governors Island; the Goldwater Hospital Campus on Roosevelt Island; and Farm Colony, Staten Island. If one of the City-controlled sites is chosen, the City would likely offer a 99-year lease to the developer. (read more…)
City is in process of reclaiming property after Citarella failed to fully develop site. The City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for expressions of interest for the purchase, redevelopment, and rehabilitation of the former Taystee Bakery complex on West 125th and West 126th Street between Amsterdam and Morningside Avenues in West Harlem.
The 134,000 sq.ft. complex includes an occupied through-block building at 461 West 125th Street and five vacant buildings at 426 through 458 West 126th Street. EDC in 2001 selected gourmet grocer Citarella to rehabilitate the buildings. Citarella opened a grocery at the West 125th Street property, but failed to develop the remaining lots. The State Supreme Court in June 2009 awarded title back to EDC. Citarella challenged the decision and remains title holder of the property pending the outcome of the appeal. (read more…)
Waterfront site is occupied by three buildings that EDC will demolish prior to execution of ground lease. On November 1, 2010, the City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals seeking developers to lease and redevelop a 130,000 sq.ft. portion of the Bush Terminal Complex along the Gowanus Bay in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. The redevelopment site is generally bounded by 44th and 47th Streets to the north and south and is adjacent to the future site of the Bush Terminal Piers Park. The site contains three buildings occupied by tenants with short-term leases. EDC intends to demolish the buildings prior to executing a ground lease. In March 2007, EDC issued a request for proposals to purchase the site and existing buildings. 4 CityLand 47 (April 15, 2007).
The redevelopment envisioned in EDC’s current request for proposals is related to the City’s Sunset Park Vision Plan, which created a framework for developing an environmentally sustainable and modern industrial waterfront. The area’s M3-1 zoning permits heavy manufacturing and industrial uses. EDC anticipates that any project would provide between 100,000 and 260,000 sq.ft. of floor space and include accessory parking spaces. According to EDC, it will not consider noxious uses on the site. Proposed projects are required to qualify for the United States Green Building Council’s LEED certification or achieve equivalent green-building and energy-saving standards. EDC intends to execute a lease for the parcel by Summer 2011. (read more…)
IDA approved $8.6 million in real estate and tax benefits for the first two supermarkets under the recently-created FRESH program. On February 9, 2010, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the City’s Economic Development Corporation, approved tax incentive packages to assist in the development of two new Bronx supermarkets. The financial incentives are the first awarded under the City’s Fresh Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program approved by the City Council in December 2009. The City created the FRESH program to provide zoning and financial incentives to encourage the development of supermarkets in areas identified as being under-served by stores offering a full range of fresh produce, meats, and dairy products. 6 CityLand 152 (Nov. 15, 2009).
The IDA awarded $3 million in real estate and tax benefits to Foodtown Supermarkets in order to build a new grocery store at 283 East 204th Street in the Norwood section of the Bronx. The 11,000 sq.ft. store will replace a 7,500 sq.ft. store destroyed by a fire in December 2009. The IDA approved incentives consisting of payments in lieu of City real property taxes, exemptions from City and State mortgage recording taxes, and exemptions from City and State sales and use taxes. (read more…)
Announcement comes about three months after Thor Equities failed to close on the same parcel. On October 15, 2008, the NYC Economic Development Corporation announced that it entered into a property acquisition agreement with Ward Realty Corp. for the purchase of a one-acre site in the amusement core of Coney Island, Brooklyn. The site, located within the nine-acre area that the City has designated to be parkland, is the current home of the Wonder Wheel Amusement Park.
Until about three months ago, Ward Realty Corp. expected Thor Equities to acquire the property. However, when it came time to close, Thor expressed its desire to renegotiate the contract, and the parties failed to reach an agreement. Shortly thereafter, EDC agreed to purchase the site for the same price Thor originally agreed to pay, approximately 11 million dollars. (read more…)
