Owner relies on hardship and changes in the area. The owner of 6002 Fort Hamilton Parkway in Bay Ridge applied to BSA to convert a three-story commercial/warehouse building, zoned for manufacturing, to a 124,880-square-foot residential building with 90 units, ground floor retail and public parking for 90 cars. The building had been used as a dairy processing center for the Borden Milk Company, an auto service space, roller skating rink and, until recently, as a wood-working showroom and warehouse distribution space.

The owner argued that the building was unfit for manufacturing due to its small freight elevator, lack of truck maneuvering space, inadequate parking and uneven floors, making it difficult to move stock within the interior. Arguing that Bay Ridge had changed dramatically, the owner claimed that seven adjacent lots were used illegally as residential and 75 percent of the surrounding lots contained housing. Community Board 12 recommended approval if the parking was restricted to residents.

BSA determined that hardship existed due to the building’s condition, but expressed concern over the proposed size of the project. In response, the owner submitted six alternatives, including the use of the existing three-story warehouse as residential, and conversion into an 110,000-square-foot, four-story structure.

After review of the feasibility studies, BSA granted a variance for a six-story, 103,970-square-foot building with retail and 92 parking spaces restricted to tenants, finding that to be the minimum size needed to grant the owner relief.

BSA: 6002 Fort Hamilton Parkway (363- 04-BZ) (July 19, 2005) (Herrick, Feinstein LLP, for applicant). CITYADMIN

196 blocks of Cambria Heights down-zoned. On July 27, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved a down-zoning, impacting 196 blocks of Cambria Heights, Queens. It is the first rezoning initiative in this neighborhood since 1961 and the fifth Queens neighborhood down-zoned by the City in 2005.

Designed to closely match the size of existing development, the down-zoning’s new residential districts (R2A, R3A, R3-1, and R4B) decrease the size and density of asof- right buildings. The existing commercial overlay district along Springfield and Linden Boulevards would be decreased in depth to prevent commercial uses from expanding away from these Boulevards onto smaller residential side streets. (more…)

Queens community rezoned at request of residents. On July 27, 2005, the City Council approved a 103-block rezoning in East Flushing. The proposed rezoning was initiated by the Planning Department in response to requests of the East Flushing Civic Association, the Off-Broadway Homeowners’ Association, Community Board 7 and a zoning task force created by Borough President Helen Marshall’s office. The groups raised concerns that the 1961 zoning did not reflect building patterns in the area and encouraged out-of-character development.

A majority of the rezoned areas, from 149th Street to 166th Street, had allowed as-of-right construction of large multi-family buildings in streets generally developed with single or two-family homes. These areas were down-zoned to districts restricting density to one and two-family structures (R2, R4-1 and R4A). Along East Flushing’s major thoroughfares, Northern Boulevard and Crocheron Avenue, the new zoning (R6B) would allow mixed-use development. The existing commercial overlay was extended to 159th Street, but its depth of coverage was decreased to prohibit commercial uses from encroaching on established residential streets. (more…)

The Windermere and Dickey House designated. Despite strong opposition by current owners, on June 28, 2005, Landmarks designated the Windermere Apartments in Manhattan’s Clinton section, and the Robert Dickey House in Lower Manhattan.

The Windermere, constructed in 1881, is a visually compelling three-building complex located at 400-406 West 57th Street and Ninth Avenue. Its design, attributed to Theophilus G. Smith, features distinctive cornices and polychromatic brickwork. At the public hearings, the owner strongly opposed the designation, arguing the Windermere was not one grand apartment building worthy of designation, but, in fact, was three separate uninhabitable tenements. 2 CityLand 61 (May 15, 2005). In approving, Landmarks noted that the building was the oldest-known apartment complex in the area and that it played a significant role in the history of women’s housing when, in the 1890s, it was the home of young women entering the work force. (more…)

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th Streets and on West 16th through West 18th Streets, east of Tenth Avenue to the mid-block. The area’s zoning had been M1-5 manufacturing except for the West 23rd Street corridor, which was rezoned in 1999 for commercial uses. Under the approved rezoning, only a small portion remains zoned manufacturing, in order to preserve lots for additional Chelsea art galleries, with the remaining blocks permitting commercial and residential uses. (more…)