Rezoning passed despite strong opposition by developers. On March 26, 2008, the City Council modified the Department of City Planning’s proposal to downzone 13 blocks along Grand Street and adjoining areas in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The area currently consists of three- and four-story buildings, many of which have ground-floor retail and residential use on upper floors. The contextual R6B zoning would limit building heights to either 40 feet at the street or 50 feet with a setback. 5 CityLand 25 (Mar. 15, 2008). It will affect some planned developments for the area, including a 14-story tower at 227 Grand Street. (more…)

Preservation and housing advocates squared off over development plan. On February 5, 2008, Landmarks held a public hearing regarding alterations and additions to the Domino Sugar Refinery complex, located in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn.

In 2007, the City designated three buildings at the complex. 4 CityLand 141 (Oct. 15, 2007). During the designation process, the owner of the property, Community Preservation Corporation, warned Landmarks that the buildings’ infrastructure would need extensive retrofitting in order to accommodate residential use. 4 CityLand 93 (July 15, 2007).

At the most recent hearing, the owner unveiled the designs for the complex, which include a five-story glass rooftop addition to the 124year-old refinery building, five 40story towers, and a waterfront esplanade. The total development would yield 2,200 residential units, 120,000 sq.ft. of retail space, 100,000 sq.ft. of community facility space, 1,500 parking spaces, and several acres of publicly accessible open space. Fred Bland of Beyer Blinder Belle, one of Community Preservation’s architects, characterized the project as a “21st century completion” of the buildings. (more…)

Community group’s appeal seeks to halt construction of the 42story condo-hotel. On February 27, 2008, BSA heard testimony regarding the Department of Buildings’ approval for the Trump SoHo condominium hotel under construction at 246 Spring Street. The SoHo Alliance Community Group appealed, arguing that the condominium hotel contravenes the manufacturing zoning district’s prohibition against residential development.

Buildings approved the plans for the Trump Soho on September 28, 2007 with the condition that the developers file a restriction against the property that prohibits owners of any one of the condominium hotel’s 413 residential units from living there for more than 29 consecutive days in any 36-day period, or a total of about 120 days per calendar year. The rest of the time, owners would put their Trump SoHo units on the market for transient use on a daily or weekly basis. The restriction, according to Buildings, puts the Trump SoHo under the transient hotel exception to the general prohibition against residential developments in the area. Under the restriction, Buildings would conduct audits and/or issue financial penalties to enforce the transient use requirements. (more…)

Developer of 14-story tower fought to delay rezoning; residents urged speedy approval. The Planning Commission voted unanimously to approve the Department of City Planning’s proposal to rezone 13 blocks along Grand Street and adjoining areas in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn. The area overlaps with the southern boundary of the extensive Greenpoint-Williamsburg rezoning, which the City adopted in 2005. 2 CityLand 67 (June 15, 2005).

Currently, the rezoning area is characterized by low-rise, mixed-use three- and four-story attached apartment buildings and rowhouses. Most of these buildings have ground-floor commercial uses— ranging from restaurants and boutiques to bicycle repair shops and printing offices—on the lower floors, and a substantial residential presence on the upper floors. City Planning drafted the proposal after Brooklyn Community Board 1 expressed concern that, under the current R6 zoning, developers could build out-of-character towers two-and four-times the height of existing buildings in the area. (more…)

Council Member Melinda Katz is Chair of the Land Use Committee, a position she has held since 2002, when she was first elected to the City Council. The City’s land use review process requires that almost all major land use initiatives, with few exceptions, pass her desk for review. During her tenure as Chair, Katz “worked as a team” with the Bloomberg administration on the City-initiated rezonings, the largest rezoning initiative since 1961, covering roughly onesixth of the City including Hudson Yards, Greenpoint-Williamsburg, Highline-West Chelsea, Downtown Brooklyn, and the Jamaica Plan. On an unseasonably warm January day, CityLand sat down with Katz to get a feel for her perspective on land use issues

“I live in the same house I grew up in.” The daughter of two Julliard-graduates, Katz was born and raised in Forest Hills, Queens. After graduating from Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Katz attended the University of Massachusetts where she graduated summa cum laude. She then chose to attend St. John’s University School of Law because she “was young and wanted to save the world.” During law school, Katz interned with the Legal Aid Society, United States Attorney’s Organized Crime Unit, and United States District Court Judge Michael B. Mukasey. (more…)