BSA allows residential building on split-zoned lot

Variance will permit four-story residential building. Bernard Scharff, owner of three lots located at 1380 62nd Street in Borough Park, Brooklyn and split between M1-1D and R5 zoning districts, sought a variance to build a 52,000-squarefoot, six-story, 34-unit residential building, with ground floor retail and underground parking. The 16,000-square-foot site, 14,000 of which are in the manufacturing district and the remaining 2,000 in the residential district, contains a one-story hardware and lumber store.

Scharff argued … <Read More>


Council Modifies Massive Rezoning Plan for Brooklyn

Affordable housing incentive increased; new industrial protection zone proposed. The City Council’s Land Use Committee voted to modify the 183-block rezoning plan for the two-mile East River waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg at a May 2, 2005 hearing attended by Deputy Mayor Dan Doctoroff, Planning Commission Chair Amanda M. Burden, and HPD Commissioner Shaun Donovan.

The Land Use Committee had scheduled the vote at 11:00 a.m., but delayed the hearing until late afternoon to allow … <Read More>


Lofts above nightclub legalized if soundproofed

Nightclub fought permanent housing in its building. Three co-op owners, living for years in their units on the top three stories of a loft building at 253 West 28th Street in Manhattan, applied to BSA to legalize the residential use, claiming that the loft’s antiquated electrical system, narrow floor plates and small elevator made it unsuitable for manufacturing or commercial. In 1979, the building had been divided into five units and converted to a co-op. … <Read More>


BSA approved residential building in Tribeca

Manufacturing and office use found infeasible on triangular-shaped lot adjacent to Holland Tunnel. The owner of 500 Canal Street, Greenwich Triangle NU, sought a variance to build a 49,060 squarefoot, eight-story residential building with ground floor retail in a Tribeca manufacturing zoning district. The 8,000 square-foot, triangular-shaped lot fronts Canal, Greenwich and Watt Streets directly adjacent to the Holland Tunnel. The site is partially developed with abandoned one and three-story buildings.

The owner argued that … <Read More>


Residential and commercial complex approved

Two four-story residential buildings approved after reduction in size and addition of commercial space. Southside Realty Holdings LLC, owner of an L-shaped group of eight lots located at 291 Kent Avenue in a Williamsburg manufacturing district, sought a variance in 2003 to construct two 11-story residential towers, totaling 122,905 sq.ft., and underground parking. The Planning Commission and Brooklyn Community Board 1 both opposed the application due to the site’s adjacency to the Domino Sugar Plant, … <Read More>


Yeshiva to expand facilities

Queens school sought to build additional floors and play area to accommodate increased enrollment. The Jewish Center of Torath Emeth sought a variance for a proposed expansion of Yeshiva Ketana of Queens, a boys school located at 78- 15 Parsons Boulevard in a R3-2 zoning district of Kew Garden Hills. The lot contains a two-story 21,142 sq.ft. school and a one-story synagogue. The expansion included an 8,500 sq.ft. two-story addition to house additional classrooms, offices, … <Read More>