Developer modified seven-story project’s facade details in response to concerns expressed at prior hearing. On November 16, 2010, Landmarks approved Real Estate Equities Corporation’s revised proposal to construct a seven-story residential building at the corner of Franklin and Varick Streets in the Tribeca West Historic District. At the proposal’s prior hearing the Commissioners asked the project’s architect to modify the design by strengthening the building’s base and increasing the amount of masonry in its facades. Commissioners also disliked that the City’s underlying zoning regulations would prohibit the building from extending to the property’s southern lot line. 7 CityLand 142 (Oct. 15, 2010).

At the November meeting, Landmarks staff member John Graham said the revised design was intended to ensure the building would be contextual with the district. (more…)

Contextual rezoning establishes new height and bulk regulations in Special Tribeca Mixed Use District’s northern portion. On October 13, 2010, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s North Tribeca Rezoning proposal. The plan impacted a 25-block area generally bounded by Canal Street to the north, Walker and Hubert Streets to the south, Broadway to the east, and West Street to the west.

Planning’s proposal replaced the area’s M1-5 zoning with a C6- 2A contextual mixed-use district to better match the neighborhood’s increasingly residential and commercial character. Newly created subareas within the Special Tribeca Mixed Use District now provide tailored height and bulk regulations to ensure that future development conforms to existing scale. The City’s Inclusionary Housing Program will also now apply to the centrally located A6 subarea that includes the Holland Tunnel rotary. (more…)

In 1999 Landmarks approved plan for new six-story structure, but owner died before developing site. On September 7, 2010, Landmarks considered Real Estate Equities Corporation’s proposal to construct a seven-story residential building on a vacant corner lot facing Finn Square at 137 Franklin Street in the Tribeca West Historic District. The site had once been occupied by a one-story building built in 1985. In 1999, Landmarks approved the then-owner’s plan to demolish the building and construct a six-story structure. The building was demolished, but the owner died, leaving the project in limbo and the lot vacant.

At the hearing, Real Estate Equities Corporation’s Brandon Miller argued that the vacant lot’s development would complete Finn Square. Architect Markus Dochantschi, from studioMDA, explained that the proposed seven-story building would be clad in red brick and feature a black granite and metal base. Arched bays would span the building’s height on the visible facades, and a black metal and epoxy cornice would top the structure. Lateral bands of angled glass-tile panels would be installed at four levels of the facade. According to the architects, the building would not cover the entire lot due to underlying zoning requirements. (more…)

Proposal would establish new height and bulk regulations in northern portion of Special Tribeca Mixed Use District. On September 15, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved the Department of City Planning’s North Tribeca Rezoning proposal. The 25-block rezoning area is generally bounded by Canal Street to the north, Walker and Hubert Streets to the south, Broadway to the east, and West Street to the west. The plan would impact the Special Tribeca Mixed Use District’s A4, B1, and B2 subareas. It would replace the area’s existing M1-5 manufacturing zoning with a C6-2A commercial mixed-use district and create new special district subareas that better reflect northern Tribeca’s increasingly residential and commercial character.

North Tribeca was primarily a manufacturing district characterized by industrial and warehouse buildings, with limited residential uses. As the industrial base declined in the 1960s and 70s, vacant buildings attracted new residential and commercial tenants. The City in 1976 created the Special Tribeca Mixed Use District to establish zoning rules that permitted controlled residential uses to coexist with light manufacturing uses. The special district applied flexible residential use regulations to the southern portion of Tribeca, but prohibited new residential development in North Tribeca in order to preserve its industrial character. (more…)

Tribeca, West Village, and Rosedale in SE Queens would be affected. On June 7, 2010, the City Planning Commission certified the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposals for sections of Queens and Manhattan. The Queens rezoning would impact the 193-block Rosedale section of southeast Queens. Planning’s North Tribeca rezoning would impact a 25- block area below Canal Street. A third plan would rezone a six-block portion of the West Village bounded by Washington and Greenwich Streets.

Rosedale is a suburban neighborhood bordering Nassau County characterized by one- and two-family homes built along tree-lined streets. Sunrise Highway divides the neighborhood. Rosedale’s northern portion is primarily zoned R2, which permits single-family detached homes. The southern portion is zoned R3-2 and permits a variety of building types, including rowhouses, garden apartments, and semidetached homes, which are inconsistent with Rosedale’s development patterns. The rezoning would replace the R3-2 district with contextual zoning districts — R3A, R3X, and R3-1 — that would tailor future development to the prevailing scale of blocks within the area. The plan would also modify the area’s commercial overlays to better reflect commercial and retail uses and reduce required off-street parking. Queens Community Board 13 approved the plan on June 28. (more…)