Owner claimed that lot, which is occupied by a one-story building that could not be safely enlarged, was underutilized. 71 Laight Street LLC applied to BSA for a variance to build a six-story, eighteen-unit residential building with twelve accessory parking spaces at 412 Greenwich Street in Manhattan’s Tribeca North Historic District. The site is occupied by a one-story freight-loading structure built in 1956 and currently used for parking, which the owner would demolish in order to construct the new building.

The owner initially proposed a 55,055 sq.ft., six-story building with a penthouse and unrestricted ground-floor retail uses. The proposed building would replicate the massing and design of an adjacent warehouse building at 401 Washington Street that was built in 1906. The proposal included a cast aluminum facade etched with a brick pattern mimicking the warehouse’s red-brick facade. The owner received approval from the Landmarks Preservation Commission for the Morris Adjmi-designed project in September 2008. 5 CityLand 140 (Oct. 15, 2008). (more…)

Architect of pre-designation renovations also chosen to design new residential addition. On October 14, 2008, Landmarks voted to approve the construction of a four-story addition with a penthouse to the two-story structure at 172 Duane Street in the Tribeca West Historic District. The site was originally home to an 1872 store-and-loft building, used for a wood importing business.

More recently, in the 1980s, owners of 172 Duane hired architect Vincenzo Polsinelli and undertook extensive renovations, which eliminated most of the building but left the restored cast-iron facade as a free-standing sculptural element, and built a glass brick-faced building seven feet behind the facade, creating a glowing effect at night. The newest owner of 172 Duane, 172 Realty LLC, also retained Polsinelli to design a residential addition to the existing building. Polsinelli’s original proposal, presented at Landmarks on June 10, 2008, won praise for the inventiveness of its design, but Commissioners ultimately concluded that its bulk was excessive for the historic district. 5 CityLand 99 (July 15, 2008).

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Comprised of Battery Park City, the Financial District, South Street Seaport, and Tribeca, the neighborhoods of Manhattan Community Board 1 are in the midst of a period of tremendous growth and development. New apartment buildings are bringing thousands of new residents to the district. At the same time, large redevelopment projects, such as the World Trade Center, promise to return millions of square feet of office space along with expanded retail and cultural spaces. Under the leadership of Julie Menin, Community Board 1 is working hard to “bring a holistic approach” to development, one that takes into account the community’s needs. CityLand talked to Menin about the important issues facing Lower Manhattan and how the Board is preparing for the future.

A Rising Voice. Menin grew up in Washington D.C. and first moved to the City to attend Columbia University. After obtaining a political science degree, she studied law at Northwestern University, and then moved back to D.C. to begin her career. In 2000, after eight years as a regulatory lawyer, Menin left her practice and opened Vine, a restaurant located on Broad Street across from the New York Stock Exchange. After 9/11, her business, like so many others in the downtown area, suffered economically. Menin said Vine and eight other businesses on Broad Street ultimately closed, in part due to new security measures that closed the street. (more…)

A private developer sought to rezone four city blocks of Tribeca. Truffles, LLC applied for a zoning map amendment to rezone four waterfront blocks along the western edge of Manhattan’s North Tribeca neighborhood to enable construction of a 260,000-square-foot residential development at 88 Laight Street. Truffles also applied for a text amendment to increase the maximum streetwall and building height restrictions, and a special permit to replace an existing 43-space parking lot with a 180- space underground garage.

The area, bounded by Washington Street to the east, West Street to the west, Watts Street to the north, and Hubert Street to the south, is characterized by a mix of commercial, residential, automotive, and industrial uses. The two northern blocks comprise mainly low-rise and underdeveloped properties such as surface parking lots, automotive repair shops, warehouses, loft residences, and a restaurant, while the two southern blocks – both located within the Tribeca North Historic District – include 9- and 10-story residential buildings and an 11-story office building. (more…)

Enrique Norten-designed 12- story condo building will feature 6 stories of glass penthouses. The City Council approved a text amendment and special permits to allow the enlargement and conversion to loft dwellings of an existing building located at One York Street in Manhattan. The approved text amendment establishes a new special permit to allow loft buildings to be enlarged up to a 5 FAR within the Tribeca Mixed Use District. The development also required special permits to allow community facility space and parking.

The 15,360 square-foot project site is bounded by Avenue of the Americas, St. John’s Lane, and Canal, Laight and York Streets. It currently contains two six-story buildings with commercial and residential use. The smaller building will be demolished and the second six-story structure will be enlarged and converted into 43 loft dwellings, 6,000 sq.ft. of commercial and retail use on the ground floor, 14,000 sq. ft. of community facility space, and a fully automated 47-space accessory parking garage. In total, the proposed building will rise to 12 stories amounting to 150 feet in height and 122,000 sq.ft. One of the current tenants, the Chinese American Planning Council, a not-for-profit organization providing social services to Asian Americans, will occupy the new community facility space. (more…)