City Island housing development approved

 

City Island Estates’ proposed residential development on City Island. Image: Courtesy of Lessard Group Architects.

Developer sought height waiver for proposed development abutting Long Island Sound. On October 14, 2009, the City Council approved City Island Estates’ proposal to build a residential development abutting the eastern shore of Long Island Sound at 226 Fordham Place on City Island. The 43-unit project includes 21 two-family, side-by-side, detached residences and one single-family, detached home. Five of … <Read More>

Grocery store zoning incentives debated

FRESH program would create incentives to encourage developing full-line grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods. On October 26, 2009, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee heard testimony on the City’s proposed Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. The program would provide zoning and financial incentives to encourage grocerystores in neighborhoods identified in a 2008 study as being underserved by stores offering a full range of fresh food. These neighborhoods are located primarily … <Read More>

Local law preserves stalled construction site permits

A stalled construction site at 150 North 12th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Photo: CityLand

Owners of stalled sites participating in new DOB safety monitoring program can renew permits for up to four years. On October 14, 2009, the City Council passed legislation creating a construction site maintenance program, to be administered by the Department of Buildings, for sites where permitted work has been suspended or has not commenced.

Currently, construction permits issued by Buildings … <Read More>

Council approved Hines’s 1,050-foot MoMA tower

Council refused Hines’s request to restore the 200 feet cut from the proposed MoMA tower. On October 14, 2009, the City Council approved a modified version of Hines Interests’ proposal to build a mixed-use tower adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art complex at 53 West 53rd Street in Midtown, Manhattan. The original proposal called for an 85-story, 1,250-foot tower that would include 51,949 sq.ft. of additional gallery space for MoMA, a 147,965 sq.ft. hotel, … <Read More>

Ridgewood North Historic District designated

Ridgewood North Historic District designated. Photo: LPC.

District’s “Mathews Model Flats” attracted German immigrants living in Bushwick, Williamsburg, and Lower East Side. On September 15, 2009, Landmarks voted to designate 96 buildings in Ridgewood, Queens as the Ridgewood North Historic District. G.X. Mathews Company and Louis Allmendinger designed and developed the area in 1908 and 1911, setting the standard for future tenement construction. The area is characterized by three-story tenement buildings featuring yellow and orange … <Read More>

Variance for hotel granted

Owner claimed that lot’s irregular shape and close proximity to Queensboro Bridge entrance ramp limited development choices. Royal One Real Estate LLC applied to BSA for a variance to build a 12-story, 99-unit hotel at 42-59 Crescent Street, an irregularly shaped vacant lot in Long Island City, Queens. During the hearing process, the owner modified and reduced the 35,109 sq.ft. project in order to build a 10-story building with 88 hotel units. The owner still … <Read More>