Developer reduced tower by 60 feet and increased community facilities. The City Council approved, without additional changes, the City Planning Commission’s resolutions adopted on July 28, 2004 to allow construction of a 29-story mixed-use building at 200 Chambers Street. The Council’s action completes the designation of the site as an Urban Development Action Area, allows the transfer of City-owned land to the City’s Economic Development Corporation, and approves a special permit to modify height and setback. In the course of the ULURP process, the developer reduced the height of the tower from 360 ft. to 300 ft., eliminated an urban plaza, committed 10,000 sq.ft. of a 40,000-square-foot community facility space to the adjacent P.S. 234, and reduced the project’s size.

The proposed development raised concerns because of the site’s history, the potential shadows on Tribeca’s Washington Market Park, and the impact of new residents on the already overcrowded P.S. 234. The site, part of an expired Urban Renewal Area Plan, had a history of failed development proposals, leaving it one of only two remaining undeveloped sites in the area. (more…)