Williamsburg Mixed-Use Project Withstands Legal Challenge

City approved developer’s request to rezone 15 tax lots to facilitate the development of two, six-story buildings near site of Domino Sugar project. Bruce Terzano (through JBJ, LLC) sought City approval to build a two-building mixed-use project at the corner of Wythe Avenue and South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. To facilitate his proposal, Terzano asked the City to expand a nearby MX-8 special mixed-use district to include 15 tax lots on the eastern … <Read More>


Berry Street commercial overlay proposal modified

North Williamsburg restaurant requested rezoning in order to reestablish sidewalk cafe. On July 28, 2011, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Teddy’s Bar and Grill’s rezoning proposal for a portion of Berry Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Teddy’s is located at the corner of Berry and North 8th Street. Teddy’s originally proposed applying a C2-4 overlay from the northwest corner of North 7th Street to a mid-block point between North 9th and … <Read More>


Council Member Brad Lander on Current Initiatives Affecting Land Use in the City

Council Member Brad Lander, chair of the City Council’s Landmarks, Public Siting & Maritime Uses Subcommittee, draws from his experience as a public policy advocate when executing his duties.

Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Lander in 1991 earned a liberal arts degree from the University of Chicago. He then earned a master’s degree in Social Anthropology at the University College London in the United Kingdom, where he worked with community groups to research how a … <Read More>


South Williamsburg development approved

Community board wanted developer to exclude bars from mixed-income housing project. On February 16, 2011, the City Planning Commission approved Bruce Terzano’s plan to redevelop the southeast corner of a block bounded by South 2nd and South 3rd Streets and Kent and Wythe Avenues in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The proposal included constructing a six-story building with 61 market-rate apartments and ground floor commercial space, and a smaller six-story building with eighteen affordable apartments.

To facilitate the … <Read More>


Council revises waterfront access regulations

Plan extends screening buffer waiver to community facility uses. In 1993, special waterfront zoning regulations were adopted to facilitate the redevelopment of waterfront properties. The regulations, found in Article VI Chapter 2 of the Zoning Resolution, were a response to the obstructed views, blocked public access, and out-of-character development that occurred along the City’s waterfront. The rules required developers in certain districts to construct and maintain waterfront public access areas. Over time, the rules helped … <Read More>


TransGas still pursuing Greenpoint power plant

TransGas seeks to construct a 1,100 megawatt generating facility on land that the City intends to convert to a public park. In October 1999, Brooklyn Community Board 1 submitted plans to the Department of City Planning to rezone the Brooklyn East River waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. The rezoning was in response to the decline in manufacturing activity and the increase in residential demand in the area. The rezoning also envisioned a 28-acre park on … <Read More>