Search Results for: Housing

Columbia University’s and CB9’s plans approved

Last minute effort to delay vote until disclosure of community benefit package was defeated. On December 19, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Columbia University’s and Manhattan Community Board 9’s development plans for West Harlem after the Planning Commission modified both plans the month before. The approval clears the way for Columbia to move forward with its campus expansion into the traditionally industrial neighborhood of Manhattanville.

Columbia’s plan called for a Special Manhattanville Mixed-Use … <Read More>

Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s Marilyn J. Taylor on Design in the City

Marilyn J. Taylor is from a small town in Iowa “with a population of 1,432.” Perhaps it is her Midwestern roots that allow her to remain upbeat and positive as two of her current planning projects—Columbia University’s campus expansion in West Harlem and Solow’s redevelopment of the Con Edison site in Murray Hill—plod their way through the City’s land use review process amidst political controversy.

Taylor is partner to Skidmore Owings & Merrill’s Urban Design … <Read More>

Landmarks rejects Mariners’ Family Asylum bldg.

Elected officials saw designation as obstacle to expansion of foster care facility. On November 20, 2007, Landmarks removed the Mariners’ Family Asylum building from its designation calendar, allowing its current owner, New York Foundling Hospital, to move forward with its development plan.

Built in 1852, the Italianate Villa style building was originally known as the Seamens’ Retreat and housed widows and other family members of New York seamen. Progressive in its time, it was entirely … <Read More>

Commission modifies CB9 and Columbia plans

Commission signs off on Columbia’s eminent domain option despite vocal opposition. On November 26, 2007, the Planning Commission modified and approved both Columbia University’s campus expansion plan and Community Board 9’s 197-a plan. The two plans must now go before the City Council for their review.

Columbia’s plan called for rezoning 35 acres of Manhattanville, a section of West Harlem primarily zoned for manufacturing, to facilitate construction of a 17-acre academic mixed-use development roughly bounded … <Read More>

Council seeks to halt spread of illegal hotels

The Bronx County Courthouse’s green roof, funded by the Bronx Initiative for Energy and the Environment. Photo: The Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation.

Proposal would increase fines for illegal conversions of residences into hotels. On December 3, 2007, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings held a public hearing on a proposal to increase fines on building owners who illegally convert residential units, especially rent-regulated ones, into hotel units.

Council Member Gail Brewer sponsored … <Read More>

63-story tower to use Battery Tunnel air rights

Helmut Jahn-designed tower will include four-star hotel, condos, spa and fitness center. On November 15, 2007, the City Council voted to approve Time Equities Inc.’s five linked applications to construct a 725-foot-tall mixed-use tower at 50 West Street, directly north of the Battery Parking Garage and adjacent to the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel. The tower will contain ground-floor retail, 155 hotel rooms, and 290 condominiums. The project site will also contain a 6,821-square-foot urban plaza, … <Read More>