Queens court to be reused

 

This Queens mixed-use development will adaptively reuse former Jamaica Courthouse building. Image courtesy of FXFowle Architects.

Residential and commercial development will incorporate Jamaica Courthouse facade. On March 14, 2007, the City Council unanimously approved four linked applications for the redevelopment of the Queens Family Courthouse located on Parsons Boulevard and 89th Avenue in Jamaica, Queens and vacant since 2002. The application included the sale of City-owned property, a zoning map amendment to increase the … <Read More>


City to pay $9 million for Queens waterfront property

Court rejected City’s lower valuation. As part of its plan to develop a waterfront park, the City in 1996 condemned waterfront property in College Point, Queens owned by Malba Cove Properties, Inc. A majority of Malba’s property is underwater and the remainder is constrained by several mapped, but unbuilt streets.

At the trial to determine the property’s value, the City submitted an appraisal estimating the total value at $890,000. Malba’s appraisal found it to be … <Read More>


$3.2 million tax exemption awarded Brooklyn developer

The Albee Street Mall on Gold Street will be razed to make way for one of the tallest buildings in downtown Brooklyn. Image courtesy of Greenberg Farrow.

Downtown Brooklyn mall to be demolished for large mixed-use retail, office, and residential center. On February 13, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, approved financial assistance for the construction of a new 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development in … <Read More>


Designation rejected for Harlem ballroom

Landmarks accepted promise that community group will restore building as part of development plan. On February 13, 2007, Landmarks removed the Harlem Renaissance Ballroom and Casino from its designation calendar to allow a redevelopment plan by its current owner, the Abyssinian Development Corporation, to go forward. Built between 1920 and 1923 as one of Harlem’s first entertainment complexes, the Renaissance now sits in extreme disrepair with trees growing out of its partially caved-in roof. Abyssinian … <Read More>


Council overturned on refusal to remove use restriction

Brooklyn developer still cannot build housing. Middleland Inc. sought to rezone three lots on DeKalb Avenue and Spencer Street in Brooklyn and remove a 1975 restriction recorded on the site that limited its use to accessory parking for an adjacent IBM plant, closed since 1993 and now occupied by a Home Depot. Middleland planned to construct housing on its site.

Despite the Planning Commission’s approval, the City Council rejected both of Middleland’s requests, citing the … <Read More>


Landmarked SI village hall destroyed through neglect

Landmark status of SI lot officially revoked. On December 21, 2006, Landmarks rescinded the designation of the now vacant lot at 66 Lafayette Avenue in New Brighton, Staten Island, where the New Brighton Village Hall once stood, and after years of neglect, faced demolition.

Landmarks Chair Robert Tierney commenced the hearing with a brief recital of the hall’s history. Landmarks designated the 1871- built hall in 1965. After several failed incarnations, including a doctor’s office, … <Read More>