Added public space that was part of the 2004 Hunts Point Vision Plan. Public feedback is now being requested to update the plan. Image Credit: NYCEDC

The New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) selected a team at the Pratt Center for Community Development to facilitate community outreach for a plan to redevelop Hunts Point. Starting this spring, NYCEDC and the Pratt Center for Community Development will host public workshops and meetings for the Hunts Point community as part of its engagement plan. Over the next 18 months, residents and businesses will share their opinions on the current state of Hunts Point and where they want improvements, which will help to inform City investments in parks, street safety, pollution reduction and job opportunities. The Pratt Center has 30 years of experience working in the South Bronx, facilitating workshops with local stakeholders to identify community needs including affordable housing, commercial corridors infrastructure, public health and environmental sustainability. (more…)

Council member Stephen Levin. Image credit: William Alatriste/NYC Council

The modified proposal provides for a larger Brooklyn Heights library branch, the construction of a new library branch, STEM education laboratories, and additional monetary incentives.  On December 16, 2015, the City Council at its stated meeting voted to approve the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ and Brooklyn Public Library’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.   The Council-approved version of the library redevelopment plan modifies the City Planning Commission-approved plan from November 2, 2015. (See previous CityLand coverage here.)

(more…)

David Kramer, principal of the Hudson Companies, testifying before the City Planning Commission.  Image credit: CityLand

The proposed redevelopment would replace the current library with an upgraded library and luxury condominiums.  On September 22, 2015, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ and Brooklyn Public Library’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure application to redevelop the Brooklyn Heights branch of the Brooklyn Public Library.  The proposal would replace the current library with a new 36-story building containing a new library on the ground floor and 139 market-rate condominiums above.  The proposed plan would also construct 114 permanently-affordable housing units at an off-site location in the Clinton Hill neighborhood of Brooklyn.  The Brooklyn Heights Library is located at 280 Cadman Plaza West, and would remain open throughout the redevelopment process at an interim location inside Our Lady of Lebanon Church, located at 113 Remsen Street, which is five blocks from the library site.  Clinton Hill and Brooklyn Heights are both located within Brooklyn Community Board 2.

(more…)

Architect’s rendering of the Pavilion Theater development. Image credit: Morris Adjmi Architects

Proposal would demolish one-story commercial building to construct five-story-plus-penthouse apartment building, and build a contemporary addition onto 1920s theater. On April 18, 2015, Landmarks considered a proposal to demolish a one-story 1920s commercial building, construct a new apartment building, and alter and build an addition to a 1920s theater at 187-191 Prospect Park West in the Park Slope Historic District Extension. The theater building, at the corner of 14th Street, faces Prospect Park, as would the new apartment building, but with a longer curved facade on Bartel Pritchard Circle. The site’s developers are Hidrock Properties.

(more…)

The revised architectural rendering of the redeveloped sugar factory. Image credit: ODA Architecture

Replacement of river-facing façade with new contemporary sculptural design changed to incorporate more masonry. On March 24, 2015, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve a proposal for altering the north façade and construction of a rooftop addition to a late 19th-century sugar factory at 10 Jay Street in the DUMBO Historic District. The factory was heavily altered in the 1940s, with a portion of the building including the original north façade demolished. A new exterior wall was built and clad in stucco, and the three remaining original brick facades were also covered over with stucco. The exteriors of the existing original facades would be restored as part of the development.

(more…)