Area rezoned minutes before applicant obtained a new building permit. BSA denied applications to renew a new building permit and extend the time to complete the foundation for a proposed building at 3329 Giles Place in Van Cortlandt Village, the Bronx. After the City Council approved the down-zoning of a 15-block area of Van Cortlandt Village on September 28, 2004, (1 CityLand 4 (Oct. 15, 2004)), Buildings issued a stop-work order to GRA V LLC, the developer, because the proposed building was no longer compliant with zoning.

The developer applied to BSA to extend the time to complete the foundation of the proposed 7-story, 63-unit residential apartment building, claiming that a full new building permit had been issued on September 28, 2004, prior to the rezoning. At the January 11, 2005 hearing, upon finding that the new building permit was issued minutes after the Council vote on the rezoning, BSA stated that it was inclined to deny the request because the developer lacked a valid permit prior to the effective time of the rezoning. The developer asked BSA to delay its final decision while it sought to appeal Buildings’ stopwork order. (more…)

Enrique Norten-designed 12- story condo building will feature 6 stories of glass penthouses. The City Council approved a text amendment and special permits to allow the enlargement and conversion to loft dwellings of an existing building located at One York Street in Manhattan. The approved text amendment establishes a new special permit to allow loft buildings to be enlarged up to a 5 FAR within the Tribeca Mixed Use District. The development also required special permits to allow community facility space and parking.

The 15,360 square-foot project site is bounded by Avenue of the Americas, St. John’s Lane, and Canal, Laight and York Streets. It currently contains two six-story buildings with commercial and residential use. The smaller building will be demolished and the second six-story structure will be enlarged and converted into 43 loft dwellings, 6,000 sq.ft. of commercial and retail use on the ground floor, 14,000 sq. ft. of community facility space, and a fully automated 47-space accessory parking garage. In total, the proposed building will rise to 12 stories amounting to 150 feet in height and 122,000 sq.ft. One of the current tenants, the Chinese American Planning Council, a not-for-profit organization providing social services to Asian Americans, will occupy the new community facility space. (more…)

Massive concrete building attributed to Cass Gilbert. On July 26, 2005, Landmarks held a public hearing on the proposed designation of the Austin, Nichols & Co. Warehouse, a six-story unadorned, reinforced concrete warehouse attributed by some to Cass Gilbert. Built on the East River in 1913 for the largest grocery wholesaler of the period, the 500,000-square-foot warehouse was the first collaboration between Gilbert and the Turner Construction Company, and was followed by their collaboration on Gilbert’s well-known Brooklyn Army Base.

At the hearing, experts and elected officials spoke in opposition on behalf of one of the owners, Lewis Kestenbaum. One expert testified that Gilbert did not design the warehouse, but rather a budget conscious owner and a low bid for reinforced concrete determined the materials and design. The expert stated that to the original owner the warehouse was “just an investment, not architecture,” and to designate it would demean a real example of Gilbert’s work, the Brooklyn Army Base. Council Member David Yassky, in whose district the warehouse is located, stated that without a comprehensive City strategy on designation of industrial buildings, random designations, such as this, would interfere with the City’s efforts to rezone industrial areas and permit the planned redevelopment. (more…)

196 blocks of Cambria Heights down-zoned. On July 27, 2005, the City Council unanimously approved a down-zoning, impacting 196 blocks of Cambria Heights, Queens. It is the first rezoning initiative in this neighborhood since 1961 and the fifth Queens neighborhood down-zoned by the City in 2005.

Designed to closely match the size of existing development, the down-zoning’s new residential districts (R2A, R3A, R3-1, and R4B) decrease the size and density of asof- right buildings. The existing commercial overlay district along Springfield and Linden Boulevards would be decreased in depth to prevent commercial uses from expanding away from these Boulevards onto smaller residential side streets. (more…)

Builders lobbied for no-votes saying down-zonings were aimed at impeding new minority residents. On July 27, 2005, the City Council approved Council Member Andrew J. Lanza’s proposed down-zoning plans for the Eltingville, Tottenville and Great Kills sections of Staten Island; actions which had faced significant opposition at the Planning Commission. See 2 CityLand 89 (July 15, 2005).

The Council down-zoned 12 blocks in Eltingville to allow only single-family homes as-of-right. The Tottenville rezoning covered 65 blocks, altering the zoning to restrict a portion to single-family homes and require large lots for two-family homes. A third rezoning of Great Kills and Tottenville down-zoned 235 lots, eliminating construction of new large apartment buildings. (more…)