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 downtown Brooklyn to replace the existing 169,500-square-foot Albee Street Mall.

Albee Development, a partnership of developers Acadia Realty, MacFarlane Partners and Avalon Bay, will purchase the mall for $125 million, according to press articles, from the current owner, Thor Equities, which purchased the property for $21 million in 2001. Albee will demolish the three-story mall, replacing it with below-grade parking, nearly 500,000 sq.ft. of retail space, 125,000 sq.ft. of office space, and 1,000 residential units, 20 percent of which are planned for lowand moderate-income residents.

IDA approved financing for the office space, planned for floors five through seven, in the amount of $1.2 million in mortgage recording tax exemptions and $2 million in sales tax exemptions. EDC stated that the new development will create 1,500 jobs, including 500 office jobs.

Representatives from Families United for Racial and Economic Equality, a local community organizing group, and tenants of the current mall voiced strong opposition to the project at IDA’s February 8, 2007 hearing. “We don’t want Brooklyn to look like Manhattan,” one speaker declared after arguing that the small, locally-owned, minority-run businesses currently located in the mall would not be likely tenants of the new high-end retail space. Two tenants, who testified that they poured their “last dimes” into their businesses, asked why tax payer money and City property should go to luxury housing. Opponents said the new retail and housing would be too expensive to serve the immediate community.

NYC IDA Hearing, Feb. 8, 2007; NYC EDC Press Release, NYC Industrial Development Agency to Help Spur New Office Space in Downtown Brooklyn, Feb. 13, 2007.

Plan encompasses 130 businesses. On February 7, 2007, the Planning Commission approved an application by the Department of Small Business Services to create a new Court Livingston Schermerhorn Business Improvement District for 350 tax lots and 130 businesses in downtown Brooklyn.

The proposed BID will allow an annual assessment on businesses and residents to enhance security, sanitation, holiday lighting, marketing, maintenance and economic development. Within the boundaries of the BID are a Barnes & Noble, a United Artists Multiplex, Brooklyn Law School and Brooklyn Borough Hall. (more…)

BSA sides with owner despite strong opposition. On August 22, 2006, BSA granted a variance to Atlas Packaging Solutions Holding Corporation, the owner of a vacant, 2,500- square-foot lot at 146 Conover Street in Red Hook, Brooklyn, to allow construction of a six-unit, four-story, 5,350-square-foot residential building in a manufacturing zone (M2-1). Prior to 1980, the lot contained a residential building.

In support of the variance, Atlas argued that the site’s small size and the fact that the two adjacent lots contained residential uses made modern industrial uses unmarketable. Atlas submitted a study showing that as-of-right development would be infeasible and a survey showing no other vacant, small manufacturing sites in Red Hook with adjacent residential uses. It also offered proof of its efforts to market the site for manufacturing uses. Atlas had initially proposed a taller eight-unit building, but, upon BSA’s request, reduced the height and number of units to match adjacent buildings. BSA also directed Atlas to eliminate the cellar to avoid added construction costs. (more…)

A private developer sought to rezone four city blocks of Tribeca. Truffles, LLC applied for a zoning map amendment to rezone four waterfront blocks along the western edge of Manhattan’s North Tribeca neighborhood to enable construction of a 260,000-square-foot residential development at 88 Laight Street. Truffles also applied for a text amendment to increase the maximum streetwall and building height restrictions, and a special permit to replace an existing 43-space parking lot with a 180- space underground garage.

The area, bounded by Washington Street to the east, West Street to the west, Watts Street to the north, and Hubert Street to the south, is characterized by a mix of commercial, residential, automotive, and industrial uses. The two northern blocks comprise mainly low-rise and underdeveloped properties such as surface parking lots, automotive repair shops, warehouses, loft residences, and a restaurant, while the two southern blocks – both located within the Tribeca North Historic District – include 9- and 10-story residential buildings and an 11-story office building. (more…)

BID expansion will double number of properties receiving sanitation and security assistance. The Planning Commission unanimously approved an application by the Village Alliance Business Improvement District Management Association and the Department of Small Business Services for expansion of the Village Alliance BID, originally established in 1993.

The existing BID, which comprises 129 predominantly mixed-use properties, is currently bounded by Sixth and Second Avenues to the west and east, West 4th Street to the south, and West 8th Street and Astor Place to the north. The expanded BID, which will represent a total of 315 properties and 430 businesses, will extend coverage along Sixth Avenue and University Place to Thirteenth Street, and along Broadway to East Tenth Street. (more…)