Redesign will feature a glass cube in the center of the plaza and a more accessible public space. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment to the Special Midtown District allowing renovations to the General Motors building plaza, located at 767 Fifth Avenue between East 59th and East 58th Streets. The text amendment was necessary to alter the street wall and retail continuity requirements, which require that larger developments be built at the street wall.

The most prominent feature in the plaza’s redesign will be the construction of a 32-foot transparent glass cube in the center of the plaza fronting Fifth Avenue. The cube will contain an elevator and a glass stairway and will serve as an entryway to a 25,000-square-foot underground retail space. Other renovations to the Fifth Avenue frontage include regrading the plaza to lower its overall height, and adding two reflecting pools, tables and chairs, trees and planters, and a wide stone ledge around its perimeter for added seating. Renovations will also take place on the Madison Avenue side of the building, which will lose its open area when the retail space is extended out to the property line. (more…)

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th Streets and on West 16th through West 18th Streets, east of Tenth Avenue to the mid-block. The area’s zoning had been M1-5 manufacturing except for the West 23rd Street corridor, which was rezoned in 1999 for commercial uses. Under the approved rezoning, only a small portion remains zoned manufacturing, in order to preserve lots for additional Chelsea art galleries, with the remaining blocks permitting commercial and residential uses. (more…)

Developer abandoned plan to convert loft to residential. 96 Springs LLC sought a special permit to allow ground floor retail use and 14 residential units at 96 Spring Street, an eight-story, 53,700-square-foot loft located on the corner of Spring and Mercer Streets in a manufacturing zone within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Currently the building contains a mix of commercial uses, with the fourth and fifth floors vacant and the ground floor occupied by a non-conforming retail use.

At the April 13, 2005 Commission hearing, the attorney for 96 Springs described the proposal and the need for the special permit. There were no speakers in opposition. Following the hearing, 96 Springs withdrew the original application and filed a modified plan, requesting 14 joint living-work units for artists instead of the original purely residential units. (more…)

Commissioners disagree over impact of added parking in Lower Manhattan. RBNB Wall Street Owner, LLC sought the Planning Commission’s approval for an 85- space public parking garage to be located within 63 Wall Street, a 36- story building with frontage on Hanover, Beaver and Wall Streets. RBNB planned to convert the building to residential, but the proposed garage would not be restricted to the residential tenants. RBNB explained at the Commission’s March 30, 2005 hearing that it sought the special permit to allow spaces to be leased during weekday hours to Wall Street office tenants to supplement the residential tenants’ use on weekends and evenings. The proposed garage would operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In a separate application, Maiden Lane Properties, LLC sought a special permit for a 62-space public parking garage at 100 Maiden Lane between Pearl and William Streets, a property it is converting from office space into a 336-unit residential development. The garage would have attendant parking and operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week. (more…)

Plaza near WTC site to be modified for open air café and extra seating. The Millennium Hilton Hotel, located at 55 Church Street between Dey and Fulton Streets in the Special Lower Manhattan District, sought a special permit to modify a previously approved 3,647-squarefoot urban plaza. The original 1980’s approval of the building granted the developers a 51,826-square-foot floor area bonus in exchange for creating the plaza. The modifications, which include new landscaped planters, an open air café and additional seating, are contrary to the urban plaza requirements.

The major part of the plaza would be reduced from 2,552 sq.ft. to 2,047 sq.ft. to allow the café as a permitted obstruction and a portion of the Fulton Street sidewalk would be altered to accommodate additional seating and landscaping. Additionally, because of sub-surface conditions,Millennium sought to plant the required trees at another location in Lower Manhattan. (more…)