EDC expects to choose developer before Council vote. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved a plan sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem. The plan seeks to create 1.7 million sq.ft. of mixed use development on 5.5 acres, roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. 3 CityLand 59 (Nov. 15, 2006).

At the Planning Commission’s July 23 public hearing, the District Manager of Community Board 11 and Anthony Borelli, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, expressed opposition based on EDC’s election to begin the ULURP process without first selecting a developer. 5 CityLand 105 (Aug. 15, 2008). They asserted that EDC’s decision to select a developer after the Community Board and the Borough President’s respective deadlines for comment expired will have stripped them of their opportunity to comment on the plan before it reached the Planning Commission. Borelli suggested that EDC be named Lead Agency instead of HPD. The change would trigger section 384(b)(4) of the City Charter, and would require the Manhattan Borough Board to approve the disposition of City-owned property to EDC; in effect, the community would have a chance to review the plan after EDC selected a developer. (more…)

Plan for seven buildings includes Boricua College campus, 679 residential units and over 36,000 sq.ft. of retail. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development proposed to amend the Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Area Plan in the Bronx to facilitate a large, seven building, mixed-use, residential and commercial complex called Boricua Village to be constructed on a 4.2-acre lot in the northeast corner of Melrose Commons.

HPD’s plan called for 18 changes to the existing Melrose Commons Urban Renewal Plan, which the City adopted in 1994 to encourage development in a 34- block area of the Bronx, roughly stretching from East 163rd Street to East 156th Street between St. Ann’s and Third Avenues to Melrose and Courtlandt Avenues. The amendments included changes in land use designations and the elimination of height limits, lot coverage requirements, street wall coverage provisions, and curb cut restrictions. HPD’s proposal also called for the rezoning of the entire 4.2-acre site to R8 with a C2-4 overlay to allow a higher residential floor area, and the disposition of 42 City-owned lots. (more…)

Facility to provide housing for low-income mentally ill. City Council approved the Planning Commission’s resolution adopted on September 8, 2004, allowing the construction of a six-story building with 50 units for low-income persons with mental illnesses. The Council’s action authorized the designation of an Urban Development Action Area and the transfer of six properties of City-owned land.

The project site, which is to be developed under the New York State office of Mental Health, is located on the north side of East 123rd Street between Park and Lexington Avenues in East Harlem. The site is part of the Park Avenue Urban Renewal Plan and comprises six City-owned properties totaling 1 0,000 sq.ft. Currently, the site contains underutilized vacant land and a vacant one-story garage, which will be demolished. (more…)

249-unit,mixed-use project will have multi-colored, patterned facade. The Department of Housing Preservation and Development sought approval for a 15-lot disposition in Central Harlem for construction of the Kalahari, a two-building, 249-unit affordable housing project with ground floor retail, restaurant, theater, and community group space. The 54,184-square-foot site, fronting West 115th and 116th Streets, was originally proposed for development in 2003, but HPD withdrew the application several days before the Council’s vote due to concerns raised over the developer.

HPD’s new application proposed two 12-story buildings, totaling 352,036 sq.ft., with 249 units and 46,500 sq.ft. of commercial space to enhance street-level activity. A 600- seat community cinema and performance art space would be located along West 116th Street. Street- Squash, a West Harlem group providing after-school sports programs to Harlem youth, would operate an 18,046-square-foot squash center within the development. Street- Squash, established in 1999, currently operates through the donation of court time at the Harvard Club and Columbia University. (more…)

UDAAP approved for transitional housing facility for formerly incarcerated women. On April 12, 2005, the City Council approved Project Greenhope’s proposal to construct a new seven-story, 49- unit transitional housing facility at 435 East 119th Street in East Harlem. Project Greenhope provides transitional housing and support services, including vocational, clinical and educational programs to formerly incarcerated women, as well as housing in-lieu of incarceration at its existing facility on East 119th Street.

The new 35,355-square-foot facility will accommodate 70 women and 28 children of single mothers. The project required the Council to approve disposition of the site to Project Greenhope, the UDAAP designation and a special permit allowing the new facility to exceed the permitted floor area. The City Council unanimously approved with Council Member Larry B. Seabrook excused from the vote. (more…)