Ocean Dreams development along Coney Island’s Reigelmann Boardwalk. Image: Courtesy of Dattner Architects.

Multi-building project will create 415 rental units along Coney Island’s boardwalk. On September 8, 2011, the City Council approved John Catsimatidis’s proposed 415- unit, mixed-use project on two vacant parcels on the western end of Riegelmann Boardwalk in Coney Island. The project site consists of an eastern and western parcel separated by West 36th Street and bounded by Surf Avenue to the north, the boardwalk to the south, West 35th Street to the east, and West 37th Street to the west. The site is located nine blocks west of the Coney Island Special District which the City created in 2009 to revitalize the area. 6 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2009).

The 428,000 sq.ft. project, known as Ocean Dreams, will include both low- and high-rise structures to provide 415 market-rate apartments, 418 parking spaces, and up to 24,750 sq.ft. of commercial space. In 2005, the site’s former owner received City approval for a 313-unit project, also known as Ocean Dreams, which was never developed. 2 CityLand 137 (Oct. 15, 2005).

On the western parcel, Catsimatidis will build a three- to five story L-shaped building with a fourteen-story tower rising to 164 feet. The building will include 104 apartments and 3,640 sq.ft. of groundfloor retail space along Surf Avenue. The eastern parcel will feature a U-shaped building with a three- to six-story base opening to the boardwalk. The building will include an eighteen-story tower on the east side of the parcel and a 22-story tower on the west side of the parcel. This building will provide 311 apartments with 11,570 sq.ft. of retail space along Surf Avenue and up to 9,580 sq.ft. of potential retail space along the boardwalk. The fourteen-story building will house a 149-space enclosed parking garage, and the multi-tower building would include a 269-space enclosed garage. The garages will be built above grade due to the area’s high water table. Landscaped courtyards above the garages will feature recreational facilities for the buildings’ residents.

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Thor Equities’ proposed 214,000 sq ft Gravesend Bay retail complex would feature BJ’s wholesale store as anchor tenant. On July 13, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on Thor Equities LLC’s proposal to construct a 214,000 sq.ft. two-story retail building on a vacant lot at 1752 Shore Parkway in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn. The project site sits on a peninsula that protrudes into Gravesend Bay, adjacent to the Belt Parkway. The site is currently used as a school bus parking facility. The development would also include a threestory 690-space parking garage and a 103,000 sq.ft. publicly accessible waterfront esplanade. Thor Equities requested special permits and a rezoning to facilitate the development.

The project site is within an industrial and commercial waterfront corridor that is separated from the residential neighborhood of Bensonhurst by the Belt Parkway. The corridor is mapped as an M3-1 manufacturing zoning district. Nearby commercial uses, including the Caesar’s Bay Shopping Center, operate pursuant to BSA variances.  (more…)

Two-building project would include affordable rental building and market- rate condominium building. On July 13, 2011, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on L+M Development Partners Inc.’s proposed 266,500 sq.ft. mixed-use project for a through-block lot on the north side of West 116th Street between Malcolm X Boulevard and Fifth Avenue in Harlem. The midblock project site is occupied by a basketball court and a parking lot. L+M plans to redevelop the site with a twelve-story market-rate condominium building fronting West 116th Street and a nine-story affordable rental building fronting West 117th Street.

The eastern portion of West 116th Street, including the project site, is zoned R7-2. The rest of the block to the west is zoned C4-5X. To facilitate the development, L+M requested that the C4-5X district be extended east to include the entire block. The rezoning area includes a Baptist church and two mid-rise residential buildings.  (more…)

Andrew H. Kimball

Andrew H. Kimball, CEO and president of the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, is responsible for overseeing the redevelopment of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a 300-acre industrial park on the Brooklyn waterfront. The not for-profit corporation manages the Navy Yard on behalf of its owner, the City.

Kimball, a New York City native, earned a bachelor’s degree in History and Government from Hamilton College in 1987. After graduation he was accepted to the Coro Fellows Program in Public Affairs. One of his fellowship placements focused on urban economic development policy at the New York State Urban Development Corporation (now known as the Empire State Development Corporation). The placement evolved into a full-time position where Kimball worked on streamlining ESDC’s loan and grant programs.  (more…)

Tobacco Warehouse at Empire Fulton Ferry State Park. Image: CityLand.

Court ruled that the National Park Service unlawfully removed warehouse and adjacent building from park boundaries. In 2001, the National Park Service awarded to the New York State Office of Parks, Recreation, and Historic Preservation a federal Land and Water Conservation Fund grant to help fund a cove restoration project in Empire Fulton Ferry Park in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The Park Service’s grant was contingent on the State Office of Parks agreeing that the restoration project area would be used for public outdoor recreation.

The approved boundary map of the park area included the Tobacco Warehouse building and the adjacent Empire Stores warehouse bordering the park along Water Street. The dilapidated Tobacco Warehouse has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1974. The State Office of Parks stabilized the Tobacco Warehouse, removed its collapsing roof, and opened the building to the public. Empire Stores was used to house the park’s administrative offices and a public restroom.  (more…)