Proposal lists a $1 purchase price for Williamsburg firehouse. The New York City Economic Development Corporation issued requests for proposals for the two former Brooklyn FDNY firehouses that spurred controversy when DCAS proposed to sell the buildings at public auction. Opposition by local community boards and Borough President Marty Markowitz to the outright sale resulted in a compromise under which the City Council voted to limit future users to community facility providers and to prohibit … <Read More>
Search Results for: Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Eberhard Faber factory cluster heard by Landmarks
Nearby demolition and development lent urgency to potential designation. On July 24, 2007, Landmarks heard testimony on the proposed Eberhard Faber Pencil Company Historic District. The proposed historic district comprises five buildings dating from the 1880s to the 1920s relating to the former Eberhard Faber pencil factory. The company moved to this Brooklyn location after a fire at its Manhattan plant in 1872 and remained there until 1956. The buildings feature stone lintels and terra … <Read More>
Domino Sugar environmental study gets first review
Community and preservationists comment on plan to construct 2.6 million sq.ft. of housing on former factory site. On July 31, 2007, City Planning held a public hearing on the draft scope of an environmental impact statement for the proposed transformation of the Domino Sugar Refinery into a large mixed-use development with 2.64 million sq.ft. of residential space, 120,000 sq.ft. of retail space, 100,000 sq.ft. of community facility space, and 1,450 below grade accessory parking spaces. … <Read More>
To attorney Paul Selver, the Market Matters Most
When asked to recall projects throughout his 35-year career, land use attorney Paul Selver’s discussion becomes a vivid narrative of how the economy translates into New York City’s physical changes. Selver sees 1977 as the point when developers started looking ahead for the first time; the 1981 to 1988 development boom coincided with the economy’s exuberance and ended with the stock market crash. To Selver, his current projects, like a six-block rezoning in Coney Island, … <Read More>
New inclusionary zoning yields 536 units
HPD reports that an additional 1,139 affordable units are in the pipeline. At the Trends in New York City Land Use and Development forum co-hosted by the Center for New York City Law, HPD reported a total of 536 affordable units in construction and an added 1,139 units in the application phase as a result of the expanded inclusionary housing provisions.
The inclusionary housing provisions allow developers to increase the floor area of a development … <Read More>
City foils TransGas’s condemnation of park site
Court rules TransGas Energy’s condemnation is premature. TransGas Energy Systems proposed to construct a power plant along the East River waterfront in Williamsburg. It spent $1.5 million in March 2001 on an option to purchase the site, and, in 2002, filed for approval from the state Siting Board.
At Siting Board hearings, the City opposed the plan, testifying that it planned to rezone the entire Williamsburg neighborhood and create a waterfront park. In 2004, the … <Read More>