logo CityLand
      • Home
      • About CityLand
      • CityLand Sponsors
      • Filings & Decisions
      • Commentary
      • Archive
      • Resources
      • CityLaw
      • Current Issue

    SoHo building to get restaurant space


    Board of Standards & Appeals  •  Variance  •  SoHo, Manhattan
    03/15/2008   •    Leave a Comment

    Council Speaker Christine Quinn recommended variance’s approval. The owner of 521 Broome Street, located between Thompson Street and the intersection of Sixth Avenue and Sullivan Street, sought a variance to allow an eating and drinking establishment on the building’s first floor and cellar, both of which are now vacant. The area’s manufacturing zoning prohibits such uses below the second floor. The building’s upper six floors, occupied by Joint Living Work Quarters for Artists and one market-rate residential unit, would be unaffected by the variance.

    Normally, such a request would require the owner to apply to the Department of City Planning for a special permit. The owner, however, opted to apply to BSA for a variance to avoid the costs of seeking such a permit, claiming that the lost profits from the vacant first floor and cellar created a pre-existing financial hardship.

    The owner claimed that a variance was necessary because it could not develop the first floor and cellar for manufacturing use. The owner cited as proof the lot’s shallow depth, the building’s small elevator and lack of a loading dock, and traffic conditions that would impede customary loading and unloading. The owner also presented BSA with two as-ofright scenarios, both of which would result in a negative rate of return.

    BSA granted the owner the variance, noting that the conditions presented, in the aggregate, created practical difficulties that prevented the owner from developing the building in conformance with the zoning. BSA also ruled that the variance would not significantly alter the neighborhood’s character, citing the area’s growing number of ground-floor commercial uses.

    BSA: 521 Broome Street, Manhattan (124-07-BZ) (Feb. 12, 2008) (Sheldon Lobel PC, for owner). CITYADMIN

    Share this:

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Email
    Tags : 521 Broome Street
    Category : Board of Standards & Appeals

    Comment on this article

    Click here to cancel reply.

    Subscribe To Free Alerts


    Follow Us on Social Media

    twitterfacebook

    Search

    Search by Category

      City Council
      CityLaw
      City Planning Commission
      Board of Standards & Appeals
      Landmarks Preservation Commission
      Economic Development Corporation
      Housing Preservation & Development
      Administrative Decisions
      Court Decisions
      Filings and Decisions
      CityLand Profiles

    Search by Date

    © 1997-2010 New York Law School | 185 West Broadway, New York, NY 10013 | 212.431.2100 | Privacy | Terms | Code of Conduct | DMCA | Policies