Owner sought variance to construct catering facility and 89-room hotel. Tikvah Realty LLC, owner of Le Marquise Caterers, a catering facility located at 815 Kings Highway in Homecrest, Brooklyn, applied to BSA for a variance to construct a new catering facility with 89 hotel rooms, ground floor retail, and 394 below-grade accessory parking spaces. The project exceeded the limits on floor area and failed to provide sufficient parking. The proposal called for the catering facility to be located on the first through third floors and the hotel rooms on the fourth through sixth floors. The existing catering facility, which has served the Jewish community in the area for more than 50 years, would be demolished because, according to Tikvah, it could not be altered to provide adequate parking or accommodations for weddings with 700-1,200 guests.

Following several public hearings, Tikvah reduced the proposal to 94,379 sq.ft. by eliminating a full floor of catering and replacing it with a mezzanine area. In so doing, it reduced the number of required parking spaces to 304, which eliminated the need for a parking waiver. However, the proposal still exceeded the allowable floor area by 24,523 sq.ft. (read more…)