Developer did not fully complete foundations of twelve-building development before the City Council approved the Carroll Gardens/ Columbia Street Rezoning. Between May 2008 and October 2009, the Clarett Group obtained permits to build a 119,271 sq.ft. development consisting of eleven four-story townhouses and a seven-story mixed-use building at 340 Court Street in Brooklyn. The 43,753 sq.ft. site is located on a lot with frontages on Union, Court, and Sackett Streets. On October 28, 2009, the City Council approved the Carroll Gardens/ Columbia Street Rezoning, which rezoned the site from R6 to R6A and R6B, rendering the proposed buildings out-of-compliance with the maximum permitted floor area and height restrictions. Because the building’s foundations had not been fully completed by the enactment date, the permits lapsed. The developer filed an appeal with BSA to complete construction.

At a hearing, the developer submitted photographs and affidavits demonstrating that it had completed 73 percent of the foundation work for the entire development prior to the rezoning, including 100 percent of the seven-story building’s foundation. The developer argued that it had already expended eighteen percent of the project’s approximately $61.5 million budget. In order to build a complying development, the developer said it would need to reduce the number of townhouses from eleven to ten and decrease the project’s floor area by 14,677 sq.ft., which would result in approximately $15 million of lost revenue and a redesign of the buildings.

BSA granted the appeal, finding that the developer had performed substantial construction on the project, made substantial expenditures, and would suffer serious economic loss if required to proceed under the current zoning.

BSA: 340 Court Street, Brooklyn (312- 09-A – 323-09-A) (Feb. 23, 2010) (James Power, for the Clarett Group) (Architect: Rogers Marvel). CITYADMIN