Contaminated soil remediation caused hardship. 377 Greenwich LLC, with principals Robert DeNiro, Ira Druckier and Richard Born, sought BSA approval for a 59,419- square-foot, seven-story luxury hotel in Tribeca that would exceed floor area, wall height and setback restrictions. DeNiro’s development team had started the permit process in 2003 by first seeking the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s approval for construction of a six-story building within the Tribeca West Historic District. After receiving approval, the six-story project was abandoned for a larger eight-story scenario. In November, 2004, Landmarks approved a seven-story hotel design that required a variance grant. 1 CityLand 46 (Dec. 2004).

In its application to BSA, the developer claimed that $1.7 million had been spent to remove two underground tanks from the site and to remediate the soil in preparation for development. Poor soil conditions compounded by the site’s high water table and the area’s floodplain escalated the project’s construction costs, making a smaller code-compliant development infeasible. The developer submitted feasibility studies, showing that an as-of-right hotel, office building and rental residential units, limited to the 50,355-square-foot area permitted by code, were infeasible. (read more…)