Developer planned a 19-story dormitory building without an existing school affiliation. BSA denied developer Gregg Singer’s appeal from a Department of Buildings determination rejecting Singer’s application to build a 1 9- story, 222-unit student dormitory building on the site of former P.S. 64, located at 609 East 9th Street in the East Village. Singer had acquired the five-story, former elementary school from the City for $3.15 million at a 1 998 auction. The existing building served as a school until the 1970’s, after which it housed the CHARAS/EI Bohio community center. The auction sparked three years of litigation through which CHARAS tried, but failed to regain control of the property

The property is located in a residential zoning district (R7-2) and is subject to a deed restriction limiting it to community facility use. Singer applied to Buildings to construct a student dormitory, a permitted community facility use, but Buildings denied his application on March 21, 2005 based on Singer’s failure to submit enough information to establish “an institutional nexus;” a showing that required an educational institution to have some control over the property evidenced by a deed or lease. Buildings required an institutional nexus to distinguish the intended student dormitory use, which is entitled to a floor area bonus up to a 6.5 FAR, from other types of housing that are restricted to an FAR of 3.44. (read more…)