Council limits certain uses to Two Trees’ site block. On May 20, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s plan to build a 1.3 million sq.ft., S-shaped tower at 770 Eleventh Avenue in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. The Enrique Norten-designed tower would rise in steps from approximately seven stories at Eleventh Avenue and West 54th Street to 32 stories at the project’s eastern edge. 6 CityLand 25 (March 15, 2009). Along with 900 residential units, including approximately 180 permanently affordable units, the tower would contain a 350,000 sq.ft. Mercedes Benz dealership, a 36,000 sq.ft. facility for the NYPD Mounted Unit, a 20,000 sq.ft. health club, accessory monthly parking for 175 cars, and parking space for 600–700 bicycles.

Before Council heard the matter, the City Planning Commission modified the proposal. As part of its original application, Two Trees proposed a zoning text amendment that provided an as-of-right FAR of 7.0, bonusable up to an FAR of 9.0 through inclusionary housing regulations. The Commission amended the text to allow an as-of-right FAR of 6.75 that would be bonusable to 8.55, provided that the development contained at least 1.0 FAR of commercial floor area. The change made the text consistent with standard inclusionary housing bonus regulations, which allow for 1.25 square feet of bonus floor area for every square foot of affordable housing provided. (read more…)