City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises Meeting. October 24, 2017.

A former Pfizer factory site in South Williamsburg will be developed into a mixed-use building and public plaza. On October 31, 2017, the City Council passed the Pfizer Sites Rezoning land use actions by a vote of 38-6. The zoning map and text amendments will convert the former Pfizer factory site, currently used for parking, into a mixed-use building and plaza. The project area, totaling 182,366 square feet, is bounded by Walton Street to the north, Gerry Street to the south, Harrison Avenue to the east, and Union Avenue to the west. The proposed development includes 1,146 housing units, 62,810 square feet of commercial space, and 26,000 square feet of public open space. For CityLand’s prior coverage on the matter, click here.

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Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

The de Blasio administration furthers efforts to create more public park space for the North Brooklyn community. On October 31, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that he will allocate $17.5 million for the development and remediation of two parcels of parkland at Bushwick Inlet Park. $7.7 million of the allocated funds will go towards developing the 50 Kent site into a new park while the remaining $9.8 million will go toward the remediation and development of two parcels of parkland at the Motiva site.

Last year, the City purchased the final parcel of land needed for the total acquisition of the park site. Since then, 3.5 acres have been completed and the park has been opened to the public. Currently, the park has a multi-purpose field and an environmentally-friendly building for community activities and incorporates both natural and urban elements of the surrounding community. (read more…)

Illustrative Bird’s Eye View. Image Credit: Pfizer Sites Rezoning EIS.

A former Pfizer factory site in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn will be redeveloped into 1,146 housing units, 62,810 square feet of commercial space, 26,000 square feet of publicly accessible open space, and 404 parking spaces. On September 19, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on land use applications by Harrison Realty LLC. The land use applications include: (1) a zoning map amendment to change the current manufacturing district into a residential district with a commercial overlay, and (2) a zoning text amendment to establish a Mandatory Inclusionary Housing area on the site. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed project by think! architecture & design. Image Credit: Constellation Group

Zoning Subcommittee received testimony on a controversial eight-story residential building in Brooklyn’s Vinegar Hill neighborhood. On May 16, 2017, the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee heard testimony regarding an application from 251 Front Street Realty Inc. The Constellation Group is the developer. The project would result in a new eight-story residential building at 251 Front Street in Vinegar Hill. (read more…)

Project site adjacent to WNYC Transmitter Park in Greenpoint. Image credit: GoogleMaps

Zoning Subcommittee heard testimony on proposed eleven-story tower to abut WNYC Transmitter Park in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. On May 16, 2017, the City Council’s Zoning Subcommittee heard testimony regarding an application submitted by Kent/Greenpoint, LLC, to develop an eleven-story mixed-use building in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. The applicant sought to amend bulk regulations related to the location of legal windows, landscaping requirements for off-street parking and minimum street wall heights in order to orientate the massing of the proposed building towards Transmitter Park. (read more…)

Diagram of 376-378 Flushing Avenue. Image Credit: DCP

Planning Commission approves two new residential buildings in northeast Brooklyn with up to 88 affordable units. On March 8, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on an application to construct two new mixed-used buildings opposite of each other on Franklin Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. The developer, Riverside Developers USA Inc., requested the upzoning of the two project sites from manufacturing zoning districts to joint residential and commercial zones. The application included a zoning text amendment to designate the two project sites as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing areas. (read more…)