EDC expects to choose developer before Council vote. On August 27, 2008, the City Planning Commission approved a plan sponsored by the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem. The plan seeks to create 1.7 million sq.ft. of mixed use development on 5.5 acres, roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. 3 CityLand 59 (Nov. 15, 2006).

At the Planning Commission’s July 23 public hearing, the District Manager of Community Board 11 and Anthony Borelli, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, expressed opposition based on EDC’s election to begin the ULURP process without first selecting a developer. 5 CityLand 105 (Aug. 15, 2008). They asserted that EDC’s decision to select a developer after the Community Board and the Borough President’s respective deadlines for comment expired will have stripped them of their opportunity to comment on the plan before it reached the Planning Commission. Borelli suggested that EDC be named Lead Agency instead of HPD. The change would trigger section 384(b)(4) of the City Charter, and would require the Manhattan Borough Board to approve the disposition of City-owned property to EDC; in effect, the community would have a chance to review the plan after EDC selected a developer. (more…)

Community and Stringer criticize EDC for initiating land use process before selecting developer. On July 23, 2008, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on a plan to redevelop a six-acre site in East Harlem roughly bounded by East 125th and East 127th Streets between Second and Third Avenues. The plan before the Commission resulted from a controversial RFP process shepherded by the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

EDC first released an RFP for the site in 1999, awarding Urban Strategic Partners LLC the right to develop its “Uptown New York” plan, a proposal that included 700,000 sq. ft. of retail and commercial space along with four towers containing 1.5 million sq.ft. of residential space. The community strongly opposed the proposal for its lack of affordable housing and its failure to adequately consider the local culture. Community Board 11, Borough President Scott Stringer, and Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito formed a task force to oppose the plan and to propose a new one that, in its view, would better fit the community’s needs. EDC subsequently withdrew the proposal and released a new RFP shaped by suggestions from the task force. The new RFP called for a 1.7 million sq. ft. development including up to 1,000 units of housing along with a national retail anchor, restaurants, cinemas, nightclubs, a hotel, and not-for-profit space. 3 CityLand 159 (Nov. 15, 2006). (more…)