Artist Rendering of 550 Washington Nothern Site. Image Credit: CookFox Architects

Zoning Subcommittee and Land Use Committee approve brokered rezoning and development rights transfer at St. John’s Terminal in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. On December 6, 2016, two City Council committees approved a land use application to develop the aging St. John’s Terminal which is located across West Street from Pier 40 and just north of the Holland Tunnel. The approval will allow the transfer of $100 million of air rights from Pier 40 to the 1.7 million-square-foot development.

The proposed transfer initially received harsh criticism from community groups and city officials. At the City Planning hearing, Gale Brewer, Manhattan Borough President, expressed support for the much needed money to repair a dilapidated Pier 40, but she was critical of the permit request for 772 parking spots, and the amount, location and design of the affordable housing proposed. Corey Johnson, the City Council representative for the area, was also critical of the application. Several members of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation also spoke against the project at City Planning, calling the project “ludicrously oversized,” and requesting an amendment to prevent future development-rights transfers into Manhattan Community Board 2. The City Planning Commission approved the application without alterations. For CityLand’s full coverage of the City Planning hearing, click here. (read more…)

Artist Rendering of 550 Washington Nothern Site. Image Credit: CookFox Architects

Council Member Corey Johnson still feels hesitant about proposed St. John’s Terminal development and seeks more concessions by the developer. On November 1, 2016, the City Council’s Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises held a public hearing on the proposed 550 Washington Street rezoning and redevelopment, and the creation of a special district in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The proposed development would create three separate city blocks for five separate buildings which would include four mixed-use buildings and on the southern site the fifth building would be zoned for office or hotel space. Currently the four-story St. John’s Terminal Building occupies the site. The approval of the application by the City Council would also serve as a precondition for the transfer of development rights from the Hudson River Park Trust to the developer for $100 million. The transfer of development rights would be made possible by the creation of a special district which would include Pier 40 and the development site, which was part of the application heard. For CityLand’s previous coverage click here. (read more…)

Image Credit: Hudson River Park Trust

The proposed rezoning would permit the development of four mixed-use buildings and one commercial building across the street from Pier 40. On August 24, 2016, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application for a zoning text amendment, a zoning map change, four special permits, three authorizations, and one chairperson certification to facilitate the redevelopment of the commercial building at 550 Washington Street, in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village. The project would create three separate city blocks for the five proposed buildings. There would be two buildings each in the northern and central blocks, all being mixed-use, and the fifth building would cover the entire southern lot and remain zoned for office or hotel space. (read more…)

Former Deputy Mayor holds new position at Bloomberg LP. On January 11, 2008, Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff left City Hall to become President of Bloomberg LP, which has a landlord-tenant relationship with Vornado Realty. On January 14th, First Deputy Mayor Patricia Harris sought a waiver from the Conflicts of Interest Board that would allow Doctoroff to continue to serve the City as an unpaid adviser for PlaNYC 2030, Moynihan Station, Queens West, and as a member of the Hudson River Park Trust and Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation.

With respect to Moynihan Station, Vornado and the Related Companies formed a joint venture to work with the State and City on the project. 4 CityLand 154 (Nov. 15, 2007). Harris claimed that negotiations with Vornado’s joint venture are at a “critical juncture,” but should conclude within a matter of months with Doctoroff’s assistance. She proposed that once Doctoroff brings the negotiations to an end, he then recuse himself for a year from any matter pertaining to Vornado and Moynihan Station. Harris also proposed that Doctoroff recuse himself from the current negotiations for additional office space between Bloomberg LP and Vornado. (read more…)

City obligated to vacate the Gansevoort sanitation garage by 2012 and Pier 97 by 2008. The Hudson River Park Act, passed by the State Legislature, obligated the City to relocate by the end of 2003 its sanitation operations from Gansevoort Street in the West Village and Pier 97 in Clinton to begin development of park space along the Hudson River. The City continued to occupy both sanitation facilities beyond 2003 and subsequently began construction of a new facility at the Gansevoort site intended for use until 2012.

In April 2005, Friends of Hudson River Park sued the City asserting that it failed to use its best efforts to relocate the Gansevoort Street and Pier 97 facilities and that the construction of the new facility on Gansevoort Street violated the Act. The City responded that temporary use of both facilities would allow it to relocate operations without significant adverse impacts on the public and that it was committed to completing replacement facilities at West 57th Street and on the West Side Highway at Spring Street. (read more…)