Developers sought brownfield credits, but had excavated and remediated site before DEC denied claim. 377 Greenwich LLC, developers of a seven-story luxury hotel and restaurant at Greenwich and North Moore Streets, conducted soil tests on the site and discovered two 550-gallon unregistered underground storage tanks. The developers applied in 2004 to the state Department of Environmental Conservation to have the site recognized as a brownfield under a newly enacted brownfield law that offered substantial tax credits. At the time of its application, the developers, with principals Robert DeNiro, Ira Druckier and Richard Born, held an approved remediation plan from DEC that addressed findings from the tests.

Under the brownfield law, if DEC determines that the site is a brownfield, it prepares a remediation plan with community comment. With DEC’s investigation pending, the developers at 377 Greenwich excavated and remediated the site. The developers then submitted new soil tests showing that the contamination covered 50 percent of the site and cost $1 million to remediate. (read more…)

Contaminated soil remediation caused hardship. 377 Greenwich LLC, with principals Robert DeNiro, Ira Druckier and Richard Born, sought BSA approval for a 59,419- square-foot, seven-story luxury hotel in Tribeca that would exceed floor area, wall height and setback restrictions. DeNiro’s development team had started the permit process in 2003 by first seeking the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s approval for construction of a six-story building within the Tribeca West Historic District. After receiving approval, the six-story project was abandoned for a larger eight-story scenario. In November, 2004, Landmarks approved a seven-story hotel design that required a variance grant. 1 CityLand 46 (Dec. 2004).

In its application to BSA, the developer claimed that $1.7 million had been spent to remove two underground tanks from the site and to remediate the soil in preparation for development. Poor soil conditions compounded by the site’s high water table and the area’s floodplain escalated the project’s construction costs, making a smaller code-compliant development infeasible. The developer submitted feasibility studies, showing that an as-of-right hotel, office building and rental residential units, limited to the 50,355-square-foot area permitted by code, were infeasible. (read more…)