City can now negotiate to acquire northern section of High Line in order to complete 1.45-mile elevated park. On July 29, 2010, the City Council approved a proposal by the Department of Citywide Administrative Services and the Department of Parks and Recreation to acquire the remaining portion of the High Line elevated rail line and associated easements. This section, currently owned by CSX Corporation, begins at West 30th Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues and runs west before turning north and terminating at West 34th Street. It also includes the “spur,” which extends east off the main structure at West 30th Street and terminates above the intersection of Tenth Avenue and West 30th Street. The easements associated with the structure generally extend below and above the High Line and include property owned by the MTA and the Convention Center Development Corporation. (more…)
- Proposed development of the MTA’s Western Rail Yard site, including eight mixed-use towers, as envisioned by the Related Companies. Image: Courtesy of Related Companies.
The Council’s Land Use Committee approved the proposal after the developer agreed to provide permanently affordable on-site housing. On December 14, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified and approved Goldman Sachs and Related Companies’ proposal to develop the Western Rail Yard site on the far west side of Midtown, Manhattan. The thirteen-acre site is bounded by West 33rd Street to the north, West 30th Street to the south, Eleventh Avenue to the east, and Twelfth Avenue to the west. The High Line runs along the site’s southern and western edges, but it is not part of the proposed project.
The approved plan will convert the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s open rail storage yard into a 5.7 million sq.ft. development that would include eight mixed-use towers, containing roughly 4,600 – 5,700 dwelling units, 5.4 acres of open space, and a new public school. The proposal included setting aside twenty percent of the project’s rental units as affordable housing. Related submitted applications to rezone the site from an M2-3 to a C6-4 district, obtain special permits to build two parking garages with a maximum of 1,600 combined spaces, and to extend the Special Hudson Yards District to include the site. (more…)
Rendering of High Line Elevated Structure, affected in a follow-up zoning action in West Chelsea. All images created by Field Operations and Diller Scofidio + Renfro. Permission to reproduce images: courtesy The City of New York, (c) 2004.
Boundaries, frontage, easement access and lot coverage modified for High Line and Special West Chelsea district. In June 2005, the City Council approved several applications related to West Chelsea including the establishment of a Special West Chelsea District to support development of the High Line elevated public space, art galleries, marketrate housing, and affordable housing. 2 CityLand 83 (July 15, 2005). Public review of the proposed text amendments identified the need for additional modifications.
On October 27, 2005, the Planning Department filed an application for a Follow-Up Corrective Action, or FUCA, proposing modifications to the text amendments. The proposal clarified the boundaries, lot coverage calculations, and access requirements for the High Line Improvement Area; reduced minimum allowable frontage for development along the High Line; and identified Parks as the agency responsible for High Line maintenance and inspection. The proposal also added anti-harassment provisions similar to those created for the neighboring Special Hudson Yards District. 3 CityLand 5 (Feb. 15, 2006).
The Commission unanimously approved, finding that the application addressed needs identified during the approval process of the prior text amendments. (more…)
Commission approved Verizon’s consolidation plans. Verizon New York, Inc. sought to rezone two sites that it occupies in Clinton, Manhattan. The first proposal would rezone a 45,200 sq.ft. site at the intersection of Eleventh Avenue and West 43rd Street from M2-3 to C6-4. The second would rezone a 143,300 sq.ft. full-block area, bounded by Eleventh Avenue, West 47th Street, Twelfth Avenue and West 48th Street, from M2-3 to Ml- 5. The Commission unanimously approved both. Verizon intends to sell the up-zoned West 43rd site and consolidate operations into a new building located within the West 47th Street rezoning.
The rezoning on the two West 43rd lots would allow commercial/ residential uses and increase the sites’ permitted building size from 90,400 sq.ft. to 452,000- 542,400 sq.ft. Verizon argued that the one-story warehouse and six-story office on the site were antiquated, out-of-character and required upgrading. (more…)
