Developer agreed to fund larger on-site school and provide on-site affordable housing. On December 8, 2010, the City Council’s Land Use Committee modified Extell Development Company’s proposal to develop a three million sq.ft. mixed-use project on a site bounded by West 59th and West 61st Streets and West End Avenue and Riverside Boulevard in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. The project, known as Riverside Center, will include five buildings, ranging in height from 31 to 44 stories; 2.75 acres of publicly accessible open space; and an on-site public elementary school. Extell will also extend Freedom Place South and West 60th Street.

The 8.2-acre project site comprises the three remaining undeveloped parcels of the Riverside South development plan first approved by the City in 1992 to govern the redevelopment of the rail yards extending from West 59th Street to West 72nd Street. To facilitate the project’s development, Extell submitted multiple applications including modifications to height and setback requirements and special permits for 1,800 below-ground parking spaces. (read more…)

Condo board demolished eleventh-floor balcony during facade restoration without Landmarks’ approval. On June 15, 2010, Landmarks approved a proposal to reconstruct an illegally demolished balcony on a twelve-story condominium at 105 West 72nd Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. The condominium board removed the eleventh-floor balcony of the building in 1992 without Landmarks’ approval. In 2004, Landmarks denied the board’s application to legalize the demolition. Four years later, the board filed plans to reconstruct the terra cotta and brick balcony, but later determined the project was not feasible due to engineering problems. The board instead applied to Landmarks to build a fiberglass balcony with different dimensions than the original.

At a June 15 public hearing, Shelly Mazor, president of the condominium board, testified that the original balcony had been removed because it presented a hazardous condition. Mazor said the board had tried to recreate the original balcony, but safety issues derailed the plan. She claimed the proposed fiberglass balcony, a purely decorative element, would be aesthetically correct and replicate the original balcony from street views. Architect Robert James explained that the original balcony projected 36 inches from the facade, and it was supported by outriggers built into the wall. Because these outriggers were removed with the original balcony, there was no longer a structurally safe way for the masonry wall to support the weight of a new brick and terra cotta structure. James proposed building a decorative balcony that would only project ten inches and would be inaccessible to tenants. The non-functioning balcony would be painted to emulate the original brick and terra cotta pattern. (read more…)

New owners proposed to modify fifth-floor addition previously denied by Landmarks. On March 16, 2010, Landmarks voted to deny a proposal to modify and legalize a one-story rooftop addition built without Landmarks’ approval at 12-14 West 68th Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District. The building’s previous owners, Thomas Haines and Polly Cleveland, built the 506 square-foot, fifth-floor addition on top of a 1925-era studio building added to the rear of a Queen Anne-style mansion built in 1895.

Haines and Cleveland applied to Landmarks to legalize the addition. At an April 2009 hearing, architect Lester Evan Tour testified that he did not intend to bypass Landmarks when designing the addition. Evan Tour claimed that Buildings had failed to flag the property as landmarked, and that the plan examiners also missed the oversight. He argued that the addition was only minimally visible from the street and it related well to its host building and surroundings. Landmarks voted unanimously to deny legalization in June 2009. According to the Commissioners, the addition was too tall and made the rear building inappropriately higher than the main house. 6 CityLand 92 (July 15, 2009). (read more…)

Changes to height and bulk of buildings along Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues among modifications. The City Council modified Fordham University’s long-term master plan to expand its Lincoln Center Campus in Manhattan. Located on a superblock bounded by Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues and West 60th and 62nd Streets, the existing campus consists of three buildings, with a total floor area of 731,075 sq.ft., that are connected by a one-story, elevated structure known as the “podium,” providing internal circulation between the buildings. Fordham’s original proposal included constructing seven new buildings arranged primarily around the perimeter of the campus, and selling or leasing land to develop two private residential buildings. The original proposal would have resulted in 3,020,480 sq.ft. of total floor area.

At the City Planning Commission’s March 4th hearing, opponents of the plan focused criticism on the plan’s overall density, claiming that the “fortress-like” campus would be excessive in the already dense Lincoln Square neighborhood. The Commission made several modifications, including reducing the project’s overall floor area by 144,000 sq.ft., and reducing the maximum height of the building envelopes for several of the proposed towers along the perimeter of the superblock. (read more…)

Planning Commission approves modifications. On September 17, 2007, the City Council approved, with modifications, the plan to rezone 51 blocks of the Upper West Side. Two days later, the Planning Commission gave its final approval to the plan, finding no objections to the Council’s modifications.

The plan, the result of a two-year collaborative effort between City Planning, HPD, Landmarks, the Manhattan Borough President and local residents, sought to address concerns over out-of-character construction in the area. It down-zoned blocks characterized by low-density townhouses, limiting building heights and further restricting residential density, while focusing high-density development on Broadway, Amsterdam above West 104th Street, and West 106th Street. It also applied the City’s inclusionary housing program primarily along Broadway, allowing developers to increase the size of a project with an agreement to build affordable housing. 4 CityLand 122 (Sept. 15, 2007). (read more…)

Opposition to garage led to reduction in public parking spaces. On April 23, 2007, the City Council voted to approve the special permit application of developers Continental Equities and Brack Capital for a 190- space public parking garage to be located within the 200-unit, as-of-right luxury condominium project currently under construction at 555 West 59th Street between Amsterdam and West End Avenues.

The original proposal called for the entire garage to be public parking. It would use 47 double-car stackers, have ten reservoir spaces and be accessible from curb cuts on West 60th Street. When the project reached the Planning Commission, the developers responded to opposition from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer and Community Board 7 by offering to reserve 80 spaces for use by the project’s residents. During the land use review process, Community Board 7 asked that 152 spaces be set aside for residents, leaving only 38 public parking spaces; Stringer asked for at least 80 accessory spaces. In its final approval of the permit, the Commission incorporated the developers’ offer into the final conditions, making a minimum of 80 spaces accessory to the building’s residents. (read more…)