
Illustrative Rendering of the envisioned street view. Image Credit: DCP.
Before reaching the City Council, the project received mixed support over concerns that the area was ill-equipped for the increased density. On June 26, 2019, City Council voted to approve with modifications an application that would help implement a major City-initiated plan to redevelop Staten Island’s Bay Street Corridor, which connects the St. George, Tompkinsville, and Stapleton neighborhoods. The comprehensive plan will redevelop the Bay Street Corridor into a walkable, transit-oriented community that provides housing, jobs, and local businesses. The plan had been in the making for over four years and is the result of a coordinated effort among various City agencies and the community. The development is projected to bring 1,000 new jobs, 1,300 new affordable homes, investments in parks, schools and sewers, and a new recreation center. To help implement the plan, the Department of City Planning, the Department of Administrative Services, and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development brought several actions subject to the public review process, ULURP. To read CityLand’s coverage on the earlier stages of the public review process, click here. (read more…)

Rendering of the originally-proposed eleven-story building at 1010 Pacific Street. Image Credit: Studio V Architecture/CPC.
City Planning modified the proposed rezoning so the development would better conform with the vision for the neighborhood, which is currently undergoing a land use study. On May 2, 2019, the City Council Subcommittee on Zoning and Franchises voted to approve an application for a rezoning that will facilitate the development of a new nine-story, mixed-use building in the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn. The applicant initially sought to rezone an area comprised of approximately 12 lots on the northeastern portion of a block bounded by Pacific Street to the north, Dean Street to the south, Classon Avenue to the east, and Grand Avenue to the west from a manufacturing district, M1-1, to a mixed residential and commercial district, R7D/C2-4. The applicant’s proposed rezoning would have facilitated the development of an eleven-story residential building with a commercial space and a community facility on the ground floor at 1010 Pacific Street. On April 8, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the rezoning after modifying it from an R7D/C2-4 district to an R7A/C2-4 district, limiting the building to nine stories. (read more…)

Rendering of the proposed six-story building at 2 Howard Avenue in Brooklyn. Image Credit: CPC.
The rezoning will bring two non-applicant properties into zoning compliance but has the Borough President and City Planning Commission concerned that it will also create an opportunity for out-of-context development. On April 24, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a proposed six-story residential and ground floor retail building at 2 Howard Avenue in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn. To facilitate the project, the applicant is seeking to rezone a portion of Howard Avenue comprised of the applicant’s property and two other properties, from the existing zoning district, R6B/C2-4, which allows for low density residential uses and commercial uses to a C4-4L commercial district that has a higher density residential use allowance. The application would extend the C4-4L commercial district that already exists north of these sites along the Broadway transit corridor over the three properties, better reflecting this area’s existing conditions. As part of the application, the properties would also be designated as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, with both Options 1 and 2. The application was presented to the City Planning Commission at a public hearing on March 27, 2019, by Lisa Orrantia of Akerman, LLP. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed new nine-story building at the corner of Brook Avenue and East 156th Street in the Bronx. Image Credit: CPC/Dattner Architects.
The development seeks to activate the streetscape in the area by removing the existing dangerous condition posed by a long-abandoned railroad trench. On March 27, 2019, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and developer Phipps Houses that will bring 54 units of affordable housing to the Melrose neighborhood of the Bronx. The application calls for the disposition of City-owned property, a rezoning, the grant of a special permit and designation of the proposed development site as Mandatory Inclusionary Housing, Option 1. The development site is located at the corner of East 156th Street and Brook Avenue, across from Via Verde, a relatively recent environmentally-conscious residential complex, also built by Phipps Houses. (read more…)

Illustrative rendering of the proposed development at 2069 Bruckner Boulevard, Bronx. Image Credit: Aufgang Architects/CPC.
The new development will bring an affordable ownership building and a larger rental building, both financed under HPD programs. On March 13, 2019, the City Planning Commission approved an application for a rezoning in the Unionport neighborhood of the Bronx. The rezoning will facilitate a 100 percent affordable development comprised of two new buildings, containing approximately 330 units, at 2069 Bruckner Boulevard. The application was presented to City Planning by Frank St. Jacques of Akerman, LLP and Guido Subotovsky of Azimuth Development Group LLC at a public hearing held on February 27, 2019. (read more…)

Rendering of proposed development at 1640 Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Image Credit: S9 Architecture/CPC.
In addition to 114 new residential units, 34 of which will be affordable, the new development will feature two stories of retail space that is responsive to community needs. On March 13, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a rezoning in the Flatbush Junction neighborhood of Brooklyn. The application calls for a rezoning of the applicant’s property at 1640 Flatbush Avenue, facing the Triangle Junction shopping mall to the north, Aurelia Court to the south, Flatbush Avenue to the east, and East 31st street to the west, along with portions of an adjacent property and one located across East 31st Street. The proposed rezoning will facilitate the development of a new 13-story mixed-use building on the applicant-owned 1640 Flatbush Avenue, and bring the other two properties into zoning compliance. (read more…)