Park West Village superblock on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. (808 Columbus Ave, center). Image Credit: Google Maps.
Appellate Division finds that Buildings improperly issued construction permit for nursing home after misinterpreting the zoning resolution. Park West Village is a complex located on a superblock bounded by West 100th Street to the north, West 97th Street to the south, Columbus Avenue to the east, and Amsterdam Avenue to the west on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The complex was built in the 1950s and 1960s as part of a federally subsidized middle-income urban renewal project, and includes residential buildings, a parking lot, a school, a church, a public library, a health center, and commercial buildings. Three original 16-story residential buildings remain on the eastern portion of the superblock at 784, 788, and 792 Columbus Avenue. The Park West Village buildings all exist on the same zoning lot. (read more…)
Developer not required to submit a recorded easement or restrictive declaration ensuring rooftop access to adjoining buildings to meet open space requirements. A developer agreed to purchase 144 North 8th Street from Iqbal LLC and two affiliated entities, along with the unused development rights from Iqbal’s adjoining tax lot, to facilitate the construction of a 16-story mixed-use building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. In order to meet open space requirements for the 16-story design, the developer needed access to the rooftops of the two existing buildings on Iqbal’s adjoining tax lot. Believing it would have acquired such access upon purchase, the developer applied for a Buildings permit to construct the 16-story building, and it was granted. Shortly thereafter, the property transaction closed, and the developer obtained title to 144 North 8th Street and the unused development rights from Iqbal’s tax lot.
A dispute subsequently arose between Iqbal and the developer, and Iqbal sued the developer, claiming, among other things, that the developer was not authorized to access the rooftops. The developer then counterclaimed for a declaratory judgment that it did have a right of access to the rooftops. After Iqbal filed the lawsuit, Buildings issued a Letter of Intent to revoke the permit, and requested an easement agreement between the parties granting access to the rooftops. No easement agreement was provided, and so Buildings issued a stop work order. The developer then submitted a revised zoning analysis showing a 10-story building, an alternative design that could be built if the developer was unable to use the rooftops. Based on the revised analysis, Buildings partially lifted the stop work order, and allowed construction of the lower ten-stories to proceed. With construction of the building underway, several residents and community organizations requested that the Brooklyn Borough Commissioner issue a final determination on the validity of the permit. The Commissioner found that the permit was valid, and the determination was appealed to BSA. (read more…)
