9 DeKalb Avenue. Project Rendering. Image Credit: JDS Development and the Chetrit Group.

Designated bank lobby will be converted to retail space, while new tower will accommodate residential use. On April 19, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to approve work impacting the individually designated Dime Savings Bank, as well as its lobby, an interior Landmark. The site lies at 9 Dekalb Avenue in Downtown Brooklyn, on an irregularly shaped block bounded by Dekalb and Flatbush Avenues and Fulton Street. The proposed tower will displace the Williamsburgh Savings Bank as the borough’s tallest building. The work entails the demolition of a portion of the 1930s addition, the creation of a new entrance on Flatbush Avenue, and alterations to the lobby to adapt it to retail use. The new tower will be partially sited within the landmarked lot. The plan includes extensive restoration work to the bank building. (read more…)

Tin Building Rendering, South Street Seaport. Image Credit: SHoP Architects.

The Tin Building will be elevated to bring it out of 100-year flood plain, and it will be restored to its market use as part of the larger Seaport development.  On March 22, 2016, the Landmarks Preservation Commission considered and approved a proposal to dismantle the Tin Building, built as part of the Fulton Fish Market in 1907, and move, restore and reconstruct the structure within the South Street Seaport Historic District. The building, once the main market building for the Fulton Fish Market, lies at the foot of Pier 17, facing South Street. The building’s renovation and reactivation will be done as part of the larger redevelopment of the Seaport being undertaken by the Howard Hughes Corporation. Landmarks previously approved the demolition of a mall on Pier 17, and the creation of a new retail building with public amenities in 2012. (read more…)

Architect’s rendering of the Pier 17 proposal. Image credit: SHoP Architects

The demolitions would make new Pier building a free-standing structure, with four visible facades, and a new canopy that would allow for all-weather use of roof space. On August 4, 2015, representatives of the Howard Hughes Corporation appeared at the Landmarks Preservation Commission to propose revisions to their planned redevelopment of Piers 16 and 17 in the South Street Seaport Historic District. Landmarks in 2012 approved an application by SHoP Architects, after multiple hearings, to replace the 1985 mall that previously stood on the site. The pier, at 89 South Street, lies in Manhattan’s South Street Seaport Historic District.

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Saving Place Exhibit. Image Credit: Museum of the City of New York.

Sometimes-contentious debate focused on the struggle to balance new development with historic preservation in New York City. On the evening of April 20, 2015, the Museum of the City of New York commenced a series of events and exhibitions commemorating the 50th anniversary of the City’s Landmarks Law with a symposium titled “Redefining Preservation for the 21st Century.” The Saving Place exhibit, intends to examine the “impact of a landmark preservation movement that has transformed the City and has been an engine of New York’s growth and success.” The exhibit is curated by the Museum’s Donald Albrecht and Columbia’s Andrew Dolkart, with Seri Worden, of the James Marston Fitch Charitable Foundation, serving as consulting curator. The Symposium took place at the New York Academy of Medicine’s Hosack Hall. (read more…)

The CUNY Forum held a panel discussion on affordable housing. (l. to r., REBNY President Steven Spinola, Vishaan Chakrabarti, Bob Liff, Council Member Jumaane D. Williams, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer) Image credit: City University of New York

Elected officials and real estate professionals debate solutions and strategies to City’s affordable housing shortage. On October 1st, 2014 the City University of New York’s CUNY Forum series held a panel discussion titled “Affordable Housing and Social Justice in NYC”. The panel featured Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Vishaan Chakrabarti of SHoP Architects and Associate Professor at Columbia University, Real Estate Board of New York President Steven Spinola, and Council Member Jumaane D. Williams. The debate was moderated by CUNY Forum’s host Bob Liff.

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Rendering of the approved Domino Development proposed by Two Trees Management. Image credit: SHoP Architects.

Unanimous City Planning approval followed behind the scenes deal between Mayor de Blasio and Two Trees Management. On March 5, 2014, the City Planning Commission unanimously voted to approve special permits and a zoning text amendment requested by Two Trees Management to transform the Domino Sugar Refinery into a 2,928,429 sq. ft. mixed-use development. The predominantly residential large scale development will include commercial and community facility uses. The City Planning vote followed an announcement by Mayor Bill de Blasio on March 3rd, stating that the City had reached an agreement with Two Trees to significantly increase the amount of affordable housing units in the development. (read more…)