Diagram of rezoning area in the Special Clinton District in Manhattan. Image credit: CPC.

Council-approved developments in Special Clinton District will achieve 39 percent affordability across a range of Area Median Incomes. On June 26, 2014, the City Council unanimously voted 48-0 to approve applications which would facilitate the development of two new mixed-use buildings, the rehabilitation of another building, and creation of three new community gardens in the Special Clinton District in Manhattan. The joint applications were proposed by the Clinton Housing Development Company, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, Taconic Investment Partners and Ritterman Capital. The project area is generally bounded by West 51st Street and West 53rd Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues.

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Credit: ma.com

Taconic Investment Partners LLC stepping in to complete Morris Adjmi-designed seven-story building after financial troubles delayed project. On May 31, 2012, the City Council  approved a zoning text amendment that will allow Taconic Investment Partners LLC to move forward with a plan to replace a freight-loading garage with a seven-story residential development at 412-414 Greenwich Street in the Tribeca North Historic District. Taconic is under contract to purchase the property from 71 Laight Street LLC, which originally planned to build the project.

In 2008, 71 Laight Street LLC obtained Landmarks’ approval to demolish the garage and build a Morris Adjmi-designed seven-story, aluminum-clad structure (read more…)

Street grade elevation will connect West 21st Street to the boardwalk. On November 3, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning and Taconic Investment Partners’ proposal to raise the grade of two streets in Coney Island, Brooklyn. The plan will raise the elevation of West 21st Street between Surf Avenue and the Riegelmann Boardwalk. Taconic owns the landmarked Childs Restaurant on the west side of West 21st and a vacant parcel across the street. The proposal would also affect Ocean Way, a new street established by the City’s 2009 Coney Island Rezoning Plan that will run parallel to the boardwalk.

The Coney Island Plan rezoned nineteen blocks to create a new entertainment district, established new streets, and raised the grades of several existing streets to ease access to the boardwalk and to enable the area’s ground floor commercial uses to comply with the federally established base flood elevation level. 6 CityLand 104 (Aug. 15, 2009). West 21st Street, however, was not included in the proposal because Taconic had not finalized plans for the future uses of its properties.

The existing grade of West 21st Street, which sits below the boardwalk, was not ideal for the rehabilitation of the landmarked restaurant, and the City agreed to file a joint proposal with Taconic to request a modification of the street grade. The grade changes will enable pedestrian access from street level to the first floor of the Childs Restaurant building and eliminate the need for the wooden ramps that provide access to the boardwalk from street level. Landmarks’ staff reviewed the grade change proposal and issued a certificate of no effect. Future alterations or renovations of the Childs Restaurant building would still be subject to Landmarks review.

No one opposed the proposal at the City Planning Commission’s public hearing, and the plan was unanimously approved.  (read more…)

Image: Courtesy of Morris Adjmi Architects

Project approved after height was further reduced by eight feet. On July 19, 2011, Landmarks approved Taconic Investment Partners’ revised proposal to build a four-story addition above a low-rise Moderne-style building across the street from the High Line at 837 Washington Street in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. Taconic first proposed a seven-story addition in November 2010, which it then reduced and resubmitted to Landmarks in April of 2011. The Commissioners generally praised the Morris Adjmi-designed torqued glass and steel tower, but expressed reservations about approving such a large and visible addition to a contributing building in a historic district. 8 CityLand 62 (May 15, 2011).

At a June meeting, Taconic presented a plan nearly identical in design to the previous iteration, but with floor heights reduced to create a building eight feet shorter than the prior proposal. Architectural consultant Bill Higgins explained that the vertical steel beams would now be visible through the storefronts of the existing building, which demonstrated the interplay between the new addition and existing building.  (read more…)

Reduction  in  height  of  glass-and- steel  addition  insufficient  to  gain from the existing building. On April 12, 2011, Landmarks considered Taconic Investment Partners’ revised proposal to build an addition on top of a low-rise building at 837 Washington Street across the street from the High Line in the Gansevoort Market Historic District. Taconic first proposed adding a seven-story masonry column wrapped in a torqued glass and steel tower. Landmarks praised the design, but took issue with project’s scale, which would have added six stories of height to the existing building. 7 CityLand 170 (Dec. 2010).

Taconic returned to Landmarks with a scaled-down proposal that reduced the height of the addition from seven to five stories and added more windows to the rear masonry tower. The revised design only added four stories of height to the original building and reduced the masonry tower’s footprint. (read more…)

American Bank Note Company’s printing plant serves as an example of early 20th century industrial architecture. On February 5, 2008, Landmarks voted to designate the America Banknote Company printing plant. Constructed in 1911 by architecture firm Kirby Petite & Green, the Round Arch-style plant includes Gothic details and a nine-story tower with a crenellated parapet. The plant printed bank notes, stocks, bonds, checks, and possibly dollar bills, until it closed in 1984.

At the public hearing on January 15th, the current owner of the plant, Taconic Investment Partners, testified in support of designation and stated its desire to develop the plant while respecting its historical architecture. 5 CityLand 14 (Feb. 15, 2008). (read more…)