Speaker Quinn announced support prior to Council vote. On June 10, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s mixed-use development project adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn. The project will provide the neighborhood with a 45,000 sq.ft. middle school and approximately 300 new housing units, 20 percent of which will be permanently affordable.
Residents, neighborhood associations, and community groups opposed the project. In response, the City Planning Commission reduced the project’s height and increased its distance from the Brooklyn Bridge. 6 CityLand 69 (June 15, 2009). (read more…)
- Two Trees’ development near Brooklyn Bridge. Image: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.
Despite concerns project sent to full Council. On June 4, 2009, the City Council’s Land Use Committee approved the controversial proposal by Two Trees Management Company to build a mixed-use development at 10 Dock Street, adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge in DUMBO, Brooklyn. In addition to providing approximately 300 residential units, 20 percent of which would be affordable, the proposed building would provide space for a 45,000 sq.ft. public middle school, a 465- space garage, and additional ground floor retail space. 6 CityLand 43 (April 15, 2009).
The City Planning Commission modified the project to address its relationship to the bridge and surrounding historic buildings. It reduced the height of the tallest section of the building from almost 184 ft. to a maximum of 170 feet. The Commission also required a notch in the nine-story section, reducing the westernmost 50 feet to seven stories, thereby increasing the distance between the building and the bridge’s span. (read more…)
- Two Trees’ project near Clinton Park approved. Image: Two Trees Management
Council limits certain uses to Two Trees’ site block. On May 20, 2009, the City Council approved Two Trees Management Company’s plan to build a 1.3 million sq.ft., S-shaped tower at 770 Eleventh Avenue in the Clinton/Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan. The Enrique Norten-designed tower would rise in steps from approximately seven stories at Eleventh Avenue and West 54th Street to 32 stories at the project’s eastern edge. 6 CityLand 25 (March 15, 2009). Along with 900 residential units, including approximately 180 permanently affordable units, the tower would contain a 350,000 sq.ft. Mercedes Benz dealership, a 36,000 sq.ft. facility for the NYPD Mounted Unit, a 20,000 sq.ft. health club, accessory monthly parking for 175 cars, and parking space for 600–700 bicycles.
Before Council heard the matter, the City Planning Commission modified the proposal. As part of its original application, Two Trees proposed a zoning text amendment that provided an as-of-right FAR of 7.0, bonusable up to an FAR of 9.0 through inclusionary housing regulations. The Commission amended the text to allow an as-of-right FAR of 6.75 that would be bonusable to 8.55, provided that the development contained at least 1.0 FAR of commercial floor area. The change made the text consistent with standard inclusionary housing bonus regulations, which allow for 1.25 square feet of bonus floor area for every square foot of affordable housing provided. (read more…)
- Two Trees’ proposed development near Brooklyn Bridge. Image: Beyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP.
Opponents concerned that development would alter views of the bridge. On March 4, 2009, the City Planning Commission heard testimony on Two Trees Management Company’s plan to build a mixed-use development at 10 Dock Street in DUMBO, Brooklyn. Two Trees had previously submitted a proposal in 2004 to develop a portion of the site with a 16-story apartment building, but withdrew the plan prior to the final vote in the City Council. Many attributed the withdrawal to mounting opposition from the community and elected officials. Two Trees later purchased additional land and submitted the current proposal, known as Dock Street DUMBO, which shifts some of the original proposal’s height away from Water Street.
Bounded by Dock, Water, and Front Streets, the building would be located on a 45,000 sq.ft. site adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge. The project would include approximately 323 residential units, a 300-seat public middle school, a 465-space parking garage, and a 12,733-sq.ft. retail space. The building’s tallest section would be approximately 183 ft. in height, and the section closest to the bridge would be nine stories. To facilitate the proposed development, Two Trees submitted applications for a map amendment that would create an MX-2 special mixed-use district and rezone about a half-block from M1-2 to M1-2/R8, and for special permits waiving height, setback, and rear yard requirements. (read more…)
