Baltic Bigtime: Negotiating a Tower in Boerum Hill
Last Tuesday, the developer, Joe Chan, met with concerned neighbors and politicians in David Yassky’s office to discuss his plans for a 118-foot-tall, 48,000-square-foot tower at the corner of Baltic and Hoyt in Cobble Hill. The current plan calls for 36 condo units with 27 parking spaces in the basement, street level commercial and second-floor…
Last Tuesday, the developer, Joe Chan, met with concerned neighbors and politicians in David Yassky’s office to discuss his plans for a 118-foot-tall, 48,000-square-foot tower at the corner of Baltic and Hoyt in Cobble Hill. The current plan calls for 36 condo units with 27 parking spaces in the basement, street level commercial and second-floor community facility. In addition to concers about size and scale, neighbors expressed their worries about safety and quality of life during the projected 14-month construction period. The developer was unable to answer a number of questions and the group agreed to convene again in early June.
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To David, who is under the impression that Brooklyn Heights wasn’t destroyed by over building… once upon a time, B.Heights was a real neighborhood with families and people of all ages, many had lived there generations. There was a real village feel to it. Take a look around now, it’s full of doctor’s and lawyer’s offices cause they’re the only ones who can afford the rent. Look at the daily traffic, the thousands of people walking thru their streets everyday. Believe it or not, people in the cities can enjoy the same quality of life as people in the suburbs (quiet and friendly) if they don’t allow creed to take over! As some one who has spent their entire life in Boerum hill, I can say I hate the changes taking place to my sleepy village.
I think community groups and council members should seek help to rewrite the zoning regs as they see fit and not torment those individuals who are trying to make a living building in this city. Lucky they weren’t around to pander to the same community minded folks during the construction of the Williamsburg Savings bank building, The St. George hotel, etc, etc, etc,
Robert
The Four Borough
Neighborhood Preservation Alliance
Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association
RALLY TO
PROTEST
OVERSIZE BUILDINGS
AND ABUSE OF
COMMUNITY FACILITES BONUS
Join your neighbors
to protest an eleven story luxury tower
“high-end Manhattan condosâ€
Speakers:
City Councilman Tony Avella — Zoning and Franchises Subcommittee
Mike Ingui — Architect
Robert Furman — Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance
Saturday, May 27
11:30 AM
380 Baltic at Hoyt Street
The Communities Facilities bonus is what aggravates me. Open to great abuse. Once bldg completed and can’t find a suitable tenant under Community Use – they file for hardship and rent to whatever business they like.
That is the issue I would confront Yassky, Bldgs dept and Community Bd about. Who is going to rent that space? That will affect neighbors more than the 11 story residential bldg.
Otherwise this is not a townhouse or brownstone block. 5 houses at most. Mostly tenement apt bldgs plus the new addition of condo bldg that had apts selling for nearly $700k – so apparently people don’t object to the projects too much. And a small HighSchool – which is very well-maintained and very attractive. Also a new playground.
Ed
– 11 story buildings are not “large scale development”;
– a multitude of similar sized (approx 11 story) buildings did not destroy Brooklyn Heights and I am sure they wont destroy Boreum Hill
-There is nothing wrong with the projects from a housing point of view (people pay thousands to live in similarly designed ‘projects’ like Stuyvesant Town, PCV and Parkchester) and the issues that the projects have are not be rectified by changes in density (as the low density suburban South Central LA demonstrates)
Finally as Bored_at_Work said – this is all academic since the community (or posters here) have no say (thank god) on this as-of-right building proposal.
There is a lot of misinformation posted here about zoning, the neighborhood, etc.
If this building is as of right, which it appears to be, the community needs to work with the developer, but he is under no obligation to do so.
Unless there is a zoning change in the offing, which I dont think is under consideration for this site, it is unlikely you will get the developer to agree to build smaller (unless you offer him $). He will build as big as he can to make as much money as he can.
We had some success on DeGraw Street with the condo that went up between Court and Smith several years ago. The developer agreed to change the color of the brick and the look of the balconies. We also hired a land use lawyer to make sure his development adhered to the building and zoning regs.
My advice – keep lines of communication open and work with the developer. If you piss him off enough, he will walk away and build as cheaply as he think he can to maximize his return.
This building is a HUGE mistake. There are plenty of large apartment buildings planned for the 4th Avenue Corrider. Plus there is our lovely Atlantic Yards.
One thing we ALL have to keep in mind is that large scale development in Brooklyn is a great thing, provided we don’t destroy the low-scale residential quality of our brownstone neighborhoods.
If anything, we should be focused on getting rid of those projects near Hoyt Street and replacing that whole area with low-scale housing.
I would certainly want an 11 story building (or taller) if I lived next to an empty lot; and across the street from another empty lot.
Yes I live in a townhouse and they are building 12 story buildings right down the street from me (70yards) – did I lose some of my view – yup – disappointing – yup – but such is life, my view is not ordained by god or law – I moved into an area that is growing and I moved down the block from an empty lot – that’s how it goes.
What is wrong w/36 more families?? It creates more street life which adds to the community and safety.
No offense but you sound like the worst NIMBY advocate I have ever heard – it is an 11 story building for god sake – Virtually every brownstone neighborhood in this city has buildings as tall or taller within it, and people arent cast into perpetual darkness or a skyless pergatory – in fact no one even notices.
Stop being so selfish
Using the Community Facilites Bonus they get a Floor Area Ratio of 4.8% for that story, instead of 2.3% for the residential floors. They are not just building to the lot line in the FRONT, They are building to the lot line in the back as well. It will be visible from many blocks away and block light, sky for all of its neghbors. This block has backyards for all houses and this monster will change that completely. Because of the shape of the building, with setbacks and a thinner top than the bottom, it will LOOK like a tower even if you think 11 stories does not make it a tower.
Do those of you who think a building that tall is OK live in a townhouse block? Do you want this next to your house? Do you want 36 more families on your block?
The unique livable nature of Brooklyn comes from low rise buildings, backyards.