CB1 Likes Greenpoint Waterfront Tower
Developer Dean Palin’s plan to put up a 40-story rental tower on the Greenpoint Waterfront took one small step closer to fruition when the Community Board 1 land use committee voted 7-0 (with one abstention) to support the variance. Palin will need the support not only of CB1 but also the BSA. In return, Palin…
Developer Dean Palin’s plan to put up a 40-story rental tower on the Greenpoint Waterfront took one small step closer to fruition when the Community Board 1 land use committee voted 7-0 (with one abstention) to support the variance. Palin will need the support not only of CB1 but also the BSA. In return, Palin is promising to construct a $2,000,000 public waterfront esplanade.
FYI, the developer is not asking BSA for a variance; its a special permit from the City Planning Commission. The main site constraint isn’t the wetlands, its a 50 ft wide DEP easement that cuts across the southern end of the property. Finally, its not a hardship application, its a design improvement. The tradeoff is that two 150 ft midblock towers will each be reduced to 65 ft. The community board approved the application tonight.
Anyone know the names of our Community Board 1 — we should ask them personally how they can see the need for a variance here. The rezoning gave them a HUGE gift already. Just because Palin overpaid means that we need to suffer for his bad market timing. The truth is that he will not be able to get financing here for many years, not until the Williamsburg waterfront is built out.
I don’t understand why this article says, “Palin is promising to construct a $2,000,000 public waterfront esplanade.”
The developer MUST develop the publicly access esplanade in order to build on the waterfront. It’s in the WAP ( Waterfront Access Plan ). It’s in the zoning regs. This developer is not creating an esplanade from the goodness of his heart or as an extra. He has to do it regardless of how large the building is. And the Community Board knows this. I chaired the Parks & Open Space committee for the CB during the rezoning.
I also read articles that said the developer claims a hardship since there is a strip of wetland there. During the rezoning, the Department of City Planning didn’t recognize ANY wetland possibilities. In fact, even Bushwick Inlet was not recognized as a large enough natural resource to warrant a reduction in building size and bulk. Sounds like greed and a whole lot of tweaking of the truth.
a nice new waterfront would be nice tho
40 stories is too high for this area – the highest thing at present is a chruch spire. Its not like the Williamsburg waterfront where there is at least a block between the towers (northside and the Edge) and the nearest houses. In north Greenpoint the houses go right to West st. so this thing will tower of them and blot out sky.
IfI owned in the Greenpoint historic district I’d be pissed. Not suprised CB1 is rubber stamping it.