City Council Modifies St. Vincent’s Development

March 18, 2012 by 1 Comment

St. Vincent's DevelopmentRudin Management’s St. Vincent’s development has been rolling forward despite the repeated objections of many Village residents who want the former hospital complex re-opened as a fully-functioning hospital again. While the possibility of the hospital re-opening is very remote, the New York City Council has provided some relief for residents who don’t want to see another round of high-end high-rise condominiums in the neighborhood.

DNAInfo.com reports that the City Council’s Land Use committee voted to approve the Rudin’s plan for the St. Vincent’s development, but with some modifications. For example, the committee voted to eliminate 100 units from the residential development, bringing the number of condo units down to 350. Also, Rudin agreed to cede the St. Vincent’s Triangle to the city. The triangle had been a source of contention after Rudin rejected plans by various community groups to turn the land into an AIDS memorial.

The committee’s resolution also included plans for a public school at 75 Morton Street, which is currently land owned by the state. The city will also donate funds to local arts education programs and to legal groups fighting for affordable housing in the St. Vincent’s development.

The project still faces another round of reviews from the City Planning Commission before facing a vote before the full City Council.

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Community Board 2 Rejects NYU Expansion Plan

February 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

CB2 Rejects NYU Expansion PlanIn a unanimous vote taken last Thursday, Community Board 2 soundly rejected the expansion plans NYU had proposed for its Greenwich Village campus.

The university had little hope for acquiring the CB’s approval; community opposition to the NYU expansion plans has been both loud and plentiful. Community groups gathered before the meeting to protest NYU’s actions alongside students and teachers who disagree with the university’s position.

Among the concerns voiced over the NYU expansion plan is the scope of the project; projected construction time for the “superblocks” bordered by Mercer Street, LaGuardia Place, West 3rd Street and West Houston Street is 20 years. Local preservationist groups have also raised concern over the relative ease with which the university was allowed to get city zoning requirements waived.

Still others felt that the plan would overcrowd a neighborhood already filled with college students.

The expansion of the Greenwich Village campus is part of NYU: 2031, a massive and ambitious expansion project for the university that includes projects in Midtown East as well as Downtown Brooklyn.

The CB vote, while encouraging for NYU’s opponents, is only advisory in nature. The university is currently in the middle of a Uniform Land Use Review process that culminates with a yea-or-nay vote from Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer.

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CB2 To Vote on NYU Expansion Plans Thursday

February 23, 2012 by Leave a Comment

NYU expansion plansCB2 To Vote on NYU Expansion Plans Thursday

NYU’s controversial expansion plans have been debated for the better part of a year now. The aggressive proposal calls for two blocks south of the current NYU campus in Greenwich Village to be converted into “superblocks” consisting of large new faculty buildings, student housing, and a new elementary school that may or may not have funding. The university expects to finish the project in 2031.

Reaction among Village residents to the NYU expansion plans has been loud and mostly hostile. Community board meetings on the subject have been filled with dissenting voices, and various demonstrations have been held in protest of the plan. One more is going to be held this Thursday at St. Anthony of Padua Church on Sullivan and Houston Streets to coincide with Community Board 2’s vote on the NYU expansion plans, also occurring at St. Anthony’s. The protest, which is being sponsored by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, is also being supported by NYU students and faculty who opposed the plan as well as local block associations and unions.

The NYU expansion plans have already been opposed by CB2’s Land Use Committee, and it appears likely that the Community Board will vote against the proposal. However, construction and redevelopment can continue if NYU gets the support of the City Planning Committee (which is currently conducting an Environmental Impact Study on the proposal) and Borough President Scott Stringer.

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City Planning Approves New St. Vincent’s Hospital Development

February 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

St. Vincent's Residential ProposalThe new luxury development at the former St. Vincent’s Hospital is inching closer and closer to a reality. DNAInfo reports that City Planning has approved Rudin Management’s plans to convert the old hospital into luxury apartments and commercial space.

The decision to approve the rezoning of St. Vincent’s Hospital was unanimous, and the City Planning Commission did not ask for any changes in Rudin’s original plans. City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said in the decision that the current plan “successfully integrates new and historic buildings into a site plan that respects the existing built context of the neighborhood.”

The decision outrage Village residents, many of whom have expressed vehement opposition to the new development. Andrew Berman, president of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, told the press that it was “disappointing that they gave privileges intended for a hospital to luxury condos. It’s just wrong.”

The proposal has already received approval from Borough President Scott Stringer’s office despite being rejected by Community Board 2. A City Council vote is required before any construction can proceed on the buildings.

The vote did not affect plans to convert the O’Toole building into an emergency care center. Proposals to convert the St. Vincent’s triangle into an AIDS memorial were also undiscussed.

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One Part of East Village Historic District Approved

January 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

East Village Historic DistrictLocal preservationist groups scored a major victory this week as the Landmarks Preservation Committee took the first steps towards creating an East Village historic district.

According to reports issued last week, the LPC approved the application to set up an historic district along East 10th Street, between Avenue A and Avenue B. As a result, 26 buildings on that block have acquired landmark status.

The approval vote creates one of two parts of a potential East Village historic district. The issue has been a point of contention between historical preservation groups and local houses of worship, who fear that landmark status would create restrictions for possible renovations on their buildings.

The vote on this particular section of the East Village historic district comes too late for one building: a development on 315 East 10th Street was approved by the Department of Buildings hours before the vote on the historic district could take place.

LPC Chairman Robert B. Tierney told reporters that he “believe[s] the work will not compromise the district.” Members of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation felt otherwise, issuing a statement saying, “We use this occasion to call upon the Landmarks Preservation Commission to redouble its efforts to act in a timely manner to protect the vulnerable history and character of the East Village.”

The larger segment of the East Village historic district, which would encompass parts of 1st and 2nd Avenue between East 10th Street and East 2nd Street, has yet to be voted on by the LPC.

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Village Residents Speak Out Against NYU Expansion Plans

January 11, 2012 by Leave a Comment

NYU expansion plansLast week, public hearings started to give residents a chance to voice their opinions on the NYU expansion plans that the university intends to have completed by 2031. According to a DNAInfo report from the meeting, residents had a lot to say.

Speakers at the hearings run by Community Board 2 included advocacy groups and local preservationist groups, all of which strongly oppose the NYU expansion plans. Terri Cude of the Community Action Alliance on NYU 2031 said that construction of the expanded campus would create a chaotic situation in the neighborhood, and that the end result would not benefit the community as a whole.

“We don’t really need to live on NYU’s campus,” she told the assembled crowd.

Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation called on elected officials-some of whom were present at the meeting-to vote no on the project absolutely, without compromises.

City Councilmember Margaret Chin, who represents the area, did not speak publicly for or against the NYU expansion plans, but she did say that she “will be there” for her constituents.

The plans for NYU’s expanded campus, which would re-develop two blocks bordered by Mercer Street, West 3rd Street, LaGuardia Place and West Houston Street, require an advisory vote from CB2, as well as the Borough President’s office, the City Planning Commission, and the City Council. CB2’s vote on the project is expected to come in February.

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Preservationists Prep To Fight NYU Expansion Plans

December 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

NYU expansion plans

This month, Community Board 2 will hold a series of meetings to discuss the merits, drawbacks, and general logistics of the controversial NYU expansion plans for the south-east part of Greenwich Village. In preparation for the meetings, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation has released a series of renderings that they hope will convince residents to oppose the plans.

The drawings aim to highlight the issues that the GVSHP have with the NYU expansion plans in regards to height restrictions and open space requirements. The GVSHP argue that lifting long-standing zoning restrictions in terms of height would damage the character of the neighborhood.

The drawings of the NYU expansion plans hold the proposed new buildings in comparison with the Silver Towers and the Washington Square Village towers, which the GVSHP’s website notes are larger than any building currently in the Village, but argues that “by design, [they were] surrounded with large amounts of open space and low-rise buildings to balance out their mass.” The drawings note that the new buildings, to be placed on two blocks between Houston Street and West 3rd Street, would be larger than the Silver Towers and Washington Square Village, as well as being considerably larger than most other buildings in the immediate area.

The first of the meetings on the NYU expansion plans is tentatively scheduled for January 9th. You can find out more information about the plans themselves and about public reaction to them by checking out CB2’s website here.

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East 10th Street Historic District Closer to Reality

December 21, 2011 by Leave a Comment

315 East 10th Street in the proposed East 10th Street Historic DistrictEV Grieve is reporting that the hearing for a proposed East 10th Street Historic District has been expedited by the Landmarks Preservation Commission in response to Magnum Real Estate Group’s purchase of one of the townhouses located in the district. The hearing was moved up after the LPC had heard of Magnum’s plans to build a rooftop expansion on the townhouse.

The building in question, 315 East 10th Street, was purchased from The Education Alliance, and Magnum intends to convert the building back to a residential space. However, a permit request was recently filed for the construction of a fifth floor on top of the existing four-story building.

Upon hearing of the request, the LPC expedited their hearing for the East 10th Street Historic District in response, stating that the planned rooftop expansion to 315 East 10th Street “could potentially affect the character of the district.”

The East 10th Street Historic District is a row of buildings along East 10th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B on the north side of Tompkins Square Park. The buildings in the district date back as far as the mid-19th century; 315 East 10th Street was built in 1847, according to the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation.

The LPC has a maximum of 40 days to vote on the approval of the historic district while the Department of Buildings reviews the permit applications on 315 East 10th Street.

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Designs for New East Village Apartment Building Revealed

December 13, 2011 by Leave a Comment
East Village Apartment Building at 316 East 3rd Street

East Village Apartment Building at 316 East 3rd Street

The designs for Karl Fischer’s new East Village apartment building have been revealed. The designs, which were leaked to The Local yesterday, show an East Village apartment building designed very much in what has become Fischer’s controversial style: rows of full-length glass windows and glass-trimmed balconies with red-brown brick trim.

The project, which is being developed and financed by Brody/Amirian, is being built with the intent of being entirely rentals, a rarity among new developments. However, this new East Village apartment building, like seemingly all of Fischer’s projects, does not come without controversy.

Fischer’s new building stands in the site of a former townhouse located at 316 East 3rd Street. Preservationist groups in the neighborhood advocated preserving this building and others like it, saying that its status as a pre-Civil War townhouse in the East Village makes it unique among the structures in the neighborhood. Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation president Andrew Berman cited the East Village’s history as a waterfront hub, saying that the townhouse-which may have been home to waterfront merchants-was one of the few remaining historic links to that time in the neighborhood’s history.

However, the Landmarks Preservation Committee approved the demolition of the townhouse, saying that modifications made to the building’s exterior had decreased its historic value. While preservationists were disappointed with the decision, developer Eric Brody remained optimistic in the face of the controversy, saying that he hopes to bring “new life to an underutilized asset and [add] value to the area.”

To view listings in this or any other Manhattan or Brooklyn building, please call or e-mail us to schedule a private showing at (212) 400-4838 or keytothecity@akerlyre.com.

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