Eric Palatnik testifies before the Board of Standards and Appeals. Image credit: BSA
Board found the applicant had a vested right to complete construction of the building as designed. On June 2, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to permit 250 Manhattan LLC to continue constructing a six-story mixed commercial and residential building at 250 Manhattan Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The building will contain eight dwelling units and commercial space totaling 7,613 square feet of floor area.
On April 18, 2008 the Department of Buildings issued a construction permit for the applicant’s building. On July 29, 2009 the City Council voted to adopt the Greenpoint-Williamsburg Contextual Zoning text amendment, which rezoned the site of applicant’s building from C4-3 to R6B. Due to the rezoning, the applicant’s building exceeded regulations on residential floor area, commercial floor area, building height, wall height, and number of residential units.
The Board held a public hearing on the case on March 24, 2015 with a follow-up hearing on May 12. Eric Palatnik, counsel for the applicant, testified that between the time of the permit and the rezoning, however, the LLC had completed 94 percent of the foundation, along with significant percentages of masonry work, metal decking, and other aspects of the building. Mr. Palatnik testified the LLC had spent over $580,000 towards an estimated $2.17 million construction cost, just over 27 percent of the final cost, and to bring the project into compliance with current zoning and building regulations would require demolition costs of $100,000. Mr. Palatnik also testified the estimated value of the building constructed in compliance with the current zoning regulations would be $2.56 million, while the building as designed was valued at $3.61 million.
On June 2, 2015 the Board voted 4-0 to reinstate 250 Manhattan’s construction permit, recognizing it had a vested right to complete construction. In its final report, the Board recognized the applicant had performed substantial work on the building prior to the zoning change. The Board also recognized the applicant had spent a significant amount to date in constructing the building, and to bring the project into compliance with current zoning would force the applicant to incur significant financial losses.
BSA: 250 Manhattan Avenue, Brooklyn (167-14-A) (Jun. 2, 2015) (Eric Palatnik, P.C. for 250 Manhattan LLC, owner.)
By: Michael Twomey (Michael is the CityLaw Fellow and a New York Law School graduate, Class of 2014).