Developer abandoned plan to convert loft to residential. 96 Springs LLC sought a special permit to allow ground floor retail use and 14 residential units at 96 Spring Street, an eight-story, 53,700-square-foot loft located on the corner of Spring and Mercer Streets in a manufacturing zone within the SoHo-Cast Iron Historic District. Currently the building contains a mix of commercial uses, with the fourth and fifth floors vacant and the ground floor occupied by a … <Read More>
City Planning Commission
Vacant Harlem commercial complex to be revitalized
Uptown retail center will have national retail chain, local vendors and restaurant. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services sought approval for the disposition of Mart 125, the one-and-a-half story, 12,210-square-foot building, located at 260 West 125th Street across from the Apollo Theater. Mart 125 was originally built in the early 1980’s as a market for local Harlem vendors and businesses. Occupancy declined over the years and the building began to deteriorate. It is currently vacant.… <Read More>
HPD pushes through 668 affordable housing units
Manhattan, Bronx and Brooklyn housing projects approved; sent to Council. On April 27 and May 11, 2005, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development obtained the Planning Commission’s approval of seven affordable housing projects, totaling 668 units, to be developed in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx. Three of the Bronx projects, including the 194-unit Prospect Avenue Tower in Melrose, the 102-unit East Clarke Place project in High Bridge, and the 63-unit Jacob’s Place project in … <Read More>
Wall Street core area gets two new parking garages
Commissioners disagree over impact of added parking in Lower Manhattan. RBNB Wall Street Owner, LLC sought the Planning Commission’s approval for an 85- space public parking garage to be located within 63 Wall Street, a 36- story building with frontage on Hanover, Beaver and Wall Streets. RBNB planned to convert the building to residential, but the proposed garage would not be restricted to the residential tenants. RBNB explained at the Commission’s March 30, 2005 hearing … <Read More>
Plaza at Millennium Hilton gets overhaul
Plaza near WTC site to be modified for open air café and extra seating. The Millennium Hilton Hotel, located at 55 Church Street between Dey and Fulton Streets in the Special Lower Manhattan District, sought a special permit to modify a previously approved 3,647-squarefoot urban plaza. The original 1980’s approval of the building granted the developers a 51,826-square-foot floor area bonus in exchange for creating the plaza. The modifications, which include new landscaped planters, an … <Read More>
40 blocks of Kissena Park down-zoned
Commission down-zones another Queens neighborhood. On April 13, 2005, the Planning Commission approved another of the Bloomberg administration’s down-zoning initiatives by rezoning 40 blocks of Kissena Park, a small residential neighborhood directly north of its namesake, the 235-acre Kissena Park.
The down-zoning, commenced at the urging of the Kissena Park Civic Association, would be the first rezoning plan passed since 1961 in this predominately one and two-family home residential neighborhood. Designed to match the context … <Read More>