City Planning Commission

Bronx’s Kingsbridge Armory plan heads to Council

Proposed redevelopment of the Bronx’s Kingsbridge Armory. Image: Courtesy of Related Companies.

City Planning Commission approved Related Companies’ Kingsbridge Armory plan,with four Commissioners voting against proposal. On October 19, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved Related Companies’ proposal to redevelop the landmarked Kingsbridge Armory in northwest Bronx. The plan is a result of the combined efforts of the EDC and the Kingsbridge Armory Task Force, which was established by the City in 2006 to facilitate … <Read More>

South Brooklyn rezoning approved

Carroll Gardens and Columbia Street neighborhoods rezoned to prevent out-of-scale development. On October 28, 2009, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s rezoning proposal for 86 blocks in Brooklyn’s Carroll Gardens and Columbia Street neighborhoods. The approved plan replaces the area’s R6 zoning with contextual districts in order to establish height limits to preserve the neighborhoods’ existing built character. The area is characterized by three- to four-story rowhouses with some four- to five-story … <Read More>

City Island housing development approved

 

City Island Estates’ proposed residential development on City Island. Image: Courtesy of Lessard Group Architects.

Developer sought height waiver for proposed development abutting Long Island Sound. On October 14, 2009, the City Council approved City Island Estates’ proposal to build a residential development abutting the eastern shore of Long Island Sound at 226 Fordham Place on City Island. The 43-unit project includes 21 two-family, side-by-side, detached residences and one single-family, detached home. Five of … <Read More>

Grocery store zoning incentives debated

FRESH program would create incentives to encourage developing full-line grocery stores in underserved neighborhoods. On October 26, 2009, the City Council’s Zoning & Franchises Subcommittee heard testimony on the City’s proposed Food Retail Expansion to Support Health (FRESH) program. The program would provide zoning and financial incentives to encourage grocerystores in neighborhoods identified in a 2008 study as being underserved by stores offering a full range of fresh food. These neighborhoods are located primarily … <Read More>

Council approved Hines’s 1,050-foot MoMA tower

Council refused Hines’s request to restore the 200 feet cut from the proposed MoMA tower. On October 14, 2009, the City Council approved a modified version of Hines Interests’ proposal to build a mixed-use tower adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art complex at 53 West 53rd Street in Midtown, Manhattan. The original proposal called for an 85-story, 1,250-foot tower that would include 51,949 sq.ft. of additional gallery space for MoMA, a 147,965 sq.ft. hotel, … <Read More>

Loft development approved

New mixed-use development at 470 Vanderbilt Avenue. Image: Courtesy Goldstein Hill & West Architects/ Costas Kondylis & Partners.

Project will provide 376 residential units, 616,555 sq.ft. of commercial floor area, and up to 397 underground parking spaces. The City Council approved GFI Development Company’s proposal to build a new 12-story mixed-use building and expand and renovate an existing 10- story loft building located on a full block bounded by Fulton Street and Vanderbilt, Atlantic, and … <Read More>