Community board rejects Washington Heights skyscraper plan

Community Board 12 has rejected plans for a skyscraper project in
Washington Heights, DNAinfo reported.

Quadriad Realty had proposed its Fort Tryon Center plan, which
envisioned two to four skyscrapers on Broadway near 192nd Street,
ranging between 23 and 40 stories. The plan would include residential
and commercial space as well as several public amenities in two of the
proposed schemes, including a refurbished subway entrance for the No. 1
train at 192nd Street and Broadway, and a plan to reconstruct Gorman
Park, a city park that sits beside the site.

In a resolution explaining its rejection, the community board calls on
Quadriad to reduce the overall density and height of the development;
create more family-sized units with at least 50 percent of them
two-bedrooms or larger; use Washington Heights and Inwood household
income data to determine affordable housing rental rates and change
the plan so that at least 50 percent of the project is made up of
affordable housing units. The resolution also requests Quadriad to
arrange for the affordable units to be registered in a
rent-stabilization program to regulate rent increases and allow for
more tenant rights.

Quadriad officials said that if they are unable to reach consensus
with the community, the developer will move ahead with an as-of-right
plan for the building, which will include no affordable housing units.
Henry Wollman, Quadraid’s chairman, said he was committed to continuing
the discussion with the community and was willing to compromise. The
Department of City Planning will soon review the board’s
recommendations and begin the Uniform Land Use Review Process. Once
that is complete, the community board will have 60 days to weigh in
with a final opinion on the project application before it finds it way before the City Council
for approval. [DNAinfo]