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New York

Stalled Williamsburg developments push for fresh permits

Projects along Kent Avenue and West Street would bring mix of market-rate, affordable units

Rendering of 155 West Street
Rendering of 155 West Street

A trio of stalled development projects along the Williamsburg waterfront are looking to renew their building permits and revive work halted during the recession.

Property owner Rector Hylan is looking to renew a 2006 permit to build 18- and 24- story towers with 450 apartment units at 420-430 Kent Avenue, two blocks from Two Trees Management’s Domino Sugar project. Twenty percent of the units in the properties would be affordable, according to DNAinfo. A nearby project at 462-490 Kent Avenue, dubbed the Rose Plaza on the River, would bring five buildings with 754 units, 226 of which would be affordable. That project was approved in 2010.

The third, a 39-story mixed-use development at 145 and 155 West Street in Greenpoint, approved back in 2009, is also looking to renew its permit for a project that includes 140 units of affordable housing in a building separate from the one that would hold market-rate units.

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Eric Palatnik, a zoning attorney representing Rector Hylan, blamed construction costs and a poor economic climate for the developer’s stalled Kent Avenue project. The project’s permit was renewed in 2011, but he did not respond to DNAinfo’s requests for comment as to why the development has been delayed since then.

Rose on The Plaza, meanwhile, was put up for sale for $210 million last year. But the site did not garner the interest brokers anticipated, with bids hovering around $70 million below ask, as The Real Deal reported at the time. As for the West Street development in Greenpoint, developers blamed a post-recession credit freeze for halting the project, Vivien Krieger, an attorney for the developers, told the news site.

The designs for West Street are now out-of-step with current zoning laws, which require integrated below-market and market-rate units in the same building, according to DNAinfo. Community Board 1’s land use committee hesitated over the issue in a recent meeting, with some members saying the affordable and market-rate units should be together. Others said the plan should be approved as is since it’s already been approved. [DNAinfo] — Julie Strickland

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Affordable Housing