William Gottlieb loses to garden in community board vote

Developer's plans to construct five-story, 16-unit apartment building hit snag

137 Attorney Street on Lower East Side and HPD's Vicki Been
137 Attorney Street on Lower East Side and HPD's Vicki Been

William Gottlieb Real Estate’s plans to build a five-story, 16-unit building at Stanton and Attorney streets suffered a setback Tuesday when a local community board committee approved a resolution supporting a garden currently at the site instead.

Both Community Board and the Department of Housing and Preservation approved of William Gottlieb Real Estate’s plans to build on three lots at 137 and 139 Attorney Street and 181 Stanton Street in 2012, according to Curbed. Three of the 16 units would be for affordable housing.

Months later, area residents turned two of the lots — previously owned by HPD — into a community garden, complete with official status from the board.

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Residents are waging a full-fledged fight against William Gottlieb Real Estate, seeking to make the garden a permanent one. In spite of pleas from an HPD representative, a community board committee voted to reject the developer’s application and transfer the garden to the Department of Parks and Recreation — thus making it harder for William Gottlieb to build, Curbed reported.

The full board is scheduled to vote on the resolution on Oct. 28.

High-end retailer Restoration Hardware recently signed a lease for roughly $250 million for 9-19 Ninth Avenue, which is owned by Gottlieb and Aurora Capital Associates, as previously reported. [Curbed]Shant Shahrigian