Government briefs

Landmarks nixes plan to drop long list of sites

The Landmarks Preservation Commission dropped its recent plan to remove 94 structures and two historic districts from the agency’s oversight. Of the more than 100 “calendared” buildings, 26 have been listed since the commission was formed in 1965, the New York Times reported, and 80 have been on the list for more than two decades. (Calendaring is the first step in the public review process, and a de facto landmark designation, given that any work permits for a calendared building must be approved by the commission.) The removals, a goal of the development community for years, the Times said, were intended to clear the backlog. Structures on the list included Staten Island’s Snug Harbor Historic District, Brooklyn’s Green-Wood Cemetery, and five Broadway theaters in Manhattan, as well as Bergdorf Goodman and President Chester A. Arthur’s house. The commission also recently rejected the proposed design for the conversion of a century-old church at 361 Central Park West to condos. The proposal would have removed stained-glass windows from the building.

NYC to consider increased mansion tax

15 CPW, home to many $1M-plus sales

City Hall is considering an increase to the so-called “mansion tax,” which taxes housing sales over $1 million an additional 1 percent, and which generated $259 million in revenue for New York State in 2013. The revenue generated by the increase would go toward funding Mayor Bill de Blasio’s $41 billion affordable-housing plan. The Wall Street Journal reported that critics of the proposal worry if the high-end luxury market slows down, tax revenue will slow with it: the mansion tax generated $176 million in 2010. Some of the city’s most prolific developers support the plan as an alternative to other proposals, such as a pied-à-terre tax. As of mid-November, the Journal found that there had been 5,285 deals over $1 million in 2014.

$1 sale of $110M development package OK’d

The sale of a 25,204-square-foot plot of land on West 53rd Street between 10th and 11th Avenue to the Clinton Housing Development Corp. for $1 was approved by the Mayor’s Office of Contract Services. The land and development rights are together valued at $110.6 million, according to an independent appraisal commissioned by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development. Clinton Housing proposes to build a 103-unit affordable development at 530-548 West 53rd Street, and to sell a portion of the unused land to Taconic Investment Partners and Ritterman Capital for some $3.1 million. Taconic and Ritterman plan a 405-unit development, including 81 affordable units. The details of the financing plan are still being worked out.

City: Developer must compromise on park

The City Planning Commission said a developer must meet with residents to craft a proposal for adding retail space at Rivergate Apartments at 401-429 East 34th Street. The commission rejected a proposal from Rivergate’s owner, UDR, to build a 4,000-square-foot, one-story retail space over a playground and basketball court adjacent to the apartments, DNAinfo reported. UDR built the park in 1985 to get permission to build a larger building. It was closed for more than two years, until the Parks Department forced UDR to re-open it in April. Community Board 6 will host a public meeting on the design process on Jan. 7.