City ends talks with Gilmartin’s group to jointly rezone former Amazon site

The city pulled out of negotiations with a group of private developers on a plan to rezone the site once slated to be Amazon’s campus in Long Island City.

Mayor Bill de Blasio’s administration scuttled the talks with a group including MaryAnne Gilmartin’s company and Bruce Teitelbaum over disagreements regarding infrastructure work at the site, Politico reported.

“We remain committed to Long Island City’s future as a thriving mixed use community. That means supporting proposals that properly account for the development’s critical infrastructure needs and impacts, like open space, transportation and water and sewer,” de Blasio spokesman Mitch Schwartz told the publication. “After extensive discussions with Your LIC developers, we are disappointed that the proposed project does not deliver on those requirements.”

PBS first tweeted out the city’s statement.

As recently as May, the consortium of developers had been moving forward with plans to build 10 to 12 million square feet of commercial and residential space around the Anable Basin.

Along with the partnership of Gilmartin’s MAG Partners, Teitelbaum’s investors and the Plaxall family, the Your LIC group pushing for the project included TF Cornerstone, which has long been teamed up with the city to rezone a property it owns nearby.

Now, with the talks broken down, the city and TF Cornerstone will move forward separately to rezone their property. [Politico] — Rich Bockmann

Contact Rich Bockmann at rb@therealdeal.com or 908-415-5229