West Village waterfront rezoning moves forward
The Department of City Planning last month certified rezoning plans for the development of the West Village waterfront. The plans, endorsed by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, include reducing developable density for about half the lots in the area, the Sun reported.
City allows more stores at Plaza Hotel
The Landmarks Preservation Commission awarded landmark status last month to eight public rooms at the Plaza Hotel. That means that owner Elad Properties cannot make any changes to the rooms’ architecture without approval from the commission. The commission also approved Elad’s plans to build more stores inside the hotel, the Post reported.
Congress may bar Ratner from subsidies
Momentum is reportedly building in Congress for two bills that would bar Forest City Ratner from receiving federal subsidies for its proposed commercial development over the Atlantic rail yards in Prospect Heights, the Sun reported.
Feds give $478M for Downtown parking security
The Federal Transportation Administration announced a grant last month of $478 million for an underground vehicle screening center at the new World Trade Center site, which would monitor all incoming vehicles. The move came after the state Legislature approved a broad incentives package to lure commercial tenants to the World Trade Center site (see Commercial Market Report).
Red Hook IKEA clears legal hurdle
A Manhattan judge last month tossed out a legal challenge to the IKEA store planned for Red Hook. Residents opposed to the store, which would be IKEA’s largest in the United States, alleged that the Bloomberg administration approved it based on a faulty environmental review that ignored effects of increased traffic. The judge disagreed, saying that while the store would increase traffic, it would not have an overall adverse impact on neighborhood character. The store is expected to open in 2006, the Daily News reported.
Landmarks designates two Manhattan buildings
The Landmarks Preservation Commission designated The Windermere at 400-406 West 57th Street. The building is the oldest known large apartment complex remaining in an area that was one of Manhattan’s first apartment-house districts. The commission also designated the Dickey House at 67 Greenwich Street, which is one of the very few surviving houses of the Federal period and style below Chambers Street.
City: Tenants can buy subsidized buildings
The City Council voted 47-3 to give tenants of subsidized housing the right of first refusal the option to purchase a building if its owner opts out of either the Section 8 or Mitchell-Lama housing programs.
Rent hikes approved
The Rent Guidelines Board voted 6-3 to approve increases of 2.75 percent for one-year leases and 5.5 percent for two-year leases in New York’s 1 million rent-stabilized apartments. The increases are the lowest since 2002, and take effect on October 1, the Daily News reported.
Bloomberg changes mind about PILOT funds
After months of aggressively defending the view that he did not need approval to earmark $300 million of city money for a football stadium on Manhattan’s far West Side, Mayor Bloomberg reversed his position. Three weeks after a state board rejected the stadium proposal, Bloomberg agreed to back a bill that requires City Council approval for mayors to use so-called PILOTs payments in lieu of taxes to finance development and construction projects throughout the city, the Sun reported.