City approves inclusionary zoning in Queens
The City Council last month approved the first inclusionary zoning for Queens, rezoning 110 blocks in the neighborhoods of Woodside and Maspeth. The rezoning allows property owners along these Queens Boulevard blocks to build 33 percent more housing in exchange for creating or preserving 20 percent of the floor area they develop as permanently affordable housing.
State agency approves plans for Moynihan Station
The Empire State Development Corporation last month approved the $900 million plan to remake the landmarked Farley Post Office into the Moynihan transit hub. The approval paved the way for a final vote by the state’s Public Authorities Control Board at the end of August. The new Moynihan Station could serve as a nexus for development in the West 30s.
City industrial agency approves Hudson Yards tax breaks
The board of the city’s Industrial Development Agency last month approved $650 million in tax breaks for the development of the Hudson Yards on the far West Side, Crain’s reported. The city envisions that area as becoming a commercial extension of Midtown.
Brooklyn site slated for mixed-use
The city announced a formal request for proposals for development of the former Brig site in Wallabout, Brooklyn. A mixed-use development, including affordable housing, can go up on the 103,000-square-foot, city-owned site, the New York Observer reported.
Committee rejects Trump hotel-condo
Soho residents angry over Donald Trump’s plans to build a 45-story hotel-condo on Spring Street scored a victory in late July when the local community board’s zoning committee rejected the plans on legal grounds. The board questioned the legality of building a hotel that’s partly residential in an area zoned for manufacturing, the Downtown Express reported.
City Council OKs Silvercup West plans
As expected, the City Council last month approved the proposed Silvercup West development on the Long Island City waterfront. The 2.7-million-square-foot mixed-use project will go up on six acres just south of the Queensboro Bridge. It will include 1,000 residential units, 650,000 square feet of office space, 70,000 square feet of retail space, a 40,000-square-foot catering hall and 100,000 square feet of what developers Alan Suna and Stuart Match Suna are calling cultural space.
City plans to expand Pier 94 center
The Bloomberg administration is planning to double the size of the city’s second-largest exhibition and trade show space on Pier 94 on the far West Side, the New York Times reported. The expansion would help the city capture more additional midsize trade shows, the sort that might opt out of going to the larger Jacob K. Javits Convention Center.
Politicians eye second Javits expansion
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Sen. Chuck Schumer last month proposed that a second phase of the Jacob K. Javits Center’s expansion get under way by the end of 2006, at the same time the first phase of the center’s expansion is expected to start. The second phase would cost $600 million, according to the Observer.
Construction starts on World Trade Center memorial
Construction on the World Trade Center memorial started on August 15, despite the need for more than $170 million in additional funds to complete the project, the New York Post reported. The memorial is expected to be completed by September 2009.
MTA settles with displaced businesses
The announcement was made last month that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has settled in court with 88 of the small businesses soon to be displaced by the new Fulton Street transit center. The $800 million center will displace businesses primarily on the east side of Broadway between Fulton and John streets, according to the Tribeca Tribune.