The City Planning Commission approved one major new residential complex along the Williamsburg waterfront in Brooklyn this week but the local community board voted against approval of another one.
According to an article by Andy Campbell in yesterday's edition of The Brooklyn Paper the commission voted 7 to 5 Monday to approve the mixed-use, 800-apartment complex known as Rose Plaza that had been opposed by Community Board 1 and Brooklyn Borough President Martin Martowitz in January for not have enough affordable units. They wanted about 100 more affordable units than the planned 160 units on the site, which is now occupied by Rosenberg's Certified Lumber Co., yard.
According to Howard Weiss, an attorney presenting the developers, Abraham and Isaak Rosenberg, the project was approved by the commission because it was consistent with zoning requirements of density, eight and 20 percent affordable housing, the article maintained.
Councilmember Steve Levin argued, the article said, that the 160 affordable housing units promised by the developers are insufficient and said the lack of three-bedroom units will "only exacerbate, and not mitigate, the many pressures local families face." The commission, however, said that the developer plans to increase the number of such units by 25 percent, adding that the project will not have a significant environment impact as long as it remediates the land as required.
The 3.7-acre site is south of the Schaefer Landing complex and the plan calls for towers of 18, 24 and 29 stories.
The Rose Plaza project is close to the Domino Sugar Factory development side in Williamsburg.
In today's edition of The Brooklyn Paper, Mr. Campbell write an article that last night Community Board 1 voted 23 to 12 to disapprove the proposed $1.2 billion redevelopment of the Domino Sugar plant site, a rendering of which is shown at the right.
The developer, the Community Preservation Corporation, said it would price 30 percent of the planned 2,200 apartments at below-market rates, which is 50 percent higher than the 20 percent set forth in the 2005 Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront zoning, according to the article, that also noted that some community board members also wanted the developer to pledge to help create between transportation around the western edge of Williamsburg, more open space and reduced density.
A spokesperson for the developer, Susan Pollock, said "we're committed to permanent affordability."
Meanwhile, Borough President Markowitz was reported in an article by Mike Mclaughlin in today's edition of The New York News to have sent a letter to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission charging it with "brownstone bias." "It is not appropriate public policy to place [Victorian Flatbush on hold while purely Brownstone Brooklyn is pursued," adding that "there must an equitable balance."
The article said that the landmarks commission sent a letter in January to a preservationist group "that it would delay granting landmark status for the three-lined semi-suburban blocks of Beverly Square West and Ditmas Park West, but will "press ahead with enlarging historic districts...in Park Slope and near the Brooklyn Academy of Music."
The commission defended its position by noting that "many buildings in the two Victorian neighborhoods have already been altered from their original design" and that "two other Victorian Flatbush nooks were granted historic status in 2008."
According to an article by Andy Campbell in yesterday's edition of The Brooklyn Paper the commission voted 7 to 5 Monday to approve the mixed-use, 800-apartment complex known as Rose Plaza that had been opposed by Community Board 1 and Brooklyn Borough President Martin Martowitz in January for not have enough affordable units. They wanted about 100 more affordable units than the planned 160 units on the site, which is now occupied by Rosenberg's Certified Lumber Co., yard.
According to Howard Weiss, an attorney presenting the developers, Abraham and Isaak Rosenberg, the project was approved by the commission because it was consistent with zoning requirements of density, eight and 20 percent affordable housing, the article maintained.
Councilmember Steve Levin argued, the article said, that the 160 affordable housing units promised by the developers are insufficient and said the lack of three-bedroom units will "only exacerbate, and not mitigate, the many pressures local families face." The commission, however, said that the developer plans to increase the number of such units by 25 percent, adding that the project will not have a significant environment impact as long as it remediates the land as required.
The 3.7-acre site is south of the Schaefer Landing complex and the plan calls for towers of 18, 24 and 29 stories.
The Rose Plaza project is close to the Domino Sugar Factory development side in Williamsburg.
In today's edition of The Brooklyn Paper, Mr. Campbell write an article that last night Community Board 1 voted 23 to 12 to disapprove the proposed $1.2 billion redevelopment of the Domino Sugar plant site, a rendering of which is shown at the right.
The developer, the Community Preservation Corporation, said it would price 30 percent of the planned 2,200 apartments at below-market rates, which is 50 percent higher than the 20 percent set forth in the 2005 Greenpoint/Williamsburg waterfront zoning, according to the article, that also noted that some community board members also wanted the developer to pledge to help create between transportation around the western edge of Williamsburg, more open space and reduced density.
A spokesperson for the developer, Susan Pollock, said "we're committed to permanent affordability."
Meanwhile, Borough President Markowitz was reported in an article by Mike Mclaughlin in today's edition of The New York News to have sent a letter to the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission charging it with "brownstone bias." "It is not appropriate public policy to place [Victorian Flatbush on hold while purely Brownstone Brooklyn is pursued," adding that "there must an equitable balance."
The article said that the landmarks commission sent a letter in January to a preservationist group "that it would delay granting landmark status for the three-lined semi-suburban blocks of Beverly Square West and Ditmas Park West, but will "press ahead with enlarging historic districts...in Park Slope and near the Brooklyn Academy of Music."
The commission defended its position by noting that "many buildings in the two Victorian neighborhoods have already been altered from their original design" and that "two other Victorian Flatbush nooks were granted historic status in 2008."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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