Month: June 2012

City Won’t Promise to Finish Two Long-Stalled North Brooklyn Parks

06/19/2012 | Comment

As the Brooklyn Paper reports, the Bloomberg administration has refused to commit to any goals or deliverables on the acquisition or construction of Bushwick Inlet Park or 65 Commercial Street. (I guess everyone has given up on the expansion of Barge Park?)

Financial mismanagement and planning gaffes have also stood in the way of both planned open spaces.

Bloomberg officials originally valued [the soccer field block] on the southern edge of the 28-acre Bushwick Inlet Park at about $12 million, but a judge ruled that the area’s residential rezoning meant its value was almost eight times higher.

The city eventually settled with the property owner and bought the parcel for about $93 million, according to court papers and Council testimony…

Money to build a park at Commercial Street dried up too.

In 2007, city budget hawks removed $13 million of the $14 million allocated to the park’s development and spent it on other projects.

Contrary to the headline, I don’t think anyone expects that this administration will finish either of these parks before January, 2014. But the administration can ensure that the parks will be built someday by negotiating contracts to buy all of the Bushwick Inlet properties and by moving the MTA off the Commercial Street lot once and for all.

Neither of those actions will ensure that the parks are completed anytime soon (as I said elsewhere, we are looking at decades), but they will ensure that North Brooklyn has a clear path to getting the parks we were promised seven years ago.

Brooklyn Waits on Promise of a Park

06/14/2012 | Comment

Wsj map

Stuck in Park
Source: WSJ

The Wall Street Journal has a lengthy article (and excellent graphic) on the fight to get the Bloomberg administration to follow through on the parks and affordable housing it promised Williamsburg and Greenpoint in the 2005 rezoning.

Often there are community benefit components that make rezonings more acceptable than they otherwise would be,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron, whose district includes the Williamsburg waterfront. “If those promises don’t mean anything, it’s going to be a lot harder to move forward with similar community-remaking projects


Let Us Drink in the Parks

The Post seems to be confusing private property with public parks:

Last weekend, my family had the pleasure of eating our way through the amazing Smorgasburg food festival in Williamsburg. But, in between bites of fish tacos, sandwiches piled high with smoked meat and the obligatory sweet-and-salty s’mores, something was missing.

Something, perhaps, like a locally crafted beer or a Long Island-produced wine. An adult beverage to complement the farm-to-table offerings would have made the day just perfect.

Yet the city’s made that all but impossible.

Smorgasburg (and the Brooklyn Flea) are on private property at the Edge, not in a park. Plus, they’ve already applied for, and will soon have a liquor license.

Related, Silverstein Also Looked at Domino

06/12/2012 | 1 Comment

The Commercial Observer has more information on the Two Trees acquisition of the Domino site, including the fact that two other major developers – The Related Companies and Silverstein Properties – were interested in the site.

The Observer seems to agree with everyone else (myself included) that Two Trees is a good fit for the site. But the paper also seems to misunderstand some of the issues that make the property so hard to develop:

Landmark protections at the sugar factory require that its main buildings, a square structure with the Domino logo on its facade and a behemoth brick property with a towering smokestack, be preserved. Those familiar with the site say that it would likely cost many millions of dollars to renovate and make them habitable. CPC also struck a deal with the city to build 30 percent of the project as affordable housing, a larger than normal percentage that people familiar with the development said cuts into the project’s profitability.

The refinery (the “behemoth brick property with a towering smokestack”) is a landmark, but the bin structure (the “square structure with the Domino logo on its facade”) is not a landmark. As part of its landmark approval for the refinery, CPCR did agree to move the (not very historic) Domino Sugar sign to the refinery. But the building that the sign is attached to is toast.

As for the affordable housing, there was no “deal” to develop 30% of the project as affordable housing. CPCR promised to do so, but significantly, neither the city nor CPCR’s community supporters thought it necessary to make that commitment binding. As I noted yesterday, there is a strong incentive for 20% affordable housing on the site, but technically, there is no requirement for any affordable housing as part of the project.

[via Brownstoner]

Searching for the L Train’s ‘Silver Bullet’

One quote from [Senator Dan] Squadron though struck a chord. As he noted that some rush hour trains will likely be below the MTA’s load guidelines, he let slip a key line. “This is not going to be the silver bullet, but this is real good news for L train riders,” he said. “Anyone tired of the crushing crowds and overflowing trains will now have an L train trip less likely to feel like hell.” What exactly does Squadron expect? What kind of silver bullet does he want? The MTA isn’t about to build a parallel line through Williamsburg or third-track the L train, and running trains every 180 seconds should be at least sufficient to ease some of the crowding concerns.

I can’t speak for the Senator, but his comments echo my points from last Friday – there is no silver bullet on the L train. Increased service is great, and an extra train every hour or so actually will make a difference. But no amount of automation or optimization is going to going to overcome a sick passenger on a two-track line. So overcrowding and delays will remain a fact of life, and those “residual delays” tweets will keep coming.

Residents, Pols Irked Over Slow Parks Progress

The city promised to build three parks — 28-acre Bushwick Inlet Park, Barge Park, and a park on Commercial St. in Greenpoint — as part of a 2005 waterfront rezoning to allow housing towers. Only a 7-acre chunk of Bushwick Inlet Park with a soccer field has opened.

The City Council’s Parks and Waterfront committees will be holding a hearing on the 2005 rezoning and its unkept promises.

Community Anxious Over Possible Domino Sale

06/11/2012 | Comment

Crain’s has some follow up community reaction to the news that Two Trees might be buying the Domino site. Apparently the community, or at least Isaac Abraham, is “anxious” about the sale:

Any developer or investor who wants to purchase Domino without committing itself to the 660 affordable units, should really think twice,” said Isaac Abraham, a Williamsburg community leader and housing advocate

Not to worry, says CPC, the parent company of bankrupt developer CPC Resources:

CPC Chief Executive Rafael Cestero, told Crain’s New York Business on Sunday that the new owner would be required to follow the zoning guidelines, which among other things would mean providing the affordable housing.

All of the affordable housing? Or just “the affordable housing” required under the inclusionary program (which amounts to 440 units – 20%)? CPCR was never bound to provide 30% affordable housing. Even the 20% is optional – though, as at other waterfront sites, the incentives are deep enough to make that 20% a very attractive deal. The other 10%? The community supporters of CPCR – and the city – gave that away. Hopefully someone steps up to keep CPCR’s word, but nothing is guaranteed.

Remember – 20% is the baseline. Neither CPCR nor Two Trees (nor any other developer) is obliged to build a single unit more. No one in the community should be surprised if a third party developer does’t live up to CPCR’s unsecured promises. If it wasn’t binding on CPCR, why should it be binding on anyone else?

Two Trees to Buy Domino?

06/10/2012 | Comment

The Daily News and Crain’s are reporting that CPCR has reached a deal with Two Trees to sell the Domino project for $160 million. CPCR and its partner Isaac Katan bought the Domino site in 2006 for $55 million. Since then, they have rezoned the property for residential use and gotten stuck in a morass of bankruptcy and lawsuits. The sale would allow CPC (the not-for-profit parent of CPCR) to pay off its subsidiary’s mortgages on the property (rumored to be $125 million) and go back to focusing on what they do best, which is providing financing for affordable housing.

If true, this latest development in the Domino saga bodes well for the fate of the overall project – not that that was ever really in question (prime waterfront real estate in a hot gentrifying neighborhood is a rare commodity, and someone was going to build there). Two Trees is an experienced developer that brings a wealth of expertise in developing mixed-use projects, and a long-term commitment to the neighborhoods they go into. It is particularly encouraging news with respect to the landmark refinery building – CPCR never had a viable plan for this wonderful structure and clearly saw its preservation as an impediment rather than an opportunity. Two Trees’ track record with historic buildings – including the stunning renovation of the Wythe Hotel – hopefully means that the refinery will no longer be an afterthought.

But when all is said and done, the New Domino project will be judged on the promises made to the community by CPCR. There was never any question that someone would develop this property. The question, still unanswered, is whether anyone will live up to CPCR’s unsecured promises for massive amounts of affordable housing and other community benefits that too many in the community bought into.

Two Trees is not a developer of affordable housing1 – what does that mean in terms of the promises made to the community? Certainly Two Tree can partner with an experienced affordable housing developer – but how much housing will they build, and how affordable will it be?

1. But then again, neither is CPC – and its for-profit subsidiary, CPCR, never had the depth of experience needed for a project of this scope.↩

A Grand Slam for Grand Street

Scattered showers didn’t stop backyard grilling connoisseurs from feasting at the first annual Grand Slam BBQ Battle Music and Food Festival [last Sunday]. More than just bands, beer and beef, the event also marked the neighborhood’s formal introduction to the Grand Street Alliance (GSA), an organization dedicated to developing and supporting small businesses in Williamsburg.

GSA did an amazing job with this event. The food was fantastic, the whole thing was really well run, and by the next morning, the street was nearly spotless. Good start for this organization.