Tag: kedem winery

Spitzer’s Kedem Winery Gets Bigger?

06/16/2015 | Comment

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ODA’s New (and bigger) Plan for 420 Kent

Eliot Spitzer is revealing his ODA-designed plans for the former Kedem Winery site on the Southside waterfront. The property was rezoned in 2006, and the as-of-right development more or less conforms to the rest of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint waterfront zoning – a 5.0 FAR, 20% affordable at 80% AMI, publicly-accessible waterfront esplanade. The only real difference is the height, which at 18 and 24 stories is closer to the Schaefer Landing precedent than what was allowed further north (35 to 40 stories).

But according to the Times, Spitzer’s plans call for 856 units of housing, which is almost double what was predicted in the 2006 rezoning documents (450 units back then), and he is now showing three towers instead of two. At first I assumed that the project had shifted unit sizes – pretty dramatically. Looking at BIS, though, I can only find two New Building permits, totaling 470 units in two buildings (16 and 18 stories).

420 Kent Avenue

The Old Plan

As recently as last summer, Spitzer was showing renderings (below) that matched the 2006 rezoning (that architecture was by Pasanella Klein Stolzman & Berg). So where did this third tower and extra 400 units come from?


New Towers for Williamsburg

I know, shocking, right?

This is actually a good overview of the current state of the Williamsburg waterfront, which is looking pretty towery. The last piece of Northside Piers started leasing this week (in case you missed the huge sign on top of the building). Developer Douglaston has also broken ground on the last of its Edge towers next door. This will complete the 2005 rezoning aspect of the Williamsburg waterfront. Domino is nearly demolished (the last of the bin structure went this week). ODA has filed plans for the first towers at Kedem Winery, which for once promises some real architecture for South Williasmburg (though the site is constrained by its zoning envelope, so the overall massing is unlikely to change).

One new (to me) piece of information from the article – Con Ed says that its North 3rd Street site will go on the market early next year. That site is zoned manufacturing, so expect a big affordable housing play there. But the site is also a great opportunity for open space, and any development should come with an extension of the waterfront esplanade to Grand Street. Further south, something seems ready to happen on the DCAS site just south of the Williamsburg Bridge. Again, a great opportunity for sorely needed open space for the Southside.

Also not shocking, development of Bushwick Inlet Park continues to lag a good ten to fifteen years behind the development curve. The city is near to signing a deal on the Motive site, a largely inaccessible plot that wraps the inlet itself. But nothing seems to be in the offing for the CitiStorage site (which may or may not be in play itself). So the likelihood of of the city living up to its promise for a real park at Bushwick Inlet – the supposed jewel in the crown of the 2005 rezoning – is pretty remote.