Things are moving along quite nicely, it turns out.

It may seem as though there has been limited tangible progress since Related Companies was tapped to develop the project in February of last year, but that is because most of the work is being done below the surface—with on the banks of the East River and the banks of housing finance.

Since last spring, HPD and the city’s Economic Development Corporation have been at work on building new infrastructure in Hunters Point South, which had been a Daily News printing plant until a few decades ago but otherwise little else. “There was nothing there,” an HPD official told The Observer.

According to the EDC's construction report for May, sanitary sewers are 100 percent complete, storm sewers are 96 percent complete and water mains are 82 percent complete. Parks infrastructure is coming along, as well, with subsurface work more than halfway finished and features like a dog run, playground, concession building and waterfront walkways taking shape.

Furthermore, the department has pegged financing to be wrapped up this fall for the first phase of the project—project financing usually closes in May and June, but given the cost and complexity of this deal, more time is being set aside to get it done. After that, a groundbreaking is scheduled for October.

At full build out, Hunters Point South will have 5,000 apartments, 60 percent of which are to be affordable, with a particular focus on middle class housing. Related is developing the first phase with Phipps Houses and Manadnock Construction, a builder of affordable housing throughout the metro area. The two towers are being designed by SHoP Architects and KPF and will house 950 units.

Last November, Deputy Mayor Robert Steel announced that all of those apartments would be affordable units, as opposed to just 75 percent of them as originally planned. Affordability ranges from $32,000 a year to $130,000 a year for a family of four.

As for mega projects in general, the city still sees much strength in that area.

"Willets Point and Atlantic Yards are two of the City’s important signature projects for sure, and the timetables have been recast somewhat," the HPD official said. "Those are two big projects in a city with a lot of big projects, so I don’t know if using them as a catch-all to characterize the state of housing production in City development projects is the right way to go."

The official also pointed to progress on projects ranging from Gotham West to Arverne as other large housing projects that continue to make progress in spite of surrounding economic issues.

And now, for some mood music:

The similarities are many. Tons of luxury condos, tons of stalled construction, tons of delayed commitments from the city. One of those is finally moving forward, though, as the city's Economic Development Corporation has finally released an RPF for Willoughby Square, a 1.15-acre park-like public plaza designed by Hargreaves Associates that includes an abolitionist memorial entitled "In Pursuit of Freedom."

The new square is yet another stroke of genius (or mortgaging of the public trust, depending on one's perspective) by the Bloomberg administration, as it is taking a prime parking lot at a prime intersection in downtown Brooklyn, shoving it underground, and building a park on top.

The result is an increase in parking spaces, to 694 (again, for better or worse), but also an increase in much-needed open space and public amenities--and all for virtually no cost to the city, as the developer of the garage will pay for the square's construction and a local BID will be in charge of maintenance.

It is an increasingly popular--and increasingly controversial--approach that has flourished since the '80s, with the creation of groups like the Central Park Conservancy and the Prospect Park Alliance, which primarily use public funds to maintain and program a handful of city parks, though they are still responsible to the Department of Parks and Recreation.

Under the free-market sensibilities of the mayor, this plan has gone into overdrive, with a number of parks, such as Hudson River Park and Brooklyn Bridge Park. They are being built by the public sector but maintained through private development on or near the parks--in the case of the former, through multi-use piers; the latter, residential development, though the Brooklyn Bridge Park plan has drawn considerable scorn and is currently under reconsideration.

Never mind that there may not even be enough money coming in through said development to keep the parks going.

With Willoughby Square, and the much larger Governors Island just across the harbor, the city has taken its plan a step further toward the Libertarian ideal of private-public space, which is what concerns so many critics: that eventually such spaces will cease to be public at all, more admission-only amusement parks than public amenities. (This is already common practice at many National Parks.)

Governors Island is open, but the soaring second phase in all those pretty renderings will not arrive until two development parcels totalling 33-acres are sold off. NYU has expressed its interest in at least one, which raises the specter of another Washington Square Park, i.e. more campus quad than public park. (Don't forget that Washington Square Park, including its controversial redesign, is still being paid for with public tax dollars.)

As for Willoughby Square, it's basically a glorified room for a below-grade parking lot. It has been called Brooklyn's Bryant Park, and not only because it's a square park surrounded by towers but also because it will be similarly managed, in this case by the MetroTech business improvement district. While it is unlikely, what is to stop MetroTech from kicking out characters it doesn't approve of or otherwise restricting access.

What's next? An airport in Central Park?

mchaban [at] observer.com / @mc_nyo

"In its inaugural season, Luna Park has not only confirmed that Coney Island remains a popular summertime destination, but now it is proving that the neighborhood can and will become a thriving year-round economic engine for the City," EDC President Seth Pinsky said in a release. "Over the next few years, as the City improves the area's infrastructure to allow for further development, we look forward to the creation of new, exciting thrills for visitors and, as importantly, even more employment opportunities for local residents."

Next summer, Luna Park will roll out four new rides, including two roller coasters, and it has plans to keep this year's thrills going with Nights of Horror at Luna Park, which runs from October 15 to October 31 and turns the park into a giant haunted house of sorts. Meanwhile, the city is expected to begin work on Steeplechase Plaza, a multi-use park at the base of the Parachute Jump. This is in addition to the $6.6 million it has already spent on infrastructure investments in the area to pave the way for the new Luna.

Echoing the sentiments of the Cyclone and Circus, Dennis Vourderis said that his family, which operates Deno's Wonderwheel Park, has had one of his best summers in 30 years of operation thanks to the new Luna Park and the city's revitalization efforts. Quoting JFK, he declared, "A rising tide raises all ships in the harbor." Not to mention all ships on the boardwalk.

Update: In case you needed further enticement to head out to the haunted boardwalk, EDC just sent along this terrifying flyer. Sandy and spooky:

mchaban@observer.com

Two of the roughly 40 nonprofit tenants have announced that they are leaving in part because the building's tax breaks, and the one-time cheap rents of the Financial District, are disappearing.

The 78-year-old, 600,000-square-foot office building, owned by Larry Silverstein, was designated the Association Center 14 years ago when the Dinkins administration was trying to revive Wall Street real estate. The city agreed to forgive nonprofit tenants real estate taxes, worth about $4 a square foot, but those original leases, and the tax breaks, are now expiring. The Guttmacher Institute, a reproductive research think tank, bought an office condo at 125 Maiden Lane this month, while the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions moved to John Street in February. Together they rented about 23,000 square feet.

"We found that the prices for leasing were much more than we could bear," said Robert D. Rosendale, the vice president for administration and finance at the Guttmacher Institute. "We were paying right around $23 [a square foot], and that was going to go to $35."

He added that the institute needed more space because of a growing staff and that staying in 120 Wall would have required renting on non-contiguous floors.

Both Mr. Rosendale and the credit union association said that there were rumors that the building would eventually be converted to residential condominiums. Dara McQuillan, a spokesman for Silverstein Properties, said, "There are no present plans to operate 120 Wall as anything other than an office building."

He added that the company had been renewing leases for as far ahead as 2017 or 2018, and the building's 100 percent leased.

"The project was developed to stop the exodus of associations from New York and it did that," said Joel Dolci, the president of the New York Society of Association Executives, which helped secure the tax breaks. "We are hoping that that does not recur. We are trying to make every effort to assist the organizations with other space."

The city Economic Development Corporation, which last year established a separate desk to serve nonprofits, is talking with other priced-out tenants and encouraging them to consider places like Long Island City and downtown Brooklyn--which also happen to be areas where great hopes for satellite office districts have so far floundered.

"The Bloomberg administration is committed to helping New York City's not-for-profits locate and expand in all five boroughs," said EDC spokeswoman Yonit Golub.

- Matthew Schuerman

The long-anticipated deal will net the city $32 million in revenue over the next 15 years, and is supposed to create 167 full-time jobs (though, for 74 acres, that number pales in comparison to ASI). It will also make it easier for the city to tell port-booster Congressman Jerrold Nadler that it hasn't given up on a blue-collar waterfront--even if it never finds space to move Red Hook's container-port operation down there.

Of course, it's not a great sign when the first press release to come up on the Axis Group Web site is "ALLIED HOLDINGS, INC. TO CUT JOBS."

Full release (the EDC's, not Axis') after the jump.

- Matthew Schuerman

NYC ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION SIGNS
LEASE WITH AXIS GROUP FOR 74-ACRE BROOKLYN SITE

Auto-Processing and General Cargo Facility Will Create More Than 300 Jobs for Local Residents and Help to Revive Brooklyn's Working Waterfront

New York City, February 26, 2007 - New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) President Robert C. Lieber today announced that a lease with the Axis Group has been finalized paving the way for the development of a maritime-dependant auto processing and general cargo facility at the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT) in Sunset Park. The 15-year lease includes a five-year renewal option and will bring the City $32 million in revenue. The facility will create 120 construction jobs, 167 full-times jobs and 130 part-time jobs, including auto-processors, longshoremen, warehouse personnel, transportation workers, and managerial staff. Axis has a stated goal of hiring 100 percent of its workers from the Sunset Park and Red Hook communities, and the company will work with Brooklyn's Fifth Avenue Committee to achieve it.

"Revitalizing South Brooklyn's working waterfront and creating additional maritime jobs is a key component of the Administration's economic development agenda, and the reactivation of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal is an incredibly important part of that effort," said EDC President Lieber. "With Axis' program for local hiring, the expected reduction in truck traffic and the company's financial commitment to help maintain what will become Bust Terminal Park, the new facility will be a true economic asset for the residents of Sunset Park and Red Hook."

"As we work to promote economic growth in all five boroughs, the City Council is working to encourage private development in the communities that need it the most," said City Council Speaker Christine Quinn. "We are proud to have worked with Axis and the Economic Development Corporation towards a facility that will create hundreds of jobs for the residents of Brooklyn and New York City. I want to thank Council Member Gonzalez and Congressman Nadler for their leadership on this important agreement."

The City will invest $40 million in SBMT for paving, other essential infrastructure work, security and rail access. Axis agreed to provide $13 million for initial capital improvements and $31 million over 20 years for maintenance of the above-grade facilities. In addition, Axis will contribute three percent of its guaranteed gross revenue, about $100,000 a year, to the maintenance of the nearby 14-acre public open space being constructed on Bush Terminal Piers 1 through 4, a much-needed amenity for the neighborhood. Axis' facility will occupy 74 of the 88 acres at SBMT.

EDC will begin construction on the infrastructure improvements this spring and Axis will begin renovation of the facility in the summer. The facility is expected to begin operations by March 2008. Axis is committed to ensuring minimal environmental impact from the operation of its facility. It will use only zero or low emission vehicles, modern "green" car washes and other environmentally friendly equipment, and innovative rail/barge methods to reduce truck trips. The City will provide full stormwater collection and control to eliminate pollution in the Gowanus Bay.

"The signing of this lease with the Axis Group is very good economic development of my district and the City of New York," said Councilmember Sara M. Gonzalez. "It brings with it much needed jobs. I want to thank the Speaker, the Council Leadership and the Administration for working with me in a collaborative effort to make this happen."

"I am thrilled that in the near future, Sunset Park residents and all of Brooklyn will benefit from the hundreds of new jobs that Axis Group will create as we work to ensure that South Brooklyn Marine Terminal reclaims its status as a thriving port facility," said Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz. "The uses of Brooklyn's waterfront are as diverse as our Borough itself, and along with a new park already in the works in Sunset Park, the Axis facility will ensure our coast is in the clear!

Axis will use SBMT primarily as a port of entry for finished automobiles and a processing facility for vehicles intended for wholesale distribution in the U.S. and abroad. Axis will also maintain general stevedoring services for containers, break bulk and other cargo. Axis plans to aggressively market SBMT for locally-demanded commodities - niche containers, construction materials, wallboard - to create additional jobs for local residents.

"The Axis Group is thrilled to be coming to New York City and the Sunset Park Community," said John L. Harrington, President of the Axis Group, Inc. "We are truly grateful to Mayor Bloomberg and the Economic Development Corporation for its vision on this project and to the local elected officials including Councilmember Sara M. Gonzalez, the Sunset Park neighborhood, and numerous business and labor leaders for helping shape this project to maximize the economic benefit to the City of New York. We are eager to begin developing this site into a leading automotive logistics import facility."

"The execution of the lease agreement with the Axis Group begins the process of bringing much needed maritime and other jobs to SBMT," said Community Board 7 Chair Randy Peers. "We applaud EDC and the Mayor's Office for their forward looking strategy for revitalizing Sunset Park's waterfront."

"The Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce supports this lease because it was the right thing to do for the community and the future of the working waterfront," said Mark Kessler, Interim President and Chief Operating Officer of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce. "Not only does the Axis lease help confirm the North Atlantic's status as a hub port for the region, but it also means approximately 300 jobs in Brooklyn. We commend Axis for agreeing to focus their initial recruitment efforts on the local community when filling those jobs. While discussions about the Brooklyn waterfront continue, it is good to know that areas like the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal will continue to be safe havens for the industry."

The Axis Auto Processing facility is just one of a number of projects underway on the Brooklyn waterfront that resulted from the Strategic Port Plan developed by EDC in 1999 to serve as a blueprint for development of New York City's maritime terminals in Brooklyn and Staten Island. EDC and the City's Department of Sanitation are currently finalizing a lease with Sims Hugo Neu, one of the nation's largest metal recyclers, to build a $25 million recycling facility for metal, glass and plastics on the 29th Street Pier within SBMT. The only facility of its type in the City, it will also employ water-borne transportation and create about 100 jobs. Last year, LaFarge Cement opened a distribution facility at the 25th Street Pier to handle bargeloads of cement powder from its plant in upstate New York. The privately-financed plant serves the local construction industry and reduces trucking on local highways. At Bush Terminal Pier 6, EDC tapped C.P. Cemento, a Brazilian-based company, to renovate a pier that has been derelict since the 1970s and create a deep-sea cement import facility.

This sounds like bureaucratic blather, but it also gives Shorris enough breathing space in case he wants to upset the EDC's plan to replace the container port with another cruise-ship terminal, of which The Observer wrote last week.

It also distinctly sends a message that the Port Authority, which has perennially toggled between being an economic development agency and a transportation agency, wants to be the former.

- Matthew Schuerman

A request for proposals issued on Tuesday asks for bidders to submit plans for a marina and marina repair shop in the Atlantic Basin and Pier 10, which the city has been leasing from the Port Authority since early 2005. The request (PDF) only very slightly mentions Pier 10, which is where the EDC has met resistance in its effort to replace the cargo-container port with Brooklyn's second cruise-ship terminal.

- Matthew Schuerman

- Tom Acitelli

-Matthew Schuerman