By Kit Dillon 10/09/12 2:08pm

on the waterfront

design-image-01

Dipping Into the Future: Can +POOL Show the Way to the Future of Funding Architecture?

Last week, +POOL, that brilliant, crazy, possibly over-designed, possibly perfectly designed project that places a floating, self-filtering pool in the East River announced it was going to try and raise $1 million in the next six months to make its aquatic dreams come true. It is a prospect, which makes The Observer giddy with child-like joy. Swimming in the river, in river water no less.

That youthful excitement is infectious, especially when talking to Dong-Ping Wong, one +POOL’s founders. “It’s a simple idea that didn’t really come from anywhere,” he explained in an interview. “As for ‘Why the idea?’ It was a combination of a few things, a hot and sweaty summer looking at the water, taking the train over the water, and riding my bike over the water but never really seeing it at all. I’m from San Diego, we use and view water very differently than we do from here.” Read More

By Matt Chaban 6/28/12 8:25am

Sugar Coated

The old—and in the way—plan. (CPC Resources)

Knocking Over Domino: Two Trees Mulls Overhauling Massive Williamsburg Development, Including Reducing Affordable Units

Exactly two years ago tomorrow, the City Council approved a sweeping $1.4 billion redevelopment plan for the Domino Sugar refinery on the Williamsburg waterfront. One of the biggest concerns at the time (of which there were many) was that the grand promise made by developer CPC Resources to make 30 percent of the project’s 2,200 units would never be realized.

Nowhere in the zoning resolution was this mandated, even though it was the marquee feature of the 11-acre development, along with promises of waterfront access, top-notch open space and a school. The developer could build no affordable housing, though this would mean a smaller project, or use the city’s inclusionary housing program to gain a bonus for bigger buildings in exchange for a promise to make 20 percent of any units affordable. Anything beyond that was a promise, one even CPC Resources did not have to keep. The firm had signed a memorandum of understanding saying it would follow through on this promise, but in no why was it legally binding.

That is why when it was announced last week that Jed Walentas and his Two Trees development company is in contract the Domino site for about $180 million (three-times what CPC had paid for it in 2004, but also less an arduous and contentious public approval process), there were widespread concerns that Mr. Walentas would not live up to the promises of his predecessors. In a recent interview, the developer admitted as much.

“Basically, that analysis is correct,” Mr. Walentas told The Observer. Read More

By Sarah Grothjan and Matt Chaban 6/22/12 5:53pm

Two Wheelers

18 Photos

The Great Brooklyn Greenway

Painting the Boro Green: 14-Mile Brooklyn Greenway from Bay Ridge to Greenpoint Gets Rolling

Most New Yorkers with $14 million would likely opt for a pricey slice of real estate on the Upper East Side, maybe with a little left over for dinner for a thousand friends at Per Se. But in Brooklyn, they choose instead to spend that money on their bikes.

With $14 million in funding, secured by Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez, the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and the Regional Plan Association, the borough will finally see the completion of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway, a 14-mile foot and bike path running from Greenpoint to Bay Ridge. Some segments of the greenway already exist on some streets and riverside parks, but these funds will help stitch the entire thing together. Read More

By Matt Chaban 5/28/12 11:01am

Anchors Away

All aboard for the new Pier 17. (SHoP)

Pier 17 Sets Sail: Landmarks Commission Approves New Designs by SHoP, Still Not Sold on Another Mall

Does a developer have any obligation to undo the ills of the past?

That was the rather existential debate that took place at the Landmarks Preservation Commission earlier this month, as commissioners debated the merits of a proposal to transform Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport. While the designs by SHoP Architects were roundly applauded, and ultimately won unanimous approval, many commissioners lamented the fact that the current mall was being replaced with a new one, rather than something less commercial or even nothing at all, just a wide-open public pier.

“There’s lots of proof in Manhattan that a shopping mall never works, but nevertheless, there’s a developer who insists they have the right formula for this shopping mall to finally work, so I guess within the context of that, then the question really is—is the architecture appropriate for the Seaport?” commissioner Margery Perlmutter said.

Commissioner Fred Bland felt so strongly about the issue, including the destruction of the notable-for-its-time Ben Thompson-designed mall, that he had composed his comments earlier that day, something he said had only happened twice before in his four years on the commission (for St. Vincent’s and “for the infamous mosque”). Read More

By Matt Chaban 12/13/11 12:55pm

on the waterfront

It's no Hudson River Park... yet. (MAS)

Hope Floats! Municipal Art Society Revives Plans for East River Waterfront [Update]

Building booms come and developers go, but a good project has a way of sticking around. Times Square, Columbus Circle, Hudson River Park, Queens West, all have seen their ups and downs, all are in various states of repose.

It was almost five years ago that the Municipal Art Society began conceiving of ways to remake a stretch of the East River waterfront in front of the old Con Ed plant between 38th Street and 41st Street. At the time, the question was how to not only bring access to the water but also how to make it work with a massive residential development planned by Sheldon Solow–how to make sure this would be public space for all, and not just a Sutton Place-style backyard for luxury apartment towers.

Mr. Solow is gone, at least for now, but another benefactor has taken his place. Since the city and the United Nations reached a deal in October to hand over half of the Robert Moses playground in exchange for, among other things, $150 million for waterfront redevelopment, MAS has revived its plans for this piece of East River real estate. Read More

By Matt Chaban 11/01/11 8:30pm

on the waterfront

Going up in Greenpoint. (Dept. City Planning)

Greenpoint Colossus: Massive 10-Tower Complex Could Rise Next Year

Two weeks ago, the unthinkable happened. A new tower is coming to the Williamsburg waterfront, the first since the bubble burst three years ago. It is the biggest news in the neighborhood since then, both figuratively and literally: the third tower at North Side piers will house 500 luxury rental apartments in a 40 story tower, the largest project of its kind yet in North Brooklyn, arguably the entire borough, if the neighboring towers are included.

But really, that is nothing—at least next to the development Park Tower Group has planned. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/13/11 2:08pm

on the waterfront

7 Photos

NYC EDC

Party Like a Longshoreman

The Brooklyn Army Terminal is one of the biggest buildings in the city, spanning some 2.2 million square feet—almost as much space as 1 World Trade Center or the Empire State Building. And yet almost no one knows about this hulking monolith because it is tucked in by the bay in Sunset Park, part of the area’s once-thriving industrial waterfront. The Bloomberg administration has done much to try and revive the warehouses here—just this morning The Journal reported on three new businesses bringing in 60 jobs. But for those looking to explore this forgotten gem without having to don coveralls and gloves, grab instead your tuxe and head to this weekend’s Beaux Arts Ball. Read More