Lots of 'Ifs' In CB1's OK of New Tower

By Andrea Appleton
POSTED JUNE 29, 2007

Community Board 1 gave its advisory approval for a 63-story residential tower at 50 West Street, near Rector. Conditional approval, that is. The board says the 725-foot tower should only be built if an abundance of community amenities—including a new pedestrian bridge across West Street and a public art gallery—come with it.  

Last month developer Time Equities, Inc., headed by well-known arts patron Francis Greenburger, sought the board’s advisory approval, the first step in an extensive city-mandated review. A Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP) is required because the developer wants several exemptions to the current zoning, as well as permission to purchase air rights from the Brooklyn Battery Garage across the street.

The full board voted on June 19 to lend its “conditional support” to the applications.

The tower would house about 300 condos and a 155-room hotel, and include a public plaza. The applications next go before Borough President Scott Stringer, followed by the City Planning Department, and finally City Council.

At a presentation earlier in the month, Philip Gesue, acquisitions director for Time Equities, Inc., argued that the building would benefit the city. Well-known architect Helmut Jahn designed the tower, and a plaza along the Joseph P. Ward and Washington Street edges of the lot would provide a pedestrian-friendly route between the southern neighborhood of Battery Park City and the rest of Lower Manhattan. Now, the only direct route from West Street to Washington Street in the vicinity is through the Brooklyn Battery Garage or up a dark sidewalk hemmed in between the garage and the adjoining building.

“It’s dangerous and illegal,” Gesue said, “and doesn’t contribute to the fabric of the community.”

While many CB1 members seemed unconvinced that the benefits of the development would offset what they saw as the negative impacts of the tower— increased traffic, the burden on local schools, and an overall change to the neighborhood’s character—the general  sentiment was one of resignation.

“It’s more than likely we’ll get this building whether we like it or not,” said Linda Belfer. “We should figure out what amenities might sweeten this mess.”

To help mitigate effects on P.S./I.S. 89, Gesue said Time Equities would  invest about $500,000 in the schools—to buy 159 laptop computers and fund a full-time computer maintenance person for four years. (Since the students will be able to use their laptops in class,  the computer room would then be converted to a classroom for P.S. 89.)

“The impact on the school, the growth, directly affects P.S. 89,” I.S. 89 principal Ellen Foote said following a presentation, “but indirectly affects I.S. 89. We’re being squeezed and the only way to maintain an appropriate level of technology is to go by this route.”

While board members applauded the offer, it did not appease them.

“Five hundred thousand dollars is a drop in the bucket for these people,” Paul Sipos said at a meeting. “We should get twice as much money for the schools.”

In addition to the computers, CB1’s resolution stipulates that the developer must include a “significant” public art gallery in the building, improve two small parks at the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel approach, and redesign the plaza to include the landing of a new pedestrian bridge.

CB1 is demanding even more from the city, which would profit from the sale of the air rights.

Among the complex zoning modifications the building’s design requires is the “demapping” of several areas associated with the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel approach. This would allow the developer to purchase air rights from the city. They would essentially buy them from the city-owned garage across the street, adding 183,000 square feet to the 275,000 square feet currently allowed.

The city has not revealed how much revenue the sale would generate, but CB1 knows just where it
should go.

“We need 100 percent of the money from the sale of the air rights to go to projects in the Lower Manhattan community,” chair Julie Menin said. The resolution lays out terms for how that money should be spent: affordable housing, green space and streetscape improvements.

On this count, CB1 may face an uphill battle. According to a City Planning source, the city has never targeted the proceeds of an air rights transaction on one area.

City Councilman Alan Gerson told the Trib that his office was looking at the legality of earmarking the funds. “But the underlying principle is that there should be additional benefits to the Lower Manhattan community,” he said. “I will be insisting on that before approving the transfer.”

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