Dumbo NYC

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The Community Board 2 committee approved Toll Brothers’ building design for the vacant land on 205 Water Street on Wednesday night. The Brooklyn Paper reports that the CB2 committee felt the design “fit the DUMBO context, committee members also said they appreciated that the developers did not shoot for the full 12 stories that the current zoning allows. Instead, the housing will remain at seven stories, except for one luxury condo unit that will extend to nine stories on one side.”

The project will contain 67 market-rate units and 86 parking spaces in an underground garage. The current zoning in the landmark district of DUMBO doesn’t require 20-percent of the units to be below-market-rate housing at each residential complex — but the landmark zoning of 2007 requires that the project be voted on by the Landmarks Commission. After the project reaches the full community board, it heads to the commission for an April 6 vote.

“We loved the gritty nature of this industrial area, and that was our inspiration,” said Navid Maqami of GreenbergFarrow, the project’s architects. “The rust colors, steel and concrete — these are what you find in DUMBO.” In a Crain’s article, David Von Spreckelsen, a senior vice president at Toll says “Besides Brooklyn Heights, this is the only desirable place in Brooklyn where we would want to do a project now,” He mentioned how little inventory there is in Dumbo and that “recent resales of existing condos in the neighborhood have been between $800 and $1,200 per square foot.”

Toll bought the vacant lot at 205 Water St. for $100 per square foot in December.

{CB2: This project takes no ‘Toll’ on DUMBO, 18Mar2010, Brooklyn Paper}
{205 Water Street Plans Revealed at Community Board, 18Mar2010, Brownstoner}

Previously:
{Toll Brothers to Build Condos at 205 Water St, 07Jan2010}
{Demolition at 205 Water Street, 24Jan2007}
{In the Press: Demolishing 205 Water Street, 27Jan2007}
{Stop Work Order Violation Issued at 205 Water Street, 14Feb2007}

192 Water Street:

The Landmarks Preservation Commission approved a certificate of appropriateness to amend previous approval to alter ground floor and install a marquee in their last meeting for 192 Water Street. As previously noted, the owners are converting the ground floor and lower floor into a 250 person live performance theatre and plan on creating 10 condominium units on floors three through five.

9 Old Fulton Street:

Also, in an upcoming hearing on May 5, 2009, the LPC will be reviewing an application for 9 Old Fulton Street in the Fulton Ferry Historic District, a vacant lot, to construct a four-story building with a one-story penthouse (Zoned M2-1). According to the Fulton Ferry Landing Association, “the application was approved by the CB2 Land Use Committee over several no votes; a motion to approve without a rooftop “mezzanine” was defeated by one vote.” They follow with:

“The design has been described to us as a penthouse “cube” on top of the 4-story building. We have concerns that the bulkhead will encroach on the view of the Bridge, will be seen from the street, and will be inconsistent with the historic character of this row of houses, whose history extends back to the 1830’s. A Public viewing of the plans will be held at the Landmarks Preservation Commission office, 1 Centre Street, May 1st followed by a Public Hearing on Tuesday, May 5th, starting at 9:30 am on the 9th floor. If you are interested please come, see for yourself, and most importantly, speak to the LPC on May 5th about the importance of maintaining the character of this historic neighborhood.”

If anyone has design renderings, please email us.

Previously:
{Stop Work Order Issued at 192 Water Street, 06Jan2009}
{192 Water Street Construction Moving Forward, 23Jul2008}
{Condo and Theatre Conversion at 192 Water Street, 02Jan2008}

(Photo from storefrontnews.org)

From Dumbo Improvement District:

Please join the Dumbo Improvement District and Studio-X, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Raumlabor & Inhabitat tomorrow for

a real-time, ecologically based competition based on “Iron Chef” and held within Spacebuster by Raumlabor.

Spacebuster is a mobile inflatable structure – a portable, expandable pavilion – that is designed to transform public spaces of all kinds into points for community gathering.

The pavilion is comprised of an inflatable bubble-like dome that emerges from a step van that also houses the compressor that keeps the Spacebuster inflated. The dome expands and organically adjusts to its surroundings, be it in a field, a wooded park, or below a highway overpass. The material is a translucent plastic that allows the events taking place inside of the shelter – screenings, lectures, dinners or discussions – to be entirely visible from the outside. Likewise the exterior environments become the events’ backdrops.

IRON DESIGNER Features Teams of Third-Year M.Arch students from:

• Columbia University GSAPP
• Parsons The New School for Design
• City College of New York
• Pratt Institute

Thursday, April 23rd @ 7PM
Meet at the Pearl Street Triangle in DUMBO, Brooklyn
The winning team will be featured on Inhabitat.com

Sponsored by Studio-X/Columbia University GSAPP, Storefront for Art and Architecture, Raumlabor, Dumbo Improvement District and Inhabitat.

Related:
{Manhattan Bridge Arch Now Open Permanently, 20Apr2009}
{Bubblicious Spacebuster to Take On High Line, Dumbo, 20Apr2009, Curbed}

The City Planning Commission voted today in favor of rezoning the Dock Street location to residential with a vote of 11-2. The vote was “the most difficult to date” according to Amanda Burden, Chair of the City Planning Commission. The CPC recommended that the building be cut by one story, as reported by the Brooklyn Paper:

In ordering a height reduction and the cut-out section from the mid-rise portion of the building, the Commission seemed to at least be partially swayed by a late push by Brooklyn Bridge historian David McCullough, who visited the fabled span this month to call for the Walentas proposal to not only be halted, but for other buildings around the bridge to be demolished for a national park.

McCullough’s viewpoint was published in Newsweek last week. The next step of the process will move to the City Council for a vote.

The Dumbo Neighborhood Alliance (DNA) has been a vocal opposition to the height, distance, and the mass of the proposed development and will no doubt be releasing a statement. We received word from them that in addition to David McCullough, several celebrities will be starring in supporting roles in their grass roots campaign. Gabriel Byrne of The Usual Suspects and HBO’s In Treatment, Helen Hunt of As Good as It Gets and Mad About You, Gary Sinise of The Green Mile and Forrest Gump, Ana Gasteyer of Saturday Night Live and Mean Girls, Emmy Award winning documentary filmmaker Ken Burns of Brooklyn Bridge and The Civil War fame and Skipp Sudduth of Third Watch and Law & Order have all added their support to the opposition of the proposed 18-story building.

{Past Dock St Dumbo posts}

The Department of City Planning’s proposed Dumbo rezoning was voted on by the full Community Board last night. Yesterday’s vote by the full board rejected the proposed rezoning by a vote of 13-10. CB2 members who voted against felt that the 12 story height limit is too tall for the neighborhood, while the Dumbo Improvement District argues that an increase in residents would help businesses in the area. CB2’s Land Use Committee on March 19th, 2009 voted 8-6 to disapprove the rezoning. The Community Board is only advisory, and the Borough President Markowitz will vote on the plan for the City Planning Commission.

Are you for or against the proposed rezoning of Dumbo?

• Against
• For

View Results

{Rezoning is the elephant in the room in DUMBO, Brooklyn Paper}
{Dumbo Rezoning Plan Hearing Results, 20Mar2009}
{Dumbo Rezoning Public Hearing, 18Mar2009}
{Dumbo Rezoning Proposal on the Table, 19Feb2009}

[For those who were able to attend, please let us know how it went.]

Per Dumbo Neighborhood Association:

The Department of City Planning (DCP) has initiated a 10 block rezoning in DUMBO. Under the proposed plan, the current industrial zoning for this area would be changed to allow 12-story residential buildings to replace the mostly 2 to 6-story buildings in the affected blocks. This will have an impact on people currently living or working in DUMBO as it will substantially increase building heights and, equally as important, alter the mixed-use character of the neighborhood.

The DCP’s website states that the proposal was developed “in consultation with Community Board 2, local civic groups and elected officials,” yet many people living or working in the community haven’t even heard about DCP’s plan. Download details of Public Hearing. The hearing is a good chance for everyone to get introduced to the proposal and raise any concerns or questions.

DATE: Wednesday, March 18, 2009
TIME: 6:00 p.m.
PLACE: Polytechnic Institute
5 Metrotech Center, LC 400

Also, please join State Senator Daniel Squadron as he presents his proposal for Brooklyn Bridge Park.
Date: Thursday, March 19
Time: 6:30 pm
Place: Long Island College Hospital, Conference Rooms A & B 339 Hicks Street, (corner of Hicks and Atlantic)

Download flyer for Brooklyn Bridge Park meeting.

Previously: {Dumbo Rezoning Proposal on the Table, 19Feb2009}

The City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden announced on Tuesday the beginning of public review for a rezoning in Dumbo. City Planning has been working on the plan in consultation with Community Board 2, local civic groups and elected officials and in coordination with the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) since first announced almost a year ago. The proposed rezoning area does not cover all of Dumbo Historic District, but mostly areas East of the Manhattan Bridge in Dumbo. The plan would provide for an estimated 891 new units of housing in new and renovated loft buildings and provide regulations to ensure that new development is in keeping with the neighborhood’s historic built character.

The rezoning follows LPC’s designation of Dumbo Historic District on December 18, 2007 and approved by the City Planning Commission (25-Feb-2008) and City Council (16-Apr-2008).

“The proposed rezoning would change the current M1-2 and M3-1 manufacturing zoning designations, which neither permit residential use nor have height limits, to mixed-use contextual zoning districts that would better reflect and preserve the unique character of the neighborhood. Moreover, unlike the heavy industrial uses permitted in the M3-1, uses in the mixed use zoning districts would be more compatible with the changing land use patterns. Much of the growth is expected to be in conversions of existing loft buildings.”

Based on the presentation by City Planning, the plan looks to foster development of East Dumbo while preserving the character of the neighborhood. In the presentation, while it emphasizes that most of the developments are existing building conversions, a few renderings of Jay Street and Bridge Street were shown to visualize the height limits of new developments.

 Jay Street looking north

 Water Street looking West

The next steps? The Dumbo rezoning will now be reviewed by Brooklyn Community Board 2 (by April 27, 2009), after which it will go to the Borough President (30 days), the City Planning Commission (60 days) and the City Council (50 days) as part of the City’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). How do you think the proposed rezoning will change Dumbo?

{City Planning Press Release, 17Feb2009, NYC.gov}
{Dumbo Rezoning Plan, NYC.gov}

The office of State Senator Daniel Squadron announced today that the Dock Street entrance to Empire-Fulton Ferry State Park is NOW open, after being closed for over a year. The opening comes in response to a request from State Senator Squadron. It’s about time the main entrance is opened, after stabilizing the deterioration of the Empire Stores building. Now only if the state can find funding to restore the historic buildings…

Press release from Senator Squadron after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry »

(Photo from savethebrooklynbridge.org)

On January 14, the Community Board 2 met to vote on the proposed rezoning of the Dock Street Dumbo project and was approved 30 to 7 for the project. This evening, as part of the next step of the ULURP (Uniform Land Use Review Procedure) approval process, a public hearing will take place by Marty Markowitz (borough president) from 4 to 9 pm in the Brooklyn Borough Hall Courtroom, second floor, 209 Joralemon St. Below is a letter to the residents of Dumbo from Andrew Stengel, a member of the Community Board 2 on the reasons he opposes the Dock Street zoning application. Please note that this posting is not an endorsement for or against the project by DumboNYC. To be fair, please visit Two Tree Management’s website to read letters from the supporters of the plan:

To the Residents of Dumbo and Surrounding Communities:

I live in Dumbo and I am on Community Board 2 and its Land Use Committee.

As you likely know by now, Land Use rejected the developer’s Dock St. ULURP application by a vote of 7-6 (approved by the full board 30-7) and passed a resolution recommending R7B zoning, i.e., 75-foot height limit, by a 10-1 vote (two abstentions) that was never acted upon by the board.

There at least a dozen reasons I oppose the current Dock St. zoning application. Following are explanations for two of the primary issues.

The argument presented to the community is: you can have a new 300-seat public middle school and 80/20 housing only if we build an 18-story, over 200-foot tall building, adjacent to the Brooklyn Bridge. So, do we want to preserve the Brooklyn Bridge or build a new school? This is a completely false choice. (I agree that anything developed at the site should indeed include 80/20 housing. Affordable housing is a serious concern in the community.)

A new public school is a discrete issue. The process to choose Dock St. as the site for a new school was completely dysfunctional and lacked any transparency. (Trust me, I know dysfunction when I see it.) The Department of Education’s search should have started with the question: what do we need to serve the children of the community? Then, where is the best place to do it? Instead DOE apparently settled on Dock St. as the only choice.

The Department of Education has failed to do its homework regarding all of the possible sites for a new middle school in Dumbo and Brooklyn Heights. How do we know there aren’t existing sites that could house a 45,000 square foot facility? (I do wonder if real estate owners have been in contact with DOE.) Set aside the issues of financing for the Dock St. development, what about potential construction delays? (Atlantic Yards, anyone?) With an existing facility there would be no question–if or when?–about construction.

A second, equally important issue, is context. The buildings adjacent and nearest to Dock St. are three, four, five and seven stories–and the Dock St. lot currently includes a one-story building. In that area 18 stories–more than 210 feet with mechanical–is simply wrong. Context, like beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But only those blinded with emotion about a new school could possibly see Dock St. as contextual. (Please visit savethebrooklynbridge.org/renderings.asp for images representing the comparative height and bulk of Dock St. from the vantage point of the bridge and streets.)

It is true that buildings a few blocks away from the Dock St. site rise to an similar height. Yes, they are a few blocks away and not thisclose to the Brooklyn Bridge, a national historic landmark. This is not about a view from somebody’s apartment. It is about everybody’s view–whether standing on a street on Dumbo or looking out from the Brooklyn Bridge roadway.

In sum, I believe we can and should have reading, writing and responsible development.

Sincerely,
Andrew Stengel

{Borough President Official Hearing Notice (pdf)}
{Past Dock Street posts}

A Landmark permit and Certificate of Appropriateness was issued to DumboSpace, the owners of 192 Water Street building at the end of March. Recent activity started on the building, which is planned for residential use with a ground floor theater and recording studio and gallery on the second floor. According to the NYC building permit,

The proposed work, as approved, includes the removal of masonry at the ground floor Water Street elevation and combining two existing masonry openings to create one large opening with a concrete lintel to match existing; the installation of glass and steel storefront painted forest green color with multiple fixed lights, a lit logo reading “Dumbo Space”, and a double leaf wooden door; the installation of a green painted steel awning with recessed lighting and lit steel logo reading “Dumbo Space”; the removal of three metal doors at the first floor of the Water Street elevation and the installation of two metal doors painted forest green with fixed single light transoms, and one glass and metal framed door with a fixed single light transom, all within existing masonry openings; the construction of a one story rooftop addition, a stair bulkhead, and a elevator bulkhead clad in brick with three paired, and one single glass and metal framed doors, exterior lighting, a metal ladder and railing leading to the roof at the Water Street elevation; and four paired glass and metal framed doors at the rear elevation.

The Landmark Commission noted in the DUMBO Historic District designation report that describe 192 Water Street as an “American Round Arch style stable designed by Edward N. Stone and built in 1898″; and that the style, scale, materials, and details of the building are among the features that contribute to the special architectural and historic character of the DUMBO Historic District. Sounds like an interesting project and we’re looking forward to the finished “Dumbo Space.”

Previously: {Condo and Theatre Conversion at 192 Water Street, 02Jan2008}