http://www.planNYC.org/ PlanNYC | New York City Planning Information Portal en-us ja3n@earthlink.net http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#4196 The City’s Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) rejected an appeal by neighborhood groups and preservationists arguing that the Trump Soho Condominiums violated zoning regulations. This ruling was supported by the Buildings Department. Opponents of the towers have the ability to take their appeal to a state trial court, which they have indicated that they will do. 2008-05-07 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#3975 Construction on the site of the Trump hotel has been put on hold due to safety violations. Recent crane inspections performed by the City’s Department of Buildings found a crane on site to be out of code. 2008-03-27 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#3892 A loose chain struck nearly a dozen windows in the Trump SoHo tower on Saturday night during high gusts of wind. Officials and neighbors say that the accident sent glass falling to the street, although no one was injured. The Buildings Department issued a stop-work order to the developer, Bovis Lend Lease, and cited the company for failing to secure the chain. Bovis was cited for safety violations earlier this year when a worker laying concrete fell to his death. 2008-03-10 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#3688 The city’s Board of Standards and Appeals has scheduled a public hearing on the approval process for the Trump Soho tower for February 27. The Greenwich Village Society for Historical Preservation is challenging the approval process and attempting to get the Soho’s approval taken away. A construction accident occurred at the site earlier in the year. 2008-01-29 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#3614 Part of the Trump SoHo hotel and condominium tower collapsed, causing a worker to fall 42 stories to his death. Two other workers were injured. The Buildings Department halted work at the site pending an investigation of the collapse. The site’s general contractor, which has been cited for safety and environmental violations in the past, is also performing an internal investigation. A spokesman for a group challenging the building permit in court noted that the construction seemed to be moving quickly, perhaps to avoid legal challenges. 2008-01-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#3004 Efforts by the SoHo Alliance to block the Trump SoHo project have been unsuccessful thus far. The Alliance had appealed in July to the city’s Department of Buildings to revoke Trump’s permit because there would be no way to properly enforce “the project’s so-called restrictive plan” which limits how long an occupant can reside in the building since residential use is not permitted. The Buildings Department has stood by their decision to issue the permit. SoHo Alliance will now appeal to the city Board of Standards and Appeals. 2007-09-11 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#2930 Early demand for developer Donald Trump's condominium hotel in Soho is impressively high, says the New York Post. Sources claim that 2,800 applications have already been received for 500 units, catching prices of nearly $2,700 per square foot. The units have an occupancy limit of 120 days per year. Trump's condominium hotel project has been controversial from its inception. Opponents have criticized what they believe is a manipulation of the neighborhood's designation as a manufacturing zone. 2007-08-16 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#2592 The Department of Buildings has issued an approval for the controversial Trump “condo-hotel” between Spring and Varick Streets. The area, zoned for manufacturing, allows transient hotels as of right but the Bloomberg administration negotiated a deal limiting owners of the hotel's units to stays not exceeding 29 consecutive days and 120 total days per year. The building, at 45-stories, will be the tallest structure between the financial district and midtown. 2007-05-08 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#2162 Protestors gathered yesterday to speak out against Trump’s Condo-Hotel in Soho, stating that it not only defies zoning laws but that the project is inappropriate in the low-rise neighborhood. The area is currently a manufacturing district, but zoning laws allow for creation of traditional hotels. Controversy focuses on fact that the Trump tower may be largely residential rather a functioning hotel. 2007-03-05 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#2076 Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, has attempted to prevent development that he believes to be out of character with the history of the Greenwich Village neighborhood. Along with his group, Berman has fought developer Donald Trump's proposed condominium hotel at Varick and Spring streets, challenged "illegal" billboards, and called for the creation of a historic landmark district around Washington Square Park to honor immigrant and working-class history. Not entirely opposed to development, Berman says that he supports development that "makes the best use possible of historic buildings." 2007-02-19 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#2044 This article in the Real Deal outlines the parameters of the debate to allow a "hotel-condo" in a manufacturing zone, as developer Donald Trump is hoping that the city's zoning restrictions will approve the construction of his 45-story tower at 246 Spring Street. The premise of the property is to allow occupants to buy rooms and live in them part-time. Currently, zoning permits only traditional hotels in manufacturing zones. Proponents claim that the city's economy depends upon tourism, citing 44 million visitors in 2006. Accordingly, they say that the city's manufacturing areas have changed since 1961, the date of New York's last comprehensive zoning. Critics say that "condo-hotels" set a bad precedent in manufacturing neighborhoods, compromising low-rise scale. The city has yet to decide how transient hotels fit into zoning classifications. 2007-02-14 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#1933 Several city officials are pushing to close the loopholes in Manhattan zoning laws which allowed Trump to obtain a building permit for his Soho Condo-Hotel without any public review. Opponents are concerned about the impact of allowing residential construction in what are meant to be manufacturing zones, and are questioning whether the condo-hotels residents would really truly be transient in nature. As hotels are considered acceptable projects in manufacturing zones, the project escaped public land use review process. 2007-01-25 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#1911 Plans for Trump’s condominium hotel have been rejected for the third time for not being in compliance with zoning regulations. However, the Department of Builds has stated that they will issue a building permit if they receive plans that are acceptable within current zoning requirements. 2007-01-20 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#1793 Recent inquiries into Developer Donald Trump’s proposed condominium hotel by government and community officials have led to changes in the project’s marketing strategy. The developer removed a question on its website, which asked if buyers would use the property as: “primary residence,” “secondary residence,” or “investment property.” NYC & Co., the convention and tourism bureau, also removed a section of its website that described the condo hotel proposal as something where buyers, ““might live there year-round, from time to time or seasonally.” 2006-12-12 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=83#1718 Brooklyn activists are concerned about the effect of a recent Bloomberg administration ruling to enable condo-hotels to be constructed in manufacturing zones, a decision that has tremendous implications for sections of Brooklyn including Red Hook, Gowanus and Sunset Park. The City’s decision was a result of Donald Trump’s plan to build a condo-hotel in a manufacturing area of Soho. 2006-11-24 00:00:00