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=11#4420 Former Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, who served under Mayor Giuliani, has agreed to represent neighbors that are opposed to the plans to reopen the Brooklyn House of Detention should they decide to go to Court. Although many community members and leaders are opposed to the plan, the City continues to move forward and will soon pick an architect. Mastro has said that the City is violating several ordinances by not doing an official environment impact review or allowing it to be approved through the Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (ULURP). 2008-07-02 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4373 Several local leaders and community groups are speaking out against the City’s plan to double the size of the Brooklyn House of Detention. Councilmembers David Yassky and Bill de Blasio and Comptroller William Thompson will hold a press conference on Thursday afternoon at the House of Detention to publicly express their opposition to the proposal. In addition, two community groups composed of local residents have formed and have been holding meetings to organize strategies to challenge the City. The City’s current proposal plans to construct a second building, creating space for an additional 700 beds. 2008-06-23 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4238 The site of a proposed 49-story mixed used building in downtown Brooklyn appears to be cleared and ready for construction. The developer of the site at 384-394 Bridge Street has not made any announcements or discussed specifics about the plans with the public. It has been reported that the plans include a 435,000 square foot building with 250 market rate condos, as well as office and retail space. If built to its proposed height, it may become one of Brooklyn’s tallest buildings, surpassing the Williamsburg Savings Bank building. 2008-05-16 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4200 MetroTech Center in Downtown Brooklyn has no vacant space. MaryAnne Gilmartin of Forest City Ratner Companies said that interest currently exceeded available space and noted that the types of tenants in the commercial building are shifting from large companies, typically needing at least 100,000 square feet of space, to smaller, more creative companies. She noted that this shift of tenants is representative of the type people who live in this area and tend to work for creative firms. Gilmartin also fielded some questions on the Atlantic Yards project at the real estate roundtable held in Brooklyn Heights. 2008-05-07 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4216 Forest City Ratner announced that Weil, Gotshal, a Manhattan-based law firm, will move part of its operation to the Metrotech Building in Downtown Brooklyn. The announcement came a good time for Ratner, as his Atlantic Yards project has been facing setbacks in recent weeks. 2008-05-06 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4163 City Controller William Thompson said in a letter to Mayor Bloomberg that the plans to reopen and double the size of the Brooklyn House of Detention could risk Downtown Brooklyn's economic revitalization. The letter also suggested that selling the site could provide the City with much-needed funds. The plan to reopen the jail with retail stores on the ground level has been controversial – many neighbors have been trying to block the proposal since 2005 and are considering filing a lawsuit. City officials argue that the reopening the jail will save the City money and bring Brooklyn defendants (now held on Rikers Island) closer to their lawyers, courts and families. 2008-04-30 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4137 Hilton announced plans to build its first New York City hotel in Downtown Brooklyn. The Homewood Suites and the Hilton Garden Inn will occupy approximately the first 25 floors of the 38-story Oro II on Gold Street. The rest of the high-rise tower will consist of 74 residential units. While the Homewood Suites and the Hilton Garden Inn will occupy the same building, they will each have their own lobby and elevator banks. Construction is expected to begin as early as next month and the expected date of completion for the project is September 2009. 2008-04-23 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4047 Developer BFC Partners have released renderings for their residential tower being built at Myrtle Avenue and Flatbush Avenue in downtown Brooklyn. The 37-story tower, which will be called the “Toren,” will be predominately residential space but will include ground floor retail and other amenities for the residents. The developer calls the design, a work by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Architects, “skyline-defining architecture.” The building, which will be LEED-certified, has multi-level roof garden and its own co-generation plant that will generate electricity and heat for the building. 2008-04-04 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#4018 In addition to adding ground floor retail to the facility, the City has plans to double the capacity of the Brooklyn House of Detention. A group of community members, Brooklyn HOD Community Stakeholders Group, is angry that more public input was not taken before the City moved forward with their design proposals. A developer may be chosen as early as July. 2008-04-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3974 A new hotel will be built on the corner of Tillary Street and Flatbush Avenue Extension in downtown Brooklyn. Magna Hospitality Group purchased the 4,700 square-foot site for $10.8 million to develop a Hampton Inn Hotel where the Pepper & Potter auto dealership once existed. 2008-03-26 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3888 A memo that has recently surfaced shows that officials from the City University of New York (CUNY) initiated the termination of the deal between the school and developer Bruce Ratner to build a lab and classroom in space in addition to a residential tower in downtown Brooklyn, contrary to earlier reports that the split was mutual. In the memo, which was dated February 22 – just a few days before news of the split broke, CUNY Vice Chancellor Iris Weinshall cited the project’s rising costs that would be difficult for the developer to cover considering the downturn in the residential market. She also noted that proceeding on the project without Ratner’s involvement might expedite its completion. A spokesperson for Ratner denies that the developer’s involvement would have caused project delays. 2008-03-08 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3852 Developer Forest City Ratner has pulled out of plans to develop the City Tech Tower in Downtown Brooklyn. Due to rising costs, the City University of New York and Ratner mutually decided not to go forward with the plans to build a 100 story tower that would have housed dorms and lab space for City Tech. City Tech still plans to build the tower, but it will no longer be built as a public private partnership. Some speculated that Ratner was facing financial troubles and realized that large residential towers face risk in the current market. 2008-03-01 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3774 Tentative plans for the redevelopment of the Brooklyn House of Detention which included shops on the ground-floor level were revealed at a meeting of the American Institute of Design. The city plans to reopen and double the size of the jail by 2012. Efforts to put offices, hotels or apartments alongside the jail were dropped a couple of months ago due to lack of interest from developers. Community activists still oppose the reopening of the jail regardless of plans for more retail space. 2008-02-13 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3734 According to some real-estate estimates, the Pintchik family of Pintchik’s Hardware own profitable property and air rights that may be worth up to $100 million. The holdings are located on Flatbush Avenue at a crossing point of four Brooklyn neighborhoods: Downtown Brooklyn, Fort Greene, Prospect Heights, and Park Slope. The Pintchik’s have divided their plans into two phases. The first phase will include changing the type of retail within their buildings and adding expansions to create space for new apartments. The second phase will be a development of up to four mixed-use buildings along Flatbush throughout the next three to four years. 2008-02-07 00:00:00 http://www.plannyc.org/modules.php?op=modload&name=Issues&file=index&catid=1&issueid=11#3668 Although reports indicate that the development in downtown Brooklyn will bring an estimated 15,000 new residents into the area and generate a lively community, current residents are frustrated because the construction has forced many neighborhood stores and amenities to close. Also, business owners in the area are upset about being forced out of the area without relocation help from the government. 2008-01-28 00:00:00