Downtown Express has reports on the rather heated Community Board 1 meeting from last week, regarding the tower Scott Resnick is proposing for ‘5C,’ a city lot adjacent to PS 234 on Chambers Street. Some of the interesting details include: even though a lapse of a 40 year-old development plan allowed the develop to resubmit plans for a tower over twice its previous height, and is eligible for more attractive financing due to available Liberty Bonds, the (as of yet unpublished) sale price on the lot has dropped. Whereas I think the claims to excessive shadow issues (the park across the street will be in shadow for most of the afternoon in the summer; that park is a lot of tree cover already, and given the relative proximity of Rockefeller Park, which gets plenty of sun all day long, and a river breeze, I don’t know that a shady park in the summer is a bad thing) are specious as a complaint, I do think that giving away the store at the edge of the most expensive residential district in the country is abhorrent. The neighborhood gets a paltry 18,000sp ft. community center, and, by the looks of the model submitted, more of the mediocre design that the Resnick family has shown such great proclivity for in the past. Given the recent West Side developments, including 497 Greenwich, and Perry West (I didn’t realize they have such an unfortunate name) have demonstrated that residential development in the city can evince some design quality, instead of simply lining the pockets of a short-sighted developer. The city deserves the full value of its land, and should likewise demand the resulting project respond to all the constituents needs.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized. Bookmark the permalink. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.
5C Update
Downtown Express has reports on the rather heated Community Board 1 meeting from last week, regarding the tower Scott Resnick is proposing for ‘5C,’ a city lot adjacent to PS 234 on Chambers Street. Some of the interesting details include: even though a lapse of a 40 year-old development plan allowed the develop to resubmit plans for a tower over twice its previous height, and is eligible for more attractive financing due to available Liberty Bonds, the (as of yet unpublished) sale price on the lot has dropped. Whereas I think the claims to excessive shadow issues (the park across the street will be in shadow for most of the afternoon in the summer; that park is a lot of tree cover already, and given the relative proximity of Rockefeller Park, which gets plenty of sun all day long, and a river breeze, I don’t know that a shady park in the summer is a bad thing) are specious as a complaint, I do think that giving away the store at the edge of the most expensive residential district in the country is abhorrent. The neighborhood gets a paltry 18,000sp ft. community center, and, by the looks of the model submitted, more of the mediocre design that the Resnick family has shown such great proclivity for in the past. Given the recent West Side developments, including 497 Greenwich, and Perry West (I didn’t realize they have such an unfortunate name) have demonstrated that residential development in the city can evince some design quality, instead of simply lining the pockets of a short-sighted developer. The city deserves the full value of its land, and should likewise demand the resulting project respond to all the constituents needs.