londonlawyer
October 1st, 2007, 05:27 PM
From Curbed.com's Oct. 1, 2007 edition:
The Walentas family isn't sticking to Brooklyn. They're back in Manhattan and digging a huge hole at 770 Eleventh Avenue on the northern edge of Hell's Kitchen. According to the Department of Buildings, they've hired the whiz kids at TEN Arquitectos to design a BIG project here. Money and talent. This could be good.
They're calling the development Clinton Park. It's an obvious choice, as the site overlooks the weather-beaten but well-used DeWitt Clinton Park. The Walentas parcel covers nearly 100,000 square feet and was a vast Verizon parking lot when they bought it a year ago for a cool $130 million.
The goal is 900 apartments, but given that current zoning doesn't allow residential use, the plan will require major finessing. City Planning now has a whole list (warning PDF) of "Land Use" ideas for the Walentas site, including variances for height and set-backs along with a bonus for inclusionary housing. The Walentases know this could be a long shot, so they've even thrown in some new horse stables for our boys in blue.
However, the gang at Community Board 4 are no push-overs and have already written that "In anticipation of zoning and other regulatory applications in the area, the Board now wishes to remind itself and others of its basic position for the area." Democracy In Action. Uh oh.
The Walentas family isn't sticking to Brooklyn. They're back in Manhattan and digging a huge hole at 770 Eleventh Avenue on the northern edge of Hell's Kitchen. According to the Department of Buildings, they've hired the whiz kids at TEN Arquitectos to design a BIG project here. Money and talent. This could be good.
They're calling the development Clinton Park. It's an obvious choice, as the site overlooks the weather-beaten but well-used DeWitt Clinton Park. The Walentas parcel covers nearly 100,000 square feet and was a vast Verizon parking lot when they bought it a year ago for a cool $130 million.
The goal is 900 apartments, but given that current zoning doesn't allow residential use, the plan will require major finessing. City Planning now has a whole list (warning PDF) of "Land Use" ideas for the Walentas site, including variances for height and set-backs along with a bonus for inclusionary housing. The Walentases know this could be a long shot, so they've even thrown in some new horse stables for our boys in blue.
However, the gang at Community Board 4 are no push-overs and have already written that "In anticipation of zoning and other regulatory applications in the area, the Board now wishes to remind itself and others of its basic position for the area." Democracy In Action. Uh oh.