[NYguy]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...773737398.html

Two May Get Jump on Midtown Plan
Developers in Line to Get Early Starts Under Rezoning Proposal Change.

September 29, 2013
By LAURA KUSISTO

The Bloomberg administration has agreed to make changes to a major rezoning proposal for the area near Grand Central Terminal that could help two prominent developers get moving on their projects sooner than some competitors. The City Planning Commission is set to vote Monday on a proposal to rezone the area around Grand Central Terminal to allow developers to build bigger office towers than those allowed under current rules.

The late changes to the controversial plan address its key "sunrise" provision that blocks developers from taking advantage of the rezoning for four years. Planners think the delay is important to prevent the Midtown East projects from competing with office towers under way at Hudson Yards on Manhattan's West Side and the World Trade Center.

But the new wording would allow a couple of high-profile projects in Midtown East to move forward sooner.

SL Green Realty Corp. would be able to get a one-year jump start on its new office tower planned between 42nd and 43rd streets on the block just west of Grand Central. SL Green officials have told the planning commission they would benefit from an early start because they plan to make significant and time-consuming improvements to pedestrian access to Grand Central.

Also, the changes would help David Levinson of L&L Holding Co., who's planning to build a Norman Foster-designed office tower at 425 Park Ave. Mr. Levinson plans to break ground in the spring of 2015 regardless of whether the rezoning passes.

Under the current zoning, he would have to leave the steel skeleton of the bottom 25% of the existing 1950s building in place to maximize the development's size. The proposed new rules would allow Mr. Levinson to fully raze the current building and build a structure that's roughly 15% larger.

Mr. Levinson has argued that buildings like his that sit on smaller sites should be able to move forward more quickly because they don't compete with the mega-towers planned for Hudson Yards. Compared with the huge projects on the West Side and downtown, the floors of his building will be "a half to a third of the size and double the rent," at about $160 a square foot, he said.

Planning officials said the two developers effectively made their cases. The modifications are "well-founded in the thoughtful and substantive testimony we heard in the public review process," said Michael Shilstone, a spokesman for the planning department. "These potential modifications to the sunrise provision would continue to protect ongoing development in Hudson Yards and Lower Manhattan."

The wording changes don't mention the L&L Holding or SL Green developments specifically, and other developers also may apply to build projects under the rezoning. But those two developers are by far the most public about wanting to move forward with their projects.

One of the proposed modifications would allow buildings on sites under 30,000 square feet to move forward as soon as the rezoning passes. Mr. Levinson's site is about 28,000 square feet.

Given its prominent site, SL Green is considered likely to apply for a special permit that enables developers to apply to the city for additional development rights. Under the proposed modifications, those buildings would be eligible for construction permits up to a year before the rezoning kicks in if they're making significant upgrades to transit infrastructure and the city deems they need extra time.